Everyone’s been there. Strolling through the gift shop amidst postcards and keychains like millions of other places. But something doesn’t quite feel right. This trip was somehow transformative, eye-opening, a chance at something greater, and all it can mean is a keychain?
Many are searching for something else. Something that makes more sense than a new snow globe to add to a collection. Something that keeps the memory more alive than a trinket waiting in line to be forgotten about.
The Issue With Trinkets
With most souvenirs sitting at the back of a drawer or the bottom of a box within a year, it’s not that people haven’t cared about the trip they’ve taken. It’s that they fail to represent how the place felt at sunrise, how the food tasted, or an interaction with someone that shifted worldviews – a simplified version of what one hoped for, what one created.
For decades now, the tourist industry has been producing tacky merchandise, faded t-shirts after one wash, postcards shoved down the line of a still-full book. Even photos – something people take dozens of – sit in phone galleries, rarely seen. These items are products of an era where travel was special and exotic enough to want some sort of physical proof to bring home.
Travel, however, is more popular than ever. People take several trips yearly or more. They’ve gone to every tourist destination, and the low bar for what makes something memorable failed to provide that sense of wonder. People now feel an emotional connection to places they’ve gone – and a refrigerator magnet isn’t going to cut it.
What People Actually Want
It’s not that people don’t want mementos; they don’t want mementos that fail to hold any value aside from “look what I acquired one time.” What they want is something that still contains value connected to where they went, not an arbitrary acquisition.
Collecting specific artifacts with a more cultural interest has been somewhat popular of late – ceramic bowls instead of coffee mugs with cities on them, English textbooks instead of books about what’s on display in the Louvre, foreign kitchen tools instead of knives with “Paris” inscribed on them – items that will make their way into their lives as they integrate back home – keeping the memory at bay instead of locked up.
Holding onto experiences that facilitate continued connections to those places went even further. Learning a language from a certain country, keeping in touch with someone met on the road, following news outlets for what’s going on back home or what festivals are happening this week – all these opportunities extend beyond the single purchase.
Permanence is crucial – not of value only taking its place on a shelf for eternity, but connecting that location more than a transient visit through various means and modes of existence.
Creating Stakes in Each Destination
Where things get interesting is that some travelers use their money and resources to have physical stakes. There’s a service called NamedEstates.com in Scotland where you can buy (officially name, dedicated) parcels of land. They’re not legally your lands, but they do supply an actual item – coordinates, documentation, a real piece of earth attributed to you or your tribute. Not just something representing something in general but something connected to a bona fide place.
The other option is buying land/property – you’ve invested in what could be a small apartment down the road (if it matters enough to have such equity) – but it’s complicated and extensive for those who can do it; such equity provides legitimate ties that mean you must return instead of a transient souvenir only used when company comes over.
Another mode is local businesses – their buy-in for cooperative purposes means that money goes to good use but staked in names mean longevity; it could be conservation efforts or community sponsorships where personal values mean something down the line – as long as it’s more than what’s acquired through tourism.
The Shift Beyond Gift Shops
People are no longer satisfied with gift shop garbage because their ideas about travel have shifted, too; travel used to be about checking off boxes – that means you got there, saw what you wanted to see, took the obligatory picture and purchased the obligatory trash.
But now?
It’s about true experiential authenticity and genuine connection. It’s more about how involved you’ve felt in where you’ve gone that made you appreciate it so much – not breezing by without additional concern than a tourist box check.
It makes sense now why mementos would change their tune; people are spending longer in fewer destinations, eating where locals eat, taking cooking classes or craft workshops – they’re volunteering or working remotely – with the goal always at hand being immersed instead of touristy.
So it shouldn’t come as no surprise that mementos shift with such purpose; when it’s all about getting comfortable in the skin of another place, in possession of some ever-growing knowledge or posture, it’s obvious that a mass-produced item fails to deliver.
What Makes Sense To Bring Home
Not everyone gets this sense and that’s totally okay; sometimes a good memory trumps one small act.
But sometimes a moment should be honored – an experience should commemorate important life markers or second homes, places that changed something fundamental – and making sense out of it distinguishes its value.
It’s easy to do these days; there’s much more variety as time goes on – purchasing specific things that keep them grounded daily or sentimental gestures keep ongoing connections as travelers can learn that sometimes the greatest gifts are like bridges rather than just visualizations.
The souvenir business will happily keep selling it’s low-tier trash – but more increasingly there are people who realize they can do better – they can find or create a value equalizer emblematic of what’s truly special about the place as long as there’s some endeavor to make that reality happen before fading it into existence from drawers full of lost memories.
When it’s got meaning, it means more than a keychain.
