It is not the travel souvenir, it is the emotional connection! Do you agree?
I was recently speaking with someone about travel souvenirs. It is a person who likes to travel, but who is not a professional traveller. She has a regular job and takes several weeks – over a month – per year to travel. She went in various cities so far and she likes to bring home some travel souvenirs, memories from her travels. She even buys stuff for her friends – fridge magnets, calendars, stuff like that.
I have to admit that I too am pretty much the same. I have my own marketing and public relations agency, PRwave International, as you know (and if you need help with your social media presence or communication strategy please don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail at violeta . loredana @ gmail . com or loredana @ prwave . ro) and I travel when I can. I do love discovering new places, going to famous sights but also off the beaten path. And yes, I do buy travel souvenirs – and I like to receive such small gifts from my friends.
In fact, I have a special section here on the blog dedicated to travel souvenirs, one that I will update soon enough with new souvenirs from various parts of the world. Even if I don’t present all of my travel souvenirs on my blog, I do have some that I cherish.
A special mug (actually more :D) brought to me by my husband from various cities. These are the cups I use daily – to drink coffee, juice etc. I have dear pens I use – some I bought myself (for example I bought 2 in Paris), some I received. I have fridge magnets, a special notebook, book signs and many more.
And you know what I realized: it is not the souvenir, it is the emotional connection with it and a place that makes it so special!
I mean, c’mon, a $5 pen is not really valuable, nor is a $15 mug. But the real value doesn’t come from the financial direction, but from our soul and mind. It’s that special connection we create with an object, the emotional attachment we have with it that makes it special. It’s like with presents: a simple object can become the most important one in our lives when it comes from a special person.
Some say that buying travel souvenirs is touristy. I agree, up to a point. Yes, there are similar object all over the world, but there are special things, hand-made or specific to a place that you can purchase too.
Also, I don’t go into a store thinking I want to buy something. But if I am somewhere and something “pops up” to my eyes, something really draws my attention, I might buy it. a magnet with a painting I like (bought such magnet from Musee d’Orsay for instance), a pen that I like and so on. But it is something I enjoy then, something that has value for me, one way or another.
How about you? Do you buy travel souvenirs? What travel souvenirs do you like the most?
