Among my souvenirs...

What do you like to bring home from a trip to remind you of the good times you had?

When I was a child, my souvenir-collecting was rather eclectic, to say the least. I remember that before our first long car-trip vacation, to Yellowstone National Park, my grandfather asked me to bring back a bear for him, so my souvenir shopping was concentrated on finding a small bear — I think I still have that small grizzly-bear figurine bought by my eight-year-old self. (After Grandpa died, I “repatriated” it, so to speak.) 

Other souvenirs have included the typical t-shirts, pens, etc. A pair of Betsy Ross socks purchased in Minot, North Dakota, marked the Bicentennial of the United States in 1976 when we took my English friend Sheila there.

Now, my taste in souvenirs has changed. A beautiful top (one that could be called a t-shirt, but is much nicer than the typical t-shirt) was my major souvenir of Walton-on-Thames, and I think of beautiful Walton every time I wear it. A one-of-a-kind porcelain vase is my souvenir of Brentwood in Los Angeles, and it not only reminds me of my time strolling along San Vicente Boulevard, but also of the two women in the shop where I bought it, who were very interested in learning about my writing, and who wrapped my vase so well it could have traveled from there to the Yukon without damage (and after wrapping the lovely thing so carefully, the one woman asked as she handed it to me, “You’re doing carry-on with this, right?” I assured her that I would.)

My main souvenirs this summer, though, have been books (!) and re-usable shopping bags.

In England, I purchased several children’s books and a couple of books about the history of Walton-on-Thames. I also brought home a Tesco bag, bright blue with delightful ladybugs depicted across it, plasticized so that it has been the perfect bag for my weekly jaunts to the farmers’ market since my return. At Waterstone’s Books in Walton’s shopping centre known as “The Heart“, I bought a small bag with delightful picture-book illustrations on either side, the purchase of which benefits The Book Bus, a mobile library in Zambia. It is perfect for trips to the bookstore here. (And once, when I took it to the Main Library children’s department, the staff person behind the desk recognized the illustrations on it!) At another shop in The Heart, I found a pretty bag that reminds people that “bags don’t grow on trees!” It will be my clothes-shopping bag.

In Los Angeles, since I was at a Writers’ Conference, it is no surprise that I brought back many, many, MANY books, as well as a bright red SCBWI book bag emblazoned with the words “Reading is Power”, and another that was a gift to each person at the closing luncheon, celebrating the 40th anniversary of SCBWI. Both of those bags regularly visit the library/libraries with me. At Brentwood Whole Foods, I bought a shopping bag that says Los Angeles on one side (in small letters) and California on the other. It carries my groceries.

My short visit to St. Paul was no different. I came back with books (no surprise there…) Micawber’s Books led me to The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton, On Rereading by Patricia Meyer Spacks, The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma, and a picture book entitled Scrawny Cat by Phyllis Root. I restrained myself on kids’ books, anticipating a trip to The Red Balloon. Since that didn’t pan out, I had fewer books to declare when I came back across the border than I’d anticipated. (Next time…) I *did* buy Richard Peck’s Secrets at Sea at the airport branch of The Red Balloon. And I came home with two more re-usable shopping bags. One is a grocery shopping bag from the upscale supermarket Byerly’s, where I satisfied my longing for Old Home Yogurt among other things, and the other is a book-shopping bag from The Red Balloon at the airport.

Useful things that bring back wonderful memories. Are there any better souvenirs than such?

What do you bring home with you?