A Meaningful Souvenir
I have one souvenir I buy on every trip– a postcard! Postcards are the best travel souvenirs to buy for several reasons: inexpensive, accessible, compact, and captures special memories. If the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, that would make a postcard worth a hundred thousand words if you include the hand-written message. Writing down our favorite moments from the trip also means that when my husband and I turn into old farts with shoddy memories, these souvenirs will help us relive our fun adventures together.
Why a postcard collection?
My husband and I have kept a tradition of writing postcards to each other since 2008. We plan to continue exploring many more, but that could be a lot of souvenirs in the long run. Since I prefer to keep clutter to a minimum, the thought of an ever-increasing collection was a huge turn-off for me. My postcard collection is space-friendly, budget-friendly, travel-friendly, and if I draw enough smiley faces, message-friendly. If I wanted to go even more minimalist, I could scan the postcards, save the digital files, and then toss the physical postcards.
How the postcard tradition came about
My husband and I love traveling, so I assumed securing a forever travel buddy meant more travel. So wrong! After our first year of marriage, we barely went anywhere. Without making it a point to explore new places together, I figured the busyness of life would only continue. Enter contract: to show our commitment to traveling and documenting the experience.
Who am I writing my travel memories to?
I am writing to both myself and my husband. The postcard serves as a way to record what I loved most about the trip, places I want to remember, or highs/lows I had. I like to approach it as part writing in a travel journal (in recap form) and part love letter to my husband.
When do we write the postcards?
Our postcard writing session is usually our last activity before heading to the airport. I like my postcard image to reflect something I saw on the trip. That’s why I shop for postcards towards the end. I’ll add to the itinerary: “buy postcards + stamps” and “write postcards” to ensure we set aside enough time.
Why bother?
TBH, it’s been a hassle at times to keep the tradition going. Locating postage in a small town where no one speaks English, trying to find an open post office, and rushing to write a meaningful message when late for the airport. These were all real scenarios that caused some stress on our trip. However, no matter how frustrated, tired, or pressed for time, we were always diligent about writing and mailing out those postcards. And just when I thought the trip was over, our postcards arrived in the mail, transporting me back. So, yeah, those postcards were worth the trouble because they really did make the best travel souvenirs.
Tips:
- Pack pens that write well on glossy cardstock without smearing. I like to use a thin Sharpie.
- Before writing, mark off space for the various postal service markings. Otherwise, they’ll stamp right over your it and you won’t be able to read part of your message. If you want to avoid that from happening, another option is to mail your postcards in an envelope.
- Don’t buy the stamps with QR codes sold in many souvenir shops. I recommend buying postage stamps used by the country’s official postal service.
- Take a pic of the postcard, front and back, in case your postcard gets lost in the mail.
