Confessions of a souvenir addict: What I ALWAYS bring home every trip

By Ashleigh Howarth

If there’s one thing I love almost as much as travelling, it’s bringing home tiny pieces of the world with me.

I don’t just come home with memories - I come home with my suitcase overflowing with stuff!

My mum calls them “dust collectors,” but I call them reminders of all the places that have made my life a little brighter.

So, here’s a peek at some of the souvenirs I’ve collected from around the world and the stories behind them!

Drawings of the area

I may doodle in my travel art book at home, but let’s be honest - I’m no Michelangelo. That’s why I love to find beautiful drawings and sketches by someone who actually knows what they are doing! There’s something special about wandering through markets, tiny back-alley shops, and stalls run by artists who paint what they see every day in their everyday lives. Each drawing carries the soul of a place that stole a little piece of mine. One city that has captured my heart is London – I have these beautiful drawings from Camden Markets framed in my entrance way, my computer desk, and dining room, meaning I can admire them every single day.

Canvas paintings

Canvas paintings are some of my favourite souvenirs because they turn any room into a mini gallery. Much like the drawings, these artists have poured their time, talent and heart into each painting, and their vibrant colours and spectacular images brighten up any room. Two of my all-time favourite pieces I bought from a local artist in Santorini. I spotted them while making my way to the top of the island to watch the spectacular sunset over the Aegean Sea. Now, every time I walk past them at home, I’m right back in Santorini up on those whitewashed cliffs admiring the view and iconic blue domes and ocean below with the Topdeck crew I travelled with.

Landmark trinkets

I love how different cities around the world have iconic skylines and architectural wonders, so naturally, I want to look at them all the time. My little collection of monuments represents different chapters of my life: places I travelled while I was married, cities I visited on overseas trips with my mum, and destinations I’ve visited as a solo traveller. They’re tiny but meaningful reminders of how capable I’ve become in my own journey. If I wasn’t as brave as I was, I might have missed out on seeing them in real life.

Keyrings

This photo barely scratches the surface of my keyring collection. They’re small, inexpensive, and easy to pack - basically the perfect souvenir. At one point, I had so many hanging off my car keys that my mechanic warned me I’d break the ignition lock cylinder. Although I now have a push start car, I still keep my favourite keyring on my keychain – it’s the blue Greek Evil Eye amulet which is believed to protect you from negative energy or bad luck caused by a malevolent glare or envious look from others. I am very superstitious and believe this little ornament has kept me safe from lots of evil things in my life. If I ever lost it, I’d be on the next flight back to Greece to replace it! The rest live on my key hook or various bookshelves around the house.

Travel cards – Local transport and room keys

For the longest time, I had a mixture of hotel and transport cards tucked in with wallet with my everyday bank and loyalty cards, which meant my wallet was fatter than it needed to be. But the truth is, I liked having those “keys to the world” on me. My Oyster card from London, my Opal card from Sydney, and room keys from two Hilton hotels in Hawaii are little bits of plastic I could/should have thrown out ages ago, but they are snapshot of my travels, so I want to hold onto them.

Phone cases

Whenever I meet people here in Australia from the UK, I instantly whip out my phone and show them my red London phone box case, like it’s a badge of honour! I just have to show them how much I love their country, like I need their approval or something. But in all reality, they love hearing how much I love their little slice of the world, and the conversations that always follow make me and them really happy. Plus, I find the idea of a mobile phone in a red telephone box funny because those iconic landmarks were not designed for modern phones. I always pick up a few extra funky cases whenever I visit Camden Market in London.

Airplane tickets

Some flights are so special they deserve to be framed, and my scenic flight to Antarctica in February 2023 is at the top of that list. Qantas runs a handful of these flights during the warmer months from various capital cities across Australia, taking you on a once-in-a-lifetime loop over the icy continent before returning home the same day. No passports, no customs - just one extraordinary adventure. This trip was especially meaningful because it had been on my mum’s bucket list for years, and being able to surprise her with a ticket was one of those moments I’ll never forget. The look on her face alone was worth it! As we glided over Antarctica in gentle figure eights, the entire cabin buzzed with excitement. Airline staff popped the champagne, before all passengers were allowed to move around freely, swapping seats to catch the best views out the windows. It was surreal - staring down at endless blankets of ice, jagged mountain peaks poking through the white, and frozen landscapes that felt untouched by time. And yes, before you ask… even though we didn’t land, I’m absolutely counting Antarctica as visited. It was the best 16-hour flight ever!

Money

I always travel with a mix of cash and cards, and while I donate leftover currency when I can, I do like to keep a few notes and coins for myself. They look amazing in a display jar - colourful, tactile, and full of memories, and plus, I have easy access to some loose change when I return. I even buy the “tourist rip-off” pressed coins from the major attractions because honestly, I love them. I also couldn’t walk past these British Monarch collection coins from the gift shop in Windsor Castle (the gift shop staff always see me coming!).

Plush toys

This started as a cute tradition where I’d bring back one plush toy each for my niece and nephew. Then it became picking up three - one for each of them and one for me. What can I say? I’m a big kid at heart. Plus, you can find adorable plush toys abroad that you’ll never see at home like this adorable corgi (which were the late Queen’s favourite puppy), this adorable Kings Guard teddy bear, this penguin which came to Antarctica and back with me (thanks Qantas for selling these on the journey!) and a fuzzy brown bear from Skansen (the Stockholm Zoo). As an adult, I have way too many stuffed toys that have immigrated with me, but for the purpose of this blog, I thought four were enough!

Books

I once carried a stack of heavy history books out of Kensington Palace, determined to somehow wedge them into my already full suitcase. The lady serving me laughed when I told her I had absolutely no room for them because my suitcase was bursting at the seams, but I did actually succeed in getting them home by throwing in a few pairs of undies, t-shirts and other small items into my small carry-on backpack, to make that bulkier than it needed to be! I have always loved history, so whenever I visit a major attraction, I will buy the souvenir keepsake book as well as many other books I can find about castles, churches, royal jewels, tours, itineraries, nature, scenery, important historical figures – the list goes on and on. And yes, on a nice rainy day I like to cozy up on the lounge and reread them! They are perfect for reliving history over and over again, and I have read them multiple times when I feel “homesick” for a place I have never lived in, but long to be back at.

Badges

I’ll never forget the day I received my “First Visit” badge from Disneyland in Los Angeles. I had achieved my childhood dream of visiting the happiest place on earth! Yes, I even cried when I met Mickey Mouse for the first time because I was so overcome with emotion! Since that memorable day I’ve visited Disneyland parks in Orlando, Paris, and Hong Kong (which I visited on my 32nd birthday during a girls’ trip away with my mum). Visiting Disneyland on your birthday is the BEST – the free badge ensures you get constant birthday wishes from the characters and staff, and strangers will walk past and willingly start singing to you. It did make me feel extra special! They are super easy to get! All you have to do is visit guest services and show your ID. I may have been shuffled to the front of the line on some rides by Disney staff, which made me feel like an absolute rockstar! My goal? To visit every Disneyland park in the world (I have the parks in Japan and China left).

Fridge magnets

There’s barely any room left on my fridge, and that’s exactly how I like it. Since it’s something I walk past and open several times a day, it’s the perfect place to keep colourful reminders of my adventures. Some of my favourite magnets are the Abba Voulez-Vous which I picked up from the ABBA Museum in Stockholm, and because this was the Topdeck trip song from my two-week journey travelling around Scandinavia! I also love, love, love my Sound of Music magnets from Austria – it’s my favourite movie of all time, and Julie Andrews is one of my favourite actresses. Being in Salzburg, seeing all the sites and streets Julie visited, will always be one the BEST days of my life!  But there are rules - no crooked magnets and absolutely no chaotic placement - my OCD would never recover.

Kitchen accessories

When my beloved grandmother passed away, her collection of souvenir spoons was divided between her daughters-in-law, including my mum, who ended up with somewhere between 80-100 spoons that came from all over the world. We knew how much grandma loved her spoons, so it became a tradition for me to always buy a spoon from somewhere on my world-wide adventure and present it to mum to add to the collection! Grandma loved those spoons as much as I loved my travel mementos, and I only hope one day someone in my family will love my “stuff” and look at them and have fond memories of me. I also adore quirky salt and pepper shakers but would never actually use them – they are for show only!

Anything Harry Potter related

I grew up with my nose stuck in the Harry Potter books (Snape is my favourite - don’t fight me on this), so whenever I see HP merch, it’s coming home with me. I’ve collected character wands from Universal Studios Orlando and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, and they’re proudly displayed like the treasures they are, plus plenty of fridge magnets with the different Hogwarts House crests on them. If only I had my Hogwarts letter to display, but that must have gotten lost in the mail (bloody owl!)

All images are my own.