Beyond Souvenirs
When you travel, do you bring home a souvenir? I think most people do, especially when traveling to a new place. I did buy several gifts on my trips to Ireland, and some things for myself. But that’s not the kind of souvenir I wanted to talk about today.
Collecting
First, be sure it’s okay to do this.
My cousin Scott Brown (pictured here) collects jars of dirt from various baseball parks he has visited. The picture above is from the farm where baseball legend Mordecai Brown grew up. Below is from the site of the old West Side Grounds in Chicago. Don’t worry. He asks first.
His is a pretty unique collection. It literally grounds his memories of these places that are special to him. (Pun intended.)
When I was in Ireland on my last trip, my husband and I spent some time walking some beaches on the west coast. It was April, a very unusually chilly April for Ireland, and we were alone on these beaches. They were not beaches that you might think of in America. They were pretty wild and lonely. Not that no one ever visits, they do. There were carparks (translate: parking lots), but at this time they were deserted.
I picked up a rock. And then a shell. And then a few others. I did not want to part with them so I brought them home, just a small collection, mind you. My husband found a piece of sea glass. I’ve never found sea glass before. I keep these things in a glass box on my desk. I’ve taken a photo of them spread out for you.
And where they usually sit:
Unexpected Result
Did you know that rain takes on the scent of what it lands on? There’s much more to the science than that. You can look it up. I did and had trouble interpreting it all. My brain doesn’t work that way, but it’s true. Rain of itself does not have a smell, and yet we can all smell the rain. I sincerely believe I smell Ireland on these rocks. It’s a fresh smell, hard to describe. In any case, it’s a sensory experience that takes me back there, not unlike what Scott’s collection does for him.
Do You Collect Travel Treasures?
Let me know in the comments. Since this is a time right now when no one of us are able to travel, these collections help us remember special times in our lives.
