From key chains to chess sets, seeking out travel mementos is a shared human experience.
When 40 - year - old Illinois resident Rita McNeely and her married man Chris travel , they always purchase a chess game band . It may seem like a handsome matter to stuff around , or potentially a significant disbursement , but the reasoning behind it is actually quite sweet . Chris and his grandmother had a close relationship , and they both apportion a making love of change of location . One solar day they ’d hoped to take a head trip together . But during Chris ’s senior yr of college , his nanna became ill and passed away .
“ He always look up to her chess set made of obsidian from her route trip around Mexico in the 1970s , ” McNeely state me . “ So , wherever we go , he hunts down a unique cheat set as an homage to his grandmother . It ’s like he ’s fill a piece of her abode with us every metre . ”
Souvenirs(chess set or otherwise ) also allow you to take a little small-arm of the place you ’re claver home with you . They ’re basically strong-arm memory you may fetch back .
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“ world have a natural desire to preserve memory , ” explains Nilou Esmaeilpour , a register clinical counsel and founder ofLotus Therapyin Vancouver . “ When we have an gratifying , transformative , or unparalleled experience , a memento can act as a tangible memento of that minute in time , countenance us torevisit those feelingswhenever we see or relate the item . ”
It ’s not a new custom , either . The practice of buying something in purchase order to remember a misstep date stamp back more than a millennium .
Starting in the 1600s , when wealthy teens toured around Europe as part of their journey to adulthood , the keepsake industriousness really got its footing . Those wealthy teens make for home local finds , which eventually turned into the touristed tchotchkeleh we know today , like decorative spoons , cardinal string , and landmarks in miniature .
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These souvenirs , Esmaeilpour says , are more than just trinkets , though . They ’re really a part of the tale we create about ourselves .
“ They can symbolize experiences , aspiration , and personal growth , ” she say . “ By displaying or using souvenirs , hoi polloi can subtly pass along prospect of their identity to others . For example , a token from a intriguing rise can symbolize perseverance , while one from a alien country might showcase one ’s adventuresome spirit . ”
The souvenirs are basically your trophy for completing some accomplishment , whether it ’s a billet you ’ve been or a challenge you assemble .
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For masses that bribe the same souvenir — like a magnet or a pack of cards of carte — from every finish , the items take on even more meaning . It ’s something call the “ endowment effect , ” Esmaeilpour says , where each item you buy gains more value after you grease one’s palms it . The token begins to hold more signification . For repeat token purchaser , that meaning takes the form of an ever - mature collecting .
“ The act of collecting feed citizenry a sense of persistence , progression , and achievement , ” Esmaeilpour says . “ Each add-on severalise a raw chapter in their life ’s fib . There ’s also a certain satisfaction derived from the hunt — finding that perfect piece to add to one ’s aggregation . ”
keepsake also have a tendency to land people together , even if that ’s not the express purpose for most masses purchasing .
You probably do n’t buy souvenirs with the intention of deepening your relationship with friends that follow over to your house . But on some level , the purchases aid us feel like a larger part of our community . How many times have you randomly begin telling a story of how you fix that eldritch cat vase , or the affair that no one really knows the use of that you have on showing ?
Chicago resident Lauren and Alex Ocello find this one . In Germany , they purchase a decorative otter carving with a stopper in its mouth , but no seeable reason why it might have such a modification . It ’s also inexplicably wearing a wizard cap . The couple has created a whole backstory to the otter , about it being a sale item that never sold and the stall possessor being thrilled to drop a piece they loved but just could n’t get free of .
“ Seeing that ridiculous thing makes us well-chosen because of the story we concocted and the item itself , and then lovingly remember that day in Munich , ” Lauren Ocello suppose .
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“ Sharing the story behind a memento allows us to connect with others , ” Esmaeilpour allege . “ By narrate our experiences , we can bridge over gaps between our world and that of our listener . This can moderate to increase social soldering and understanding . ”
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As for me , I ’m not immune to the siren call of souvenirs . I always wanted to turn up and hold up in a house full of token I bought on my travel . But now that I ’m an adult , I ’ve realized that ’s not all feasible when you do n’t have , you have intercourse , basically a mansion to storeall the thing . So instead I buy thread or fabric from every commonwealth I visit .
I share every newfangled skein of thread or yard of material online , so my admirer and family can follow along with my progression . It ’s my own room of building a community out of one that did n’t live — mainly because I ’m visiting most of these places alone . But this habit has brought my hubby and me closer , too . Now , when we go somewhere together , one of the first things he research is yarn workshop .
Eventually , my souvenirs will be made into an external cover , a throw filled with retention from everywhere I ’ve been . And on the plus side , I only postulate a small blank in my closet for all the thread storage .
