Abby

Hi!

When I was twelve, my grandmother bought me a sterling silver charm bracelet, and I have been collecting silver charms ever since. The most fun hunt for a silver charm involved dragging German friends all over Stuttgart looking for the perfect pretzel-shaped silver charm! To any parents or grandparents, this is a great idea for a young girl...starting a collection that is fun and inexpensive and I have some great memories tied into my now four charm bracelets!

Monica Richards

The tackiest thing ever (I didn't buy it) was a ceramic surfing monkey in an old fashioned swimsuit purchased by my friend while waiting to cross the border from Tijuana to the US. That thing is a classic--even graced her desk at work for quite a while.

I collect little houses from wherever I go. I must not be the only one, either, because every country has them. So far I have Mexico, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Cuba, Jamaica and Costa Rica.

Miriam

I'm as cheap as they come, I collect matchbooks, menus and toiletries from the hotel room. All are free.

Lisa

My boyfriend and I buy postcards and magnets (we are gonna need another frig soon!). I collect college sweatshirts depending where we are or Hard Rock city T's. We also like to buy prints from local artists. The silliest thing that we have to do on vacation is dump a penny in those pressing machines that grind out a picture of a tourist attraction, for example, Hoover Dam or Mt. Rushmore.

scigirl

Plastic snowglobes! I love them. I have a $5.00 limit on cost. The cheaper and more cliche'd the better. My preference is for snowglobes containing 3D buildings from the area - along with over used cliche's such as hearts, rainbows, etc. I get a snowglobe from every place I visit. Unfortunatly the trend as been towards globes with flat plastic inside with a stenciled picture. They don't have nearly the charm of the old style! I may have to change to something else.

Silliest souvenier ever bought: According to my husband, the snowglobes. (He just doesn't appreciate the art form!)

Sandi

I collect a few different things when traveling. Magnets first and foremost. They are so perfect.... take up minimal space both in suitcase and at home on the fridge.

Lately, I try to bring back a bottle of local wine. I don't drink it, just display it in my wine rack/baker's rack which had the original purpose of just housing my microwave oven. My most unusual bottle is from Maui's Tedeschi Vineyards, pineapple wine.

There is also a series of books titled A Photographic Journey that I have about five of. These are large hard-backs with some really great photos and narration for lots of different cities/regions. They are great "coffe table" books. I'm actually trying to locate some copies which are out of print now from places I have previously visited but didn't get the book then. Anyone here care to part with their copies? Just wondering.

Sandi