clutter | Meg Travels

For me the fun of travel begins with research and the library is a great place to find travel books as well as history books about cities and countries. I also like using apps to listen and practice words and phrases in the language I’m learning. I know I’ve made progress when I can read signs and billboards while on my travels. But then I’ll hear children speaking to their parents and realize that they already know more words than I ever will in their language.

I also like to leave extra room in my suitcase for the souvenirs I want to bring home, although I’m trying to limit my souvenir buying. This is especially true since I have brought back some purchases that I haven’t used and have no place to keep them.

Luckily there are things you can’t take with you (like gelato), so you have to eat them right away!

So now I have more than one drawer stuffed with travel souvenirs like key chains, postcards, ticket stubs and refrigerator magnets. Are they valuable memories or just clutter? I did find a use for some of my key chains by displaying them on an earring holder:

Sometime soon I will look at these souvenirs and decide whether or not to keep them. At least in the future I can focus on enjoying the experience of travel through photos and memories and let them replace the clutter. I will really try to do this!

I have a drawer in my house where I keep travel souvenirs. When I opened it to add my postcards, tickets and programs from the Chelsea Flower Show, I had trouble closing the drawer. Could it be that all these wonderful souvenirs were turning into clutter? I didn’t think so, and I recalled all the opportunities I had to find interesting things to bring home with me.

Find souvenirs here

These are for right now!

I bought one of these…

So many choices

I’d like to bring these home

Still, when I saw how many things I’ve accumulated over my travels I decided that I could use some these souvenirs in a way that I could remember when and where I got them. My first idea was to use a jewelry tree to hang some of my key chains to make something I’d enjoy:

Souvenir tree

I also have fridge magnets in this drawer that I can’t use because they don’t stick to the front of my refrigerator! Then I remembered that I have a small message board that is magnetic. It was fun arranging the magnets on it.

Magnetic souvenirs

Afterward there was a lot more room in my souvenir drawer and now I can look at these displays and remember all the fun experiences I had when I got them! I should mention that I also consider scarves, jewelry and hand knit sweaters souvenirs and I wear them all the time. But it was great to make a display of these souvenirs so they don’t simply become more clutter in the house.