Despite 17 hours of transit time, I was still excited to open the packages of travel souvenirs I'd mailed home from Hong Kong, China, Nepal, India, Thailand, and South Africa when I got home from Colombia.
Some of the stuff seemed trivial (like the silly aluminum tuk-tuk I paid far too much for in a Bangkok night market). At the same time, other items, like the Tibetan "Wheel of Life" thangka I spent a day shopping for in Kathmandu, were as beautiful as I'd remembered.
For a few items, I used expensive courier shipping like FedEx, but for most, I relied on the national mail service. I lost one package that contained all the souvenirs I'd bought in Cambodia and Laos, plus a few DVDs of photos and videos.
I learned a valuable lesson I used the rest of my trip and will continue to adhere to on future trips: burn two copies of photos/video, so if you mail one home and it doesn't arrive, you've still got the backup in your possession. Blank DVDs aren't that expensive these days.
Thankfully, I had been compulsively uploading ALL my photos to Flickr like a mindless travel-blogging zombie. Still, only a few of the video clips were ever uploaded to YouTube, so the rest of the footage I took during the time period was lost.
Since I didn't talk much about my souvenirs while traveling, I thought I'd feature some of my favorites each week. Of course, each one has a story to tell if I can manage to remember them!
Editor's Note (2026): Looking back, I've become much more selective about what to bring home. I lean toward smaller keepsakes that don't require expensive shipping or risk getting lost in transit. Some travelers collect postcards or even create personalized mementos from each country by working with companies like Custom Patches San Diego. A few well-placed patches on a backpack can make for a fun conversation starter.
