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Home » Destinations » North America » United States

Unpacking My Souvenirs

Modified: Mar 4, 2020 · Published: Jul 23, 2009 by Dave Lee |

Packaged with care
The Before - packaged with care

Despite 17 hours of transit time, I was still excited to open the packages of 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 stupid aluminum can tuk-tuk I paid far too much for in a Bangkok market) while 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.

The After - worldly souvenirs
The After - worldly souvenirs

I lost one package, which contained all the souvenirs I'd bought in Cambodia and Laos, plus a few DVD's 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 got the back-up still in possession.  Blank DVD's aren't that expensive these days...anywhere.

Thankfully, I had been compulsively uploading ALL my photos to Flickr like a mindless travel-blogging zombie, but 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 I was traveling, I thought I'd feature some of my favorites week to week.  Of course, each one has a story to tell...if I can manage to remember them!

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About Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 68 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.

Comments

  1. Lilliy says

    July 23, 2009 at 11:34 am

    Actually now you can also upload videos on flickr as well. But when I was traveling most times it wouldn't upload. I still give them a try. I too upload everything on flickr and youtube.
    It seemed like it was your birthday or something.

  2. Lilliy says

    July 23, 2009 at 4:34 pm

    Actually now you can also upload videos on flickr as well. But when I was traveling most times it wouldn't upload. I still give them a try. I too upload everything on flickr and youtube.
    It seemed like it was your birthday or something.

  3. Sharon Hurley Hall says

    July 24, 2009 at 9:56 am

    It's always great to unpack your memorabilia and relive the stories belonging to each one. I got a similar sensation after moving when the stuff I had shipped finally arrived two months later.

  4. Dave says

    July 24, 2009 at 4:37 pm

    Good point - my family moved twice while I was growing up and I remember having a fun time unpacking all my stuff in a new room/house each time.

  5. Dave says

    July 24, 2009 at 11:37 am

    Good point - my family moved twice while I was growing up and I remember having a fun time unpacking all my stuff in a new room/house each time.

  6. parkrideflyusa says

    July 24, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    It's always great to unpack your memorabilia and relive the stories belonging to each one. I got a similar sensation after moving when the stuff I had shipped finally arrived two months later.

  7. TravMonkey says

    July 28, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Hi Dave,

    Nothing worth than loosing things you bought whilst traveling, although it tends to happen quite a lot.

    I have that many photos from my last big trip... I haven't had time to actually do anything cool with them yet. There is just too many!

    Paul @
    TravMonkey.com

  8. TravMonkey says

    July 28, 2009 at 3:58 pm

    Hi Dave,

    Nothing worth than loosing things you bought whilst traveling, although it tends to happen quite a lot.

    I have that many photos from my last big trip... I haven't had time to actually do anything cool with them yet. There is just too many!

    Paul @
    TravMonkey.com

  9. Dave says

    August 05, 2009 at 5:14 am

    Hey Paul - always good to hear from you. There is a lot I want to do with my photos and video too....but so far, finding a job will have to come first. Or maybe second to creating (and hopefully selling) a calendar. :)

  10. Dave says

    August 05, 2009 at 12:14 am

    Hey Paul - always good to hear from you. There is a lot I want to do with my photos and video too....but so far, finding a job will have to come first. Or maybe second to creating (and hopefully selling) a calendar. :)

  11. Link Building Services says

    October 30, 2010 at 1:40 am

    Keep focusing on your blog. I love how we can all express our feelings. This is an extremely nice blog here :)

Dave at Ahu Ko Te Riku on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile.

Hi, I'm Dave

Editor in Chief

I've been writing about adventure travel on Go Backpacking since 2007. I've visited 68 countries.

Read more about Dave.

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