I would like to begin with stating that I’m not an obsessive collector. I may have slight tendencies, but it’s fine. It actually makes me the perfect scrapbooker, because I just bring everything home that could possibly be needed. Ok, maybe I am a bit obsessive with that, but whatever. Gladly, the people I do things with understand and don’t even try to throw things away without consulting me first.

There are just so many great things you can take home and convert into beautiful pages full of memories. I mean, if you take only photos, it’s a photo album, but an actual scrapbook does need a bit more. Obviously you don’t need to save absolutely everything from a special occasion, but it also doesn’t hurt. So here comes a list with everything I take home. I recommend bringing something that holds everything.

Souvenirs from Copenhagen

Tickets: So I guess the obvious thing to keep are tickets. And I keep all of them. Therefore, I hate when places don’t give you proper tickets or you have to print them out yourself. Also, those places that rip them? Absolutely horrible. Like, what even is the point of this? But the worst places are the ones that want to keep your ticket. I mean, what the hell do they do with them? Probably collect them and then throw them out, anyway. So I’m always the person asking to keep them and not having a care in the world, how they’re gonna make that happen. I’m usually successful. I keep plane tickets, concert tickets, entry tickets to museums or any other place I visit, ride tickets, transportation tickets, movie tickets etc. You get the point.

Cards: All the cards you can find, take them home. I definitely like collecting business cards from people I meet or places I visit. I also keep old ID’s or insurance cards, membership cards and whatever else there is. And I’ve always had a thing for postcards. I have a big box full of them and they’re all so pretty. Some, I also add to my scrapbooks because sometimes, they’re just prettier than a photo, when you just didn’t get the best shot.

Maps: In most cities, you will find a tourist information that will give out free maps of the city. If they cost a bit, I usually still go for it, because I think it’s a really pretty background for a scrapbook page. Or I just cut out the places I went to. Same goes for amusement parks or other venues that provide you with maps.

Stickers: I’ve mentioned before that I always try to buy matching stickers of the places I visit. No matter if it’s a country or a concert – if there are stickers, I will buy them. But it goes further than that. A lot of stores – ok, I admit, mostly those who sell toys for kids – have stickers next to the cash registers. You should definitely pay attention to that. And then I just ask for one and usually, they will gladly give you a handful. I’m always successful at the Disney Store, but I usually spend so much money that they just give me everything they can give out for free. But also museums etc. sometimes work with stickers. If I see a person with a sticker and I didn’t get one, I definitely hunt one down. Always. And then there are sometimes stickers on packaging or on your passport. I keep them all.

Souvenirs from London

Special Photos: I definitely print out a lot of pictures for my scrapbook pages, but I also try to get special ones. For example, if I see a photo booth, you can bet I will drag whomever is with me into it. Then some places take photos of you and try to sell them for a million dollars. The thing is, I only buy them, if they’re truly amazing. If you’re sneaky like me and you somehow find the photo code, take a quick photo and find them online – a lot of places work with that. Unfortunately, I’ve also been given wrong codes by accident, which is annoying, but oh well. Just keep an eye out. You can also take some photos with an instant camera, if you have one. I just like when there are a whole lot of different layers, materials etc. on one of my pages.

Money: If I’m in a country that has a different currency than where I am from, I try to keep some of the money to add to the book. Usually a few coins or so. Another thing I do pretty much everywhere is getting pennies pressed. For that, I always try to have some shiny ones in my wallet and just in general enough change. I don’t always manage, but you can bet I will find someone who will trade coins for a bill. It’s just a super cute keepsake that doesn’t cost a fortune. Another thing you can sometimes find is some sort of fake money or just specially printed coins. I think they’re mostly popular in amusement parks, zoos or similar places, though. Yes, I go and buy them.

Shopping Remnants: No matter what and where I shop, I just keep everything that comes with the product. I keep the tag, the receipt, the bag, if it’s pretty and sometimes, even the packaging. I mean, it sure has to look somehow special, but before I determine that, I take it all home and actually use a lot of it. Also if something is wrapped in some kind of paper, I’m keeping that as well.

Souvenirs from Barcelona

Documents: Yes, sometimes, you have documents. For travelling, information from the hotel or maybe air bnb. You could have a timetable of some sort, booking confirmations etc. Especially with bigger trips, there could be a lot of documents. I’m sure you can figure out something to do with them.

Other: Well, I’m just gonna put everything else into one category because otherwise, this is getting out of hand. Some other things I like to use for scrapbooking are stamps, wristbands that confirmed your entry to something, napkins (yes, you read that right), luggage tags, notes and maybe even dried flowers or something like that. Flyers, some pages from those note pads they often have at hotels and if there is confetti coming down at a concert, you can definitely see me scraping it off the floor and putting it in my pocket. Also take home a menu from places you ate and cut out the dish you had.

Please don’t judge me. But I really do feel like the more stuff you collect, the prettier the page will be. And don’t feel weird about it. All these things are memories. And the best thing is that they actually don’t cost a lot, but the happiness they will bring you when you see them nicely put together, makes the feeling of awkwardness disappear.

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