17 little things to collect when travelling far from home

travel

8 Dec

I travel light, but I’ve always loved the small, meaningful objects that quietly find their way into my bag. I try not to buy souvenirs just for the sake of it, but the little things that tell a story? Those I keep.

For this post, I’ve focused on some of the best travel keepsake ideas: small, lightweight pieces, personal mementos, and simple objects you can collect slowly as you move through the world.

Over the years, I’ve realised that collecting while travelling doesn’t have to mean spending more or carrying more. Sometimes it’s as simple as noticing what catches your eye – the everyday things that become unexpected reminders of where you’ve been.

A lot of these little treasures also make lovely additions to travel journals. I’ve collected plenty of pieces over the years with the intention of turning them into pages someday.

Perfect for travellers who prefer memories over merchandise, here’s my shortlist of favourite things to collect when travelling.

The best travel keepsakes to collect wherever you go

Postcards

Some Japanese ports offer a free postcard mailing service as a welcome gesture. I once mailed one to a friend and another back home, standing there longer than expected because I was trying to think of a note that wasn’t awkward or rushed.

I’ve also bought postcards from the destinations I’ve visited, and sometimes collected the free ones too.

They’re one of the simplest things to keep while travelling – lightweight, inexpensive, and instantly nostalgic. A date, a weather note, a single sentence about the day… sometimes that’s all you need to hold onto a moment you might otherwise forget.

Inked stamps

Many places in Japan offer beautifully designed ink stamps as proof of your visit – tourist attractions, museums, historic sites, even train stations. I often wish I’d carried a proper notebook just for them; they feel like tiny artworks tied to specific coordinates on the map.

If you enjoy journalling, these stamps make perfect anchors for a travel spread. Each one marks where your feet have been and how far your days have taken you.

Just be sure to have some sort of paper or notebook ready when you find a stamping station.

Ticket stubs

If I could keep every train ticket I use, I would – but many transport systems require you to return your ticket at the exit gates, so most of them never make it into my bag.

Still, paper tickets of any kind make lovely travel keepsakes, whether they’re from museums, ferries, buses, local attractions, or even a movie you watched overseas.

A simple ticket can hold an entire story: who you were with, how the day felt, what you were hurrying towards, or the small detours that became memories. They’re ordinary on the day you receive them, but they become something else entirely when you look back.

Coffee sleeves

In places where coffee sleeves are common, they can make surprisingly lovely keepsakes. Lightweight, flat, and often thoughtfully designed, they feel a bit like tiny posters from cafes you enjoyed.

Local supermarket receipts

I used to keep supermarket receipts from everywhere – a tiny record of daily life and local prices. Some have faded completely now, the ink turning ghostlike.

Receipts may seem mundane, but they capture the texture of a place: the cost of instant noodles in Phuket, fruit in Hong Kong, a snack you tried only once but still think about.

Maps

I love collecting maps even if I rarely use them. Most of the time, they come printed with landmarks and little illustrations – a record of where I’ve been, and sometimes where I didn’t manage to go. They’re light, foldable, and oddly comforting.

If you ever get into journalling, maps make beautiful backdrops for pages. Even unfolded years later, they seem to carry the footsteps of that day.

Local tea bags or candy wrappers

A tea bag with local text, a beautifully designed chocolate wrapper – these are tiny artifacts that combine design, memory, and taste. I’ve kept a few over the years, always with the idea of sticking them into a junk journal someday.

They’re perfect for travellers who prefer souvenirs that don’t take up space but still hold a sense of place.

Brochures or mini programmes

I collect brochures – but only from my travels. For some reason, local brochures don’t appeal to me in the same way. Maybe it’s the novelty of being elsewhere, or the feeling that everything is new and worth noticing.

I have an entire file of them now: folded maps, event pamphlets, mini magazines – all waiting to be organised into some kind of scrapbook.

They’re colourful, full of typography and imagery, and surprisingly durable. Even if you never get around to scrapbooking, they’re satisfying to flip through when you want to remember where you’ve been.

Sometimes I keep them just for the design, sometimes for the language printed on them. When I finally learn to read Japanese, I’ll have plenty of material waiting for me.

Hotel stationery

I sometimes feel a bit guilty about this, but I do collect hotel stationery – envelopes, notepads, letterheads. Maybe it’s the maritime life, maybe it’s nostalgia, but there’s something comforting about the uniformity and care that hotels put into their paper goods.

These little pieces tuck neatly into notebooks and add a sense of luxury to your travel memories.

Business cards

I don’t really collect business cards, though a few have found their way into my bag simply because someone handed them to me. Most of them aren’t even beautifully designed – but there’s something sentimental about the idea.

A business card can feel like a promise that you might return someday: to a cafe you loved, a cheap restaurant you stumbled into, a driver we hired in unfamiliar cities.

Even if you never use them, they hold a quick snapshot of the people who crossed your path while travelling.

Local coins or small-denomination notes

I always seem to end up with a little pile of leftover change after every trip. Instead of giving them away or trying to spend them all at the airport, I just keep them.

Some get used again on future trips; others stay in a drawer because the currency has changed or I simply don’t know when I’ll return.

But even then, they become tiny souvenirs by accident, proof that I once stood somewhere far from home, that I once navigated a country’s buses, bakeries, or ticket machines long enough to earn a pocketful of loose change.

Elongated coins

I don’t have many of these, but they’re one of the most charming travel keepsakes when I come across them.

Some countries have souvenir machines at tourist spots that press a design onto a coin and stretch it into an elongated oval. It’s a simple transformation that turns loose change into a souvenir.

These pressed coins often feature landmarks, or local icons. Unlike regular pocket change, they’re made to be kept.

Keychains

Keychains used to feel like the most generic souvenir in the world, the kind of thing we’d buy in bulk as gifts because we didn’t know what else to bring home.

Over time, I’ve come to appreciate the ones that are a little unusual: a handcrafted charm, a tiny ornament, something that reflects the personality of a place instead of its tourist clichés.

The nice thing about keychains is how they don’t sit forgotten in a drawer; they travel with you. A simple, well-made keychain becomes a tiny marker of where you’ve been, turning your everyday keys into a small map of your memories.

Fridge magnets

This is the one thing I always look for when I’m visiting somewhere new. Our fridge at home is slowly turning into a collage of places I’ve wandered through: tiny city skylines, miniature landscapes, printed photos, and quirky designs that somehow represent each destination.

I’m not sure how the habit started. Maybe from relatives whose fridge was always covered in magnets from their travels. But now it feels like a ritual. Choosing one magnet is like choosing a single detail that sums up how a place felt, at least to me.

Metro cards or transportation cards

I don’t have many of these, mostly because only big cities use them. But the few I’ve held onto feel surprisingly meaningful.

Some cards have pretty designs, some remain valid for years, and some are long expired but still remind me of the routes I once learned, the stations I kept returning to, and the small familiarity that comes with figuring out a city’s transit system.

Even one card can carry the feeling of having belonged somewhere, even briefly.

Luggage tags from airlines or hostels

Luggage tags can be fun to keep, though mine usually end up dirty or torn from all the handling. Still, there’s something about them that feels symbolic – the start and end of a journey printed on a small strip of paper.

If you happen to get one with a nice design or a particularly memorable route, it can be a sweet addition to a travel journal or scrapbook.

Pressed leaves or flowers

I once received a pressed autumn leaf from a friend who had just returned from South Korea. A simple, delicate souvenir that said more than anything she could have bought.

Pressed leaves and flowers make lovely keepsakes, but it’s important to check local rules before taking them home. Some parks and protected areas don’t allow collecting plant materials.

If you like keeping small reminders of the places you’ve been, you might also like my list of travel-inspired activities for days when you’re not on the road.

And if you’re thinking about thoughtful presents for someone who loves to travel, I’ve gathered a collection of meaningful gifts for travel lovers too. Enjoy exploring!