Q.
Bright colours beckon, travel bliss is high, must bottle a bit of this dream. Aha! A souvenir.

Which of your travel souvenirs do you treasure most? Which are shoved into the bottom of a junk drawer, mess cupboard, or deeply embowelled storage box?

Which souvenirs do travellers regret getting the most?

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A.

Near the top of my own list is the ‘jade’ figurine I bought on a childhood trip with my parents. We had not yet left the airport, when I sprinted over to a kindly looking gentleman selling said figurines.

Handing over the bulk of my travel allowance, I ran proudly back to my skeptical parents. “It’s real jade!” As we shuttled to the hotel, the green of my tightly-clutched semi-precious treasure leaked all over my hot hands.

Sadly, we were not travelling to the Emerald City. Sadly, the streaky plastic geegaw that lurked below was destined for the junk drawer.

Which souvenirs have got stuck in other tourist’s craws?

A survey of 1000 UK travellers by Travelzoo, found …

Most regretted souvenir purchases
• Resort logo t-shirts
• Keyrings
• Mugs
• Fridge magnets
• Heavy housewares
• Snow globes
• Candles
• Dolls
• Counterfeit accessories

👜

Tattoo You?
Meanwhile, A Sunshine Co poll of 1,790 young travellers between the ages of 18 and 25, found a different most regretted travel souvenir: tattoos.

Around 66% of respondents said they seriously regretted their travel skin art. The most commonly reported travel tattoos were:

i.    Stars
ii.  A phrase or motto
iii. A heart

❤️‍🔥

Are we getting wise to souvenir regret?

In one 2024 YouGov study, 58% of the 2,060 UK adult respondents claim that they are buying fewer holiday souvenirs than in the past.

What reasons do they give? Less disposable income, environmental concerns, and luggage limits. 33% added that they found souvenir buying and goods ‘old-fashioned and tacky.’ Well, then …

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www.justcurious.ca

Header Photo: Jacalyn Beales