Holiday souvenirs – treasures or tat?

…but what is the point of souvenirs and why are so many of us susceptible to their luring powers?

I’ve not yet walked into my newly painted kitchen and thought ‘well this is all very nice but what it’s missing is a Statue of Liberty fridge magnet’. Yet, I’m as guilty as many other holidaymakers when it comes to buying holiday souvenirs that serve little purpose other than to fill up much=needed wardrobe space.

A car made of beer cans

In recent years I have managed to cut down on the amount of souvenirs I return home with. My recent trip to Turkey saw my purchases limited to two ceramic door numbers. Naturally it only took me a couple of minutes of arriving home to realise these brightly coloured plaques of tat would look completely out of place on a Victorian cottage and thus they are now stuck on my garden shed.

Yet, regrettably, these aren’t the only souvenirs that have made their way into my suitcase over the years.

I think I was at my most vulnerable on a trip to Cuba many years ago – I’m using the fact that this was my first holiday outside Europe as an excuse for my eagerness to buy most of the souvenirs in sight…

The hand-carved chess and domino sets were naturally an essential for every home, yet the pièce de résistance was a car made out of beer cans – yes you read right, a model of a car that had been made out of beer cans. How this was ever going to sit nicely on the mantelpiece of my Grade II listed cottage is a question I’ve never quite managed to answer.

I love Tenerife!

And not content with filling our own houses with tourist tat, we also like to bestow our family and friends, our nearest and dearest (the ones we are supposed to care most about) with gifts from our holidays.

Apparently I love Tenerife! Strange considering I’ve never been there, but if that’s what the t-shirt my friend bought me says… Other delights I’ve been given include a dead scorpion from Tunisia, a decorative plate from Portugal and a bandana of the US flag.

So what are your thoughts on holiday souvenirs? Are they treasures or tat and what’s the worst souvenir you’ve ever bought or been given?