Bottling Memories: Souvenir Sand Vials

Recently I've been pretty good at resisting buying souvenirs on my travels. And that's not always easy...the pull of the elephant harem pants or bear claw salad servers can be alarmingly strong in the moment. But once you're no longer surrounded by tourists sporting Vietnamese conical hats, you may wonder what to do with yours...

A few years ago I started collecting a little vial of sand/stones from each place I visited. This not only allows you to play amateur geologist (it's actually pretty interesting to compare sand from different places), it completely abates that must-find-a-souvenir-however-tacky notion that can accompany travelling.

Having tried other vessels in the past, the ones I've come to like best are these little corked glass vials (they're cheap too -- Dollarama -- six for $1.25). I stick a circular label on the bottom and that's it. Souvenir, done.

Here are the ones I've collected during my travels this past year.

Carcross Desert, Yukon

rock glacier in Kluane National Park, Yukon

Samosir Island, Lake Toba, Indonesia

stupa ruins, Inn Thein, Inle Lake, Myanmar

volcanic sulphur, Mt. Sibayak, Berastagi, Indonesia

So despite occasionally feeling awkward collecting sand as tourists look on, it's totally worth it to have nice little vials that bring back memories of the places you filled them. Bottled memories -- kinda like:

pensieve (any excuse for a Harry Potter reference) (source)