Don’t Throw Away These Travel Souvenirs

Hold onto that cafe sugar packet. Sometimes it’s the small, disposable items that tell the story of your trip better than photos. Increasingly, travelers are turning away from their photos and towards something decided old-school: travel journaling.

When memory lived on paper 

Long before anyone was able to document a trip with a lens, travelers were writing things down. Ancient explorers recorded routes and landscapes; later writers began adding emotion and reflection. Over time, travel journaling shifted from fact to feeling – from “what I saw” to “what it meant to me.” 

That instinct within us hasn’t disappeared, it’s just been buried under thousands of digital photos. And now, it’s resurfacing. 

Recent travel trends suggest a growing share of younger travelers are actively seeking offline ways to remember trips, while journaling content continues to surge across platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Companies such as Hellotickets, the platform specializing in experiences in international cities, have documented the rising interest around small, meaningful keepsakes alongside the journaling boom. 

Photos are definitely not going away – but perhaps they’re no longer enough on their own. 

The moment you realize objects matter 

I find that there is a particular kind of nostalgia that only physical things can trigger. I’m sure you have felt it before: finding an old notebook tucked away somewhere, or reading a card someone wrote you years ago. The handwriting alone is enough to pull you back. Add in a receipt, a ticket, something pressed between the pages, and suddenly you’re transported right back in time. 

For me, it was reading my mum’s old travel journal filled with scraps from a different time and place. It wasn’t polished or curated, or made to be perfectly “aesthetic” – something I think we’re always conscious of in the digital age. It was messy and completely absorbing.  

That’s the difference. Objects don’t just remind you what happened – they help you reenter it. 

Why Paris is the perfect city for it 

Paris effortlessly lends itself to this kind of memory-making. Standing at a café counter with an espresso, folding a museum map into your bag, hopping on the metro, catching a concert. These simple moments don’t always make for striking photos – but they do stay with you in other ways. 

And often, they’re tied to something you held in your hand. 

7 Paris souvenirs you should never throw away 

Paris metro tickets are now being phased out in favor of the rechargeable Navigo pass (check out Marilyn Brouwer’s ode to the ultimate souvenir here) but there are plenty of other tangible tokens to collect during your trip. 

1. Postcards

Not for sending, but for keeping. Whether it’s Montmartre or Le Marais, postcards today are more about providing a visual anchor for a specific place and feeling. Jot a sentence about where you bought it from, or where you’re writing it, and it provides a perfect souvenir. 

2. Museum maps from places like the Louvre Museum

Museum maps might seem disposable, but later they become a surprisingly vivid reminder of a morning spent wandering through art and history. 

3. Sugar packets from cafés

That tiny sachet from your morning espresso? It holds more sentiment than you’d expect – where you sat, what you saw, and what you thought whilst watching from a terrasse.  

4. Tickets from events and shows

More than just entry passes, tickets from shows or events (think a cabaret at the Moulin Rouge or a trip up the Eiffel Tower) capture these momentous events. 

5. Receipts

A crumpled receipt can bring back the charm of a hidden bookstore or a spontaneous purchase along the Seine. 

6. Stickers or packaging

From boutique labels to pastry boxes, these small design details add texture and personality to your journal pages. 

7. Something you wrote in the moment

Even one honest sentence can outlast dozens of photos: “Sat at a bar in Paris with a glass of wine. It’s going to be impossible to leave.” 

How to turn it into something lasting 

You don’t need anything elaborate, or to be overly artistic, to begin your journaling journey. A simple notebook, a glue stick, and a pen are enough. The key is consistency: collect as you go, and take a few minutes each day to stick things in and jot down thoughts. Make sure not to overthink it – those messy pages often become the most meaningful. 

Long after your camera roll fills up and disappears into the cloud, it’s the show ticket, sugar packet, and scribbled note that will bring you right back to Paris. 

Sometimes, the smallest things are the souvenirs you keep forever. Because one day, when you come back to it in years to come, those pages won’t just show you Paris, they’ll take you back there.