Travel History: Exploration #30

Every time that I travel to a new place, I make a point to collect something from there so I am able to look back at these items and remember the memories that I had at that particular place. The first place that I remember traveling to was Canada, which was a stop on our way to Niagara Falls. I decided to collect the Canadian money so I could remember going there. While in Niagara Falls, I went to one of the many gift shops and I got a small stuffed animal that had a "I've been to the falls" t-shirt on it. 

My next big trip was New Orleans for a mission trip. While there, I bought a Mardi Gras mask at a gift shop because I know that it is such a big holiday there. Next, I went to Nicaragua on a mission trip a couple of years ago and kept collected many things from there because I knew that I wouldn't be able to go there again anytime soon. The first thing that I got was a jar full of sand from the Pacific Ocean and also some seashells that I found on the beach. It was the first time that I've ever been to the ocean, so collecting that was very important to me. I also got a Nicaragua t-shirt from a market in Leon, one of the cities that we visited. I also kept Cordobas, which are the coins that they have, and authentic Cuban cigars from a market in Managua. It was very difficult figuring out how to get the cigars through customs, but I was able to! I'm not a smoker, but I thought that it would be a cool thing to collect. 

The last place that I visited was New York City. I collected a couple of signed Playbills from the shows that I went to on Broadway, Ramapo Roadrunners from the campus bookstore so I could remember where I studies, and a I Love New York t-shirt because as a tourist, that was a "for sure" purchase!