Sara Cowling takes us down memory lane revisiting trinkets collected on travels.
Travel is one of those things in life that literally opens up our ears, eyes, heart and soul to an abundance of worldly experience. Some people write a diary to capture their adventure in the written form, others collect badges or postcards of the destinations they’ve been to. Nevertheless there’s something truly special about the things we collect along the way. After all, at the end of the trip when you’re back on home soil, all that is left are your memories, photographs and of course, those wonderful trinkets.
Jennifer Cooper, On Hold Professionals
Bought in Delhi, India over 36 years ago, Jennifer Cooper spotted this beautiful pendant and smooth woven chain from a silverware jeweller. Days later, the then 18-year-old found out the necklace actually represented fertility; but only if she wished to have a baby, would the power of the necklace come true. Today, Jennifer’s daughter wears the necklace almost daily.
Maxine Balzat, Avid Globetrotter
Maxine Balzat spotted this quirky little brooch at a market, tucked away in the backstreets of Prague. On her first visit to the market she regretfully didn’t purchase anything. It took her and her girlfriends two days to relocate the market and find the brooch; which she considers one of her favourite things she’s found during her travels.
Dani Maia, Model/Actress
Made from Brazilian Amazonian seeds, this necklace was given to Dani Maia by her father, who travelled to the north of Brazil 14 years ago. After seeing the piece hanging by the roadside, he wanted to purchase it. Not realising he needed permission from the tribes people to enter, he was captured and held at spear point for trespassing. The misunderstanding was finally resolved, he was released and allowed to buy the necklace. This incredible tale is what makes this one of Dani’s most treasured pieces.
Sasha Raj, wife and mother of two
This lotus seedpod holds memories of a confluence adventure Sasha Raj went on six years ago with her brother and friends to the Hubei Province in Southern China. Their trek to the third point was particularly memorable to Sasha as their taxi driver (bewildered by their quest) decided to join in. Completing the journey by foot, they reached a hill overlooking a beautiful valley of lotus and rice paddy fields. The taxi driver picked several lotus pods for the group. Her pod is a replica that she bought in a market, as Sasha knew she could not take the real pod back home to Australia.
Karen Reyment, Author of Foodies Guide to Brisbane and freelance food and travel writer
This stone was collected from an old farmhouse in Northern Ireland, where Karen Reyments’ mother lived during the war. Karen, her mother, husband and son visited the house nine years ago. While touring the house, they came across a collapsed stone wall in the kitchen, where Karen’s grandmother used to boil big pots of water. Karen collected four stones from the rubble to take back home. Today, the stone sits on her windowsill so she can see it every day. The stone reminds Karen of her late mother and the beautiful country farmhouse.
Illustrations by Isabelle McGreevy