Lately I’ve been really into watching “haul videos” on Youtube. I’m not sure why I’m so fascinated by them, but I am. I like to see what’s available and what people buy. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that our family tends to purchase the same types of things when we travel and I was curious if anyone else shares similar interest.

So, here’s a list of the souvenirs we purchased on our recent trip to New Orleans.

1. Hard Rock Cafe Pins.

My husband and his best friend both collect pins from the Hard Rock. My husband displays them on his guitar strap, and it serves as kind of a reminder of the places we’ve been.

2. Nike New Orleans Shirt.

My husband and I both LOVE Nike Shirts, we like to lounge around in them and to be honest, 90% of my husbands shirts are nike shirts (the other 10% is star wars or mickey).  We happened to mention that it would be fun to go get a nike shirt, and when we looked up the nike store, we were actually only a few miles away! So, we went!

3. Starbucks: You are Here Mug

I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t like to drink coffee out of this mug. I use my Mickey Mug every day and I LOVE it, so why change? However, we do love to collect these mugs as little memories of the places we have been, and they are wonderful for eating Soup (or ice cream) out of!

4. Books.

Since our girls are growing SO fast, I feel like clothing is a total waste of money. So, we purchase a book about the area. This trip we purchased Hello, New Orleans and What Sleepy Animals Do.  both of them were purchased at the Audubon Zoo. I get a little nervous about over spending because, as you can see EVERYTHING can be found on Amazon, but the prices were the same with the exception of the Hello New Orleans book. We paid 1.00 more at the zoo than if we’d bought it online.  Since we purchased the zoo book AT the zoo, we scored a signed copy, so that was pretty exciting for the girls.

Our girls really enjoyed both books, and Hello, New Orleans has become part of our bedtime routine.

5. Coffee and Mug.

If you go to New Orleans, GO TO CAFE DU MONDE! It opened in 1862, and you can get coffee and beignets 24 hours a day! The first time we went, it was almost sunset and the lines for both the take out window and the dine-in were ridiculously long. We actually waited in the take out line for almost an hour. Let me tell you, it was WORTH every second of the wait!

We went back on our way out of town and I purchased a can of coffee to bring home and surprised my husband with a mug and a can of the coffee they serve. New Orleans is a city he has ALWAYS wanted to visit, and I wanted to surprise him with something he wouldn’t expect.

Question of the day: Do you purchase souvenirs when you travel and what do you usually pick up?