I was in a really bad place, mentally, while living on the road. Had a dual sport motorbike and decided to be really, really reckless in the middle of the desert in Terlingua, TX. Ended up nose diving into a hole, smashing my face on my windshield, and eating a lot of sand. Busted my goggles, the windshield, and the clutch lever was toast.

When I finally got up and started to lift my bike off the ground, I found a bunch of peculiar tiny rocks near where I had kicked up all the dust. Ran a magnet over them, and sure enough they were meteorite fragments. Made a necklace out of one and took the others back to camp with me and gave them to my traveling partners at the time.

If you’re ever in that area, do yourself a favor and check out Agua Fria. Cowboy camping out there is magnificent, and the natural spring it’s named after is, well, very aptly named. Very quiet and it might just change your life.

I figure that the Swiss Army knife my dad got me for Boy Scouts is really up there. Self explanatory why I suppose.

I like to collect a right hand from each one of my murder victims. That way, when I’m inevitably caught because I posted about this on a public website, I can say to the arresting police officer: “I have to hand it to you officer, you did all right for finally catching me.”.

It’s not much, but it’s honest work.

I have several ears from my enemies that I keep on a necklace. every time I see them I feel righteous and powerful, like a god.

My AKAI S-1100 sampler. I never could afford any sampler but I bought one second hand for cheap, had to repair the display and it is still running solid 35 years after production date.

I collect earrings as souvenirs when I travel. I try to get something from a local small artist or at craft fairs, something that reminds me of the place. They are practical and good conversation starters too.

My favorite pair is from Alaska. They aren’t too long, but they are a piece of mother of pearl and Alaskan jade that dangle from a post. I bought them at a native education center from a lady who had a booth and was making earrings while she sat there. It was a really fun trip.

Not really a souvenir, but I bought a Blahaj from IKEA a while back, and it chills in my living room.

The ring of an eyebolt that used to hold the jackstay to Star of India’s main topgallant yard. Rusted through where water used to pool at the yard. I spent about a year, in 4-hour blocks, painting the main mast from top to bottom as a kid, and I can’t imagine a better way to experience San Diego bay.

I went through the schools, at NAS Pensacola, to be a Rescue Swimmer.

I noticed the lights around the quad, in the main barracks, galley, and school house area, all had little metal F-18’s on top of them.

A few days before I transferred off base to the next school in my pipeline, I climbed one of the poles and took one.

It reminds me of the challenges I faced, being young, and to alway keep a bit of “Damn the Man, save the Empire” in my soul.

I have a bit of sand from Normandy which used to just remind me of the sacrifice that so many have made to fight fascism and aggression. Now it also reminds me to fight that same fascism today.

A photo of me in the color guard, for a parade in a town I wasn’t from, for people I didn’t really know, in a state I had never been. It was a summer of adventure that took me all the way across the US. It reminds to embrace the unknown, be friendly, and sometimes just letting the flow take you can lead to new, wondrous things you never could have expected

My wedding ring. It reminds me that despite the heartbreak, despair, and self loathing that came from that relationship, there were two years of delirious happiness. That not all journeys’ ends are happy or avoidable, that we need to bear through them, no matter how much you want to just end everything. You WILL look back and remember the things you got to do because you stayed, and be glad you did. To trust my gut and have the courage to make the choices my heart doesn’t want to make. It is easier to live with your own mistakes than someone else’s.

A gold signet ring that belonged to my grandfather and has his initials.

A cheap silver ring found in a clearance sale, given to me by my SO

A small piece of meteoroid, and a slice of another

A bronze Roman house key

A Greek iron war-arrow

And a decent collection of coins, each with their own story to tell

Those are the only material possessions I have on this earth that I have an emotional connection with. I don’t care for riches or luxuries beyond being able to interact with the above and maybe grow it, when circumstances permit.

I have a grandfather clock I inherited from my uncle after he died. It’s a beautiful piece and reminds me of the good times I had with him every time I hear it chime.

I’m super sentimental with stuff like this. I collect magnets from places so I try to grab a few on a vacation from different places we visit. I get a postcard that I put in a photo album with the dates and a short blurb. I get something for my daughter’s scrapbook/smash book. Each year I have a page with her picture and notes from her teachers, then a page of memories. There’s stickers, patches, tickets, wristbands, keychains, and medals in there. I like things that are small but meaningful

Um yea I lose things so I’m not really that emotionally attached to things.

But I remember when I was at the Statue of Liberty, there was the coin thing where the machine seemingly creates a new coin from your 2 quarters or something like that (I forgot how exactly it works) and like it has the statue of liberty on it and also the quote “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”… and there are like few different variations, me and my older brother each got at least one of these coins. We went there with my aunts and uncles in the us, apparantly you had to pre-book a ticket months in advance?

I think I was just playing around with that souvenier coin on the way home.

I don’t think I even paid attention the the significance of it, or even listened to the audio guide thing, and I think I completely just didn’t care about ellis island. I was like… somewhere age 8-12… Kid-me only thought “big statue with torch, so cool”. But like… they didn’t even allow us on the actual statue because… apparantly it got closed down after 9/11. But my aunt talked about how she went in the inside before 9/11 happened. I wished I got to see the outside from like the top even though I know it would trigger my fear of heights.

I totally just missed the significance of this elis island to immigrants, and now looking back, I kinda feel embarassed I didn’t pay attentition to it, me being an immigrant myself.

But yea… I lost those coin(s) like within… I think one year… lol…

Kids being kids… always losing things… xD

Our family loves to travel, experience new cultures, and explore places.

The family collects Christmas ornaments on our travels. After 20 years we have an entire tree full. They all have emotional connections for us and remind us of where we’ve been. Great times.

We have decorations around the house, mugs, and spices for the same reason. We don’t typically buy cheap souvenirs.

I have a simple, cheap, gold band I wear that my wife gave me as an engagement ring. I wear it on my right ring finger as I originally did. I didn’t want to give anyone the impression I was already married. Just never moved it as my wedding ring is a rolling ring and it would get in the way and pinch.

Though I have lost some things I valued ( not up for that story right now) what I do still have is a photo of myself autographed by Mark Shuttleworth (of Ubuntu fame). It was from when I met him while he was touring after his adventure on the ISS. Reminds me of better times.