Collecting #3: miscellaneous travel paraphernalia (or, the equivalent of the bottom drawer, the back of the cupboard, or the shoebox under the bed)

My last ‘filing drawer’ (a re-sealable plastic bag in the inside pocket of the Samsonite, I remind you) contains all those little bits and pieces of travel paraphernalia that are not so easily categorized. There are concert tickets stubs from shows we loved: Marisa Monte in Buenos Aires, The Strokes in Amsterdam, Death Cab for Cutie in Brussels…, opera tickets from memorable nights (Prague, Budapest, and Milan), tickets from museums or art exhibitions that impressed or inspired us (only from the most outstanding), and restaurant receipts and business cards (from the most enjoyable and most memorable meals; the rest are stapled in our research notebooks). Why do I treasure them so much? Because like the flight ticket stubs and hotel room keys, they serve as reminders of our most special experiences, because our memories are faulty no matter how good we think they can be, and because together these little bits and pieces comprise a bigger story. To me, they’re worth the excess luggage fees.