Traditions are fun. Everybody has them, in everyday life but also when traveling. It’s fun to have some things you do on every trip, like buying a cookbook on vacation and making some recipes from the country you’ve visited when coming home. Or visit a zoo in every city that you come across. Whatever it is, I think it’s nice to have some recurring things to do while traveling. Here are some of my travel traditions.

Shows

For every citytrip we book, we always try to book a show, whether it being a play, a comedy or an opera. It started on our first trip together, when we spend a weekend in London. We were looking for things to do in the city and when we came across the Globe Theatre (which is Shakespeare’s theatre) we couldn’t not see a show there. And from that moment, a tradition was born. We saw an opera in the Prague Opera House, a comedy in Newcastle’s Theatre Royal, an interactive performance of The Great Gatsby in the Gate Theatre in Dublin and a Flamenco Show in Sevilla.

It’s a fun tradition and though it’s not always possible (sometimes there aren’t any shows that we’re interested in, or none at all), it’s one that I love and will cherish.

Bookstores and Literary Museums

I’m a huge booknerd and so, finding the best bookstores in town is one of my favourite things to do in every city. And I have found so many! The picture above is from Waanders in de Broeren in Zwolle, Netherlands. I’ve also visited Shakespeare & Company a couple of times in Paris, Libreria Acqua Alta in Venice, Dominicanen in Maastricht, Shakespeare A synové in Prague and Litea in Budapest.

Same goes for literary museums. Even if it’s a museum of one specific author I’ve never heard of, I will look it up and visit if it sounds interesting. This is how I discovered one of my favourite authors, by visiting the Saramago museum in Lisbon.

Souvenirs

Remember the whole ordinary traveler thing? I always buy souvenirs on vacation, which is a very touristic thing to do, but I always love to have something that reminds me of a good vacation. I always look for books and bookmarks. I love picture books with beautiful drawings of the city, but I also like to discover new authors and books that came from the city or country that I’m visiting. And whenever I’m in the UK, I buy way too many books at the Waterstones… Next to books, I almost always buy bookmarks and postcards of the city. I have a huge collection of them already and it’s only getting bigger… They’re a fun way to remind oneself of all the trips you’ve taken and also, they don’t take up much room in your luggage.

I also love to buy some decorations for my home. We have a fan from Seville up on our wall, as well as a carnival mask from Venice. Other than that, our bookcase is filled with little trinkets we picked up on our voyages.

What kind of travel traditions do you guys have? I’m very curious, so don’t hesitate to comment 🙂