My Travel Ornament Collection

When I moved into my own apartment, I was so excited to get my first Christmas tree. The first couple of years I would get a real tree - my dad would come help me pick it out, walk it back to my place and then help me put it up. It was great father/daughter bonding and I loved the smell of having a real tree, but my apartment gets really dry and after Christmas I would have to drag the 6-foot tree down three flights of stairs and out my building to dispose of it on my own. So when my dad offered me a fake tree that he found in his garage that wasn’t being used, I made the hard decision to make the switch to fake trees. 

So what was the problem? The tree was really big! It was about 7-feet tall and wide and I simply did not have enough ornaments to decorate it the way I was used to. 

Tree pre-ornaments

My solution? I decided to start collecting ornaments. But no ornaments in particular - only ornaments from my travels. I now make it a point to purchase one ornament on every new trip I take. I also encourage friends and family to only buy me a souvenir (never necessary but if they insist!) from their travels if it’s an ornament.  

Some of my fave Ornaments from past trips...  

Houston, Texas - 2017

Love this cowboy boot from my first trip to Houston for Christmas!

Iceland - 2017

This puffin ornament seemed like an obvious choice during my trip to Iceland.

Florida - 2017

Mickey Mouse ornament from Disney - obviously!

Puerto Rico - 2016 (maybe?)

Honestly, I can’t remember where I got this little guy - PR seems like the only logical place. He’s super cute though!

…And there are so many more! After three years of collecting from my travels, I think I finally have enough ornaments! Here is the 2018 finished product:

I can’t wait to keep adding to the collection!

xoxo - Kim