Souvenirs: T-shirts

I feel like a common souvenir that people get when they travel is a t-shirt boasting of the new place they have ventured to. I have been guilty of getting a t-shirt that proudly proclaims the location I have vacationed in.

Once, my family and I were in Estes Park, Colorado eating ice cream, and my sister accidentally spilled some ice cream on her shirt. We went to a nearby souvenir shop to get her a new shirt. And of course, since my sister was getting a new shirt, I just had to get one too! We were both in elementary school, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to pick out a new shirt.

Since I’ve grown up, I haven’t gotten as many t-shirts from vacations as I did in the past. Mostly, it’s because I don’t have many opportunities to wear them since I mostly just work. I could wear them on the weekends, but I’ve gotten away from wearing branded shirts or shirts with words on them. I do wear a few vacation t-shirts for pajamas or exercising though.

And I do still have a few t-shirts that I wear occasionally that are from places I have been to. For instance, I have a bright blue t-shirt that I purchased on the Ruby Princess ship during an Alaskan cruise. I also have a t-shirt with Dory from the Finding Nemo movie that says “Just Keep Swimming.” I got it when I went with my sister to Walt Disney World. I found it in a gift shop and had to find a shirt that would fit me since it was meant for children. I ended up with an XXL shirt!

I also have a shirt that is not from a specific place, but it does talk about travel. I have a bright red shirt with white lettering that says, “To travel is to live.” I believe it is my travel motto! I sometimes feel like I live to travel. I absolutely love to travel, and it really hurt my soul when I couldn’t travel in 2020 and most of 2021. When I think back on each year, I think about where I have been. I strive to travel to a new place each year, and it was sad when I could not go anywhere due to the global pandemic. My husband and I were wanting to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, but it was put off to November 2022.

I have tried to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable, as has my husband. He introduced me to a YouTube channel called Climate Town, and last night, we watched his latest video which focused on t-shirt merch. It focused on merch from bands, TV shows, and movies, but it could easily be applicable to tourist t-shirts. Rollie’s video discussed the reasons why t-shirts are not environmentally friendly, nor are they friendly towards human rights. I recommend you watch the video: https://youtu.be/8CkgCYPe68Q?si=o3ZAQgqoGamCv5tx It will definitely make me think twice when I want to buy a t-shirt on a trip!