As a kid we picked up rocks from our travel adventures. As adults we look for dirt cheap deals. However I admit loving to take home some souvenir dirt.
I got a rock the size of a fist that sits on my desk. It's from the field where the new Los Angeles Stadium is building built. Picked up this free souvenir when I was walking along the sidewalk on a way to a gig. It fell off a truck coming away from the field. It's one of those quirky things I have been collecting over my lifetime: rocks and dirt.
Typically the first thing that comes to mind about collecting rocks, soil or dirt is the pet rock. This probably is the farthest from that idea. In fact, my little collection (if you want to call it that) is things just lying close by where I stood as I admired famous places from a distance. Yes, you could say I travel for dirt.
Little Bags Full of Rocks, Dirt from Famous Places.
Most people don't want a shirt for a souvenir on vacation. They aren't interested in a magnet either. Perhaps a pile of rocks from a trip is a wee-bit too much, but you can't argue it's weird. Who hasn't desired to touch a moon rock? Or wanted to see dirt from another planet? Well, the thing is about my dirt (and rocks) collected on my travels is that I didn't have to travel to the moon and back to pick it up.
Souvenirs When Traveling Don't Need to Cost
I've got to admit that if I ever decide to move, there will be a few very heavy boxes. My collection, while not too big, is too heavy. Besides a rock from NYC and Atlanta,
I got another, much smaller rock, from downtown Los Angeles and it was a stones throw from Staples center. A tiny rock, about the size of a dime, I have from the street in front of 1313 Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim. Then there is a mini pouch of dirt I bought online that was to have come from near the Vatican. Putting all this soil and dirt together, I doubt I'd be able to grow anything, but that isn't the point.
Humans Long to Walk on Dirt Never Touched Before
When we head to the woods, sometimes we wonder if the path we take has ever been touched by another person. We long to be the first to bring back everything in society for almost everything we touch, be it a planet, the bottom of the ocean or mini microscopic germs. Dirt is the basis of that beginning desire. Be it wet rocks from the sea or dust from the moon. Soil samples as souvenirs isn't really all that weird at all.
Where to Find Dirt Souvenirs when you Travel
If you decide to grab souvenirs for cheap travel consider picking up a rock. Yet, please don't pick up a rock on private property and claim it's yours. That's really theft. Frankly, there are so many rocks and such on sidewalks - along with other public property locations - that one pebble from a public location will do just fine. Plus, you've just saved yourself $15 on a shirt that reads "Los Angeles" and avoided a garment probably shipped from China.