The open road offers countless treasures, from breathtaking mountain vistas to quirky roadside attractions, but the debate over the ultimate travel memento is a tale as old as time itself. We recently posed a critical question to our community of road warriors: What is your favorite RV travel souvenir?
This isn’t just about trinkets; it’s a profound inquiry into how we choose to crystallize our memories after the engine cools and the jacks are down.
We launched this highly scientific investigation in our weekly newsletter, where our brilliant readers cast their votes to settle this once and for all. A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this democratic process of memory-keeping! If you haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet, make sure you do so you can vote in the next poll and help guide our future findings.
The results are in, and they paint a fascinating picture of our collective souvenir-hoarding habits. Without further ado, let’s break down the percentages.
| Souvenir Type | Percentage of Votes |
|---|---|
| Photos | 47% |
| Magnets | 30% |
| Local Crafts | 20% |
| Postcards | 3% |
The Reigning Champion: Digital Dust & Glorious Pixels
To the surprise of absolutely no one in the digital age, Photos have been crowned the undisputed champion of RV souvenirs. This category won in a landslide, proving that while our RVs carry our homes, our smartphones carry our memories (and approximately 4,000 nearly identical pictures of a sunset over a lake).
The beauty of this choice is its perfect alignment with the RV lifestyle: it’s free, it doesn’t take up any precious storage space, and you can instantly share your “we ate this giant pancake” victory with the world. The only downside? Trying to find a signal strong enough to upload them all before you forget which state you were in when you took them.
The Fridge-Fillers: Magnetic Personality
Claiming a strong second place is the humble yet mighty Magnet. This is the souvenir for the practical RVer. It’s cheap, it’s lightweight, and it has a dedicated display case that travels with you: the outside of your refrigerator. Every time you grab a cold drink, you’re greeted by a tiny metal tribute to your adventures. It’s a collection that says, “I’ve been to Wall Drug, and I’m not afraid to show it.” They are the silent, shiny soldiers holding the front line against boring appliance surfaces everywhere.
The Space-Takers: Beautiful, Bulky Regrets
Coming in third are Local Crafts. We salute the brave 20% who vote with their hearts and their cargo capacity. This is the high-stakes gamble of souvenir shopping. That hand-carved wooden bear statue might seem like a perfect idea in the Smoky Mountains, but 500 miles down the road, you’re rearranging your entire basement storage to accommodate its new, permanent residence. These items have soul and story, but they also require a dedicated weight distribution hitch for your memories.
The Underdog: A Postcard from the Edge of Obscurity
And then, we have Postcards, languishing in last place with a mere 3% of the vote. In a world where we can send a live video from the top of a mountain, the classic postcard has become a charmingly archaic relic. It requires finding a post office, deciphering postal codes, and actually remembering to buy a stamp. For most modern RVers, the effort of mailing a postcard is roughly equivalent to just driving back home and handing it to the person yourself. Its greatest virtue—being a physical piece of the place you visited—has been tragically outsourced to the magnet.
Why We Think the Results Shook Out This Way
The results of this poll are a perfect reflection of the core tenets of the RV lifestyle: practicality and efficiency. Photos dominate because they are the ultimate zero-clutter, high-impact souvenir. They fulfill our desire to capture memories without imposing a physical burden on our limited mobile square footage. Magnets follow the same principle, offering a tangible, collectible item with a fixed and functional purpose. Local crafts, while cherished, represent a commitment to space and weight that many full-time or frequent travelers simply can’t justify. And the postcard? Its decline is a symptom of our instant-gratification world; why wait for days for a mailed card when you can post a photo instantly? Ultimately, the winning souvenirs are those that allow us to hold onto our adventures without weighing our rigs—or our consciences—down.
