I wouldn’t call myself materialistic by any means, but I value certain possessions in my life, and a number of them relate to my life in travel as permanent and lasting souvenirs. There’s the photograph on my refrigerator at home of me, my younger brother, and my twin sister, aged 9, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower on our first sojourn to Europe in 1980. My parents pulled us out of school at spring break for a high school rugby tour – my dad was a coach – and we remained in Europe after the team went home, travelling around “the continent” in a camper, visiting relatives and campsites. I have returned to Europe on many occasions since. There’s my piece of the Berlin Wall, carved out of the wall itself with borrowed hammer and chisel, on my return trip to Europe in 1989, fresh out of high school, backpacking through Europe for five months. I was fortunate enough to be in Berlin for New Year’s Eve that year. There’s my aging Koolah waterproof hat, purchased at Mountain Equipment Co-op for a kayak tour of Belize in my later twenties, which accompanies me on every trip now, sunny or otherwise. I make a point of purchasing a pin for my hat from each location I visit, and the hat is weighted down with the collection of pins. It has almost become a pincushion, rather than a hat. And amongst all those possessions, I still possess a sense of wonder and excitement when it comes to travel, seeking out the remotest places and making connections with special meals, moments, and knowledge, and I love to share that with others and see it in the excited faces of people in anticipation of what might be and what they might collect, too, on their travels.