(2026 Edit - This post is from the archive; it was first published on 22 September 2013 at 2305. Things, views and facts may have changed since then.)
Memento……
Do you find it just a little bit odd how one little thing, a single item, a little memento of some trip, event or time, can bring back a flood of memories the equivalent of a recollection waterfall, or maybe that’s just me?
The other week I’d gone back to my old house to collect the last box of my belongings that hadn’t quite made the move and were simply gathering dust in the shed. In all honesty, I couldn’t recall exactly what was in the box, just some odds and ends, bits that hadn’t made it into any of the other boxes I’d carefully packed for the move. Therefore, I knew it was nothing marked – books, glasses, kitchen, clothes, bedding, computer stuff, or paperwork, and despite wracking my brains on the hour-and-a-half-long journey from here to there, I couldn’t for the life of me recall just what I’d stored away in the box.
Upon arrival and inspection, I found what perhaps many would classify as a load of old junk, and if not junk, then ‘stuff’ not worth a journey of one and a half hours and a £20 train ticket!. A couple of books, a spindle of 100 blank recordable DVDs, a mug that came free with an Easter egg, another mug that was a promotional gift from some coffee company, some used envelopes, a small ten-inch-high ornamental lighthouse designed for the garden, an oven glove, a weekend guest pass for a local health club – five years out of date, a voucher for a free bottle of whiskey – six years out of date, a broken iPod dock speaker, a synthetic flower lay and a key ring. Not the haul of the century, I’m sure you’ll agree. I’m sure you will also concur that the value of said booty could not be more than a couple of quid at the most. Yet, to me, two of the items were almost priceless, holding that extra special, significant sentimental value that mementos always seem to possess. I wonder if I asked if you’d select those two cherished items from the list, perhaps not if I’d not elected to place a couple of photos just a little lower in this post!
The flower lei was purchased with real American dollars in a very touristy gift emporium along Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the world-famous Waikiki Beach. Now, if memory serves me correctly, I think it was an ABC gift store where I also purchased a genuine full ‘eye-watering’ colourful Hawaiian shirt that was actually made in the islands, which I have to say took some finding, as most seemed to be made in China, Taiwan, or some other such place. I also bought a coral necklace, a bone-crafted fish hook necklace that looked like the letter ‘J’, and some surfer-type bracelets – all of which have been lost or worn out over the course of time.
Having the material flower lay, cheap and perhaps tacky as it may be, in my hands again caused a flood of memories to cascade into my mind. Once again I was transported back to the islands and that business trip that seemed so long, yet was really only a week or so. I was working for a travel company at the time, and when I say business trip, I really mean it was a travel organiser's educational trip, which basically means we got to travel to lots of different places, look and stay in some lovely hotels, sample great food, service, hospitality, see tourist things, all for free. The reason for the trip was so we could decide what to put in our brochures and how to sell the destination or hotel. I know, right — flying halfway round the world, staying in some of the best hotels, eating great food, and seeing the sights not only for free, but also getting paid for doing so. Yep, it was a great job, the perks were amazing, at least some of the time, sure the work back at the office was hard, but the trips away and the travel concessions more than made up for such hardships.
I recall that trip was a multi-destination long trip: first we flew to Toronto, a couple of nights there, up to Niagara Falls, a night there, then off to Vancouver, for another couple of nights. After our fill of Canadian hospitality (and beer), we jetted down to Los Angeles, just for a plane change, and then over to Honolulu. I think we stayed three nights, although I could be wrong and maybe it was four. I remember being a little disappointed by the famous Waikiki Beach.
It wasn’t the wide white sandy beach I’d imagined, but rather a narrow, crowded and somewhat dirty strip of thick sand. The area was very commercialised and touristy, even then, and we’re going back some thirteen or fourteen years, and heaven knows what it’s like now! No trip to Oahu would be complete without a trip to Pearl Harbour, which was a very sobering and humbling experience, and the quietness of the overwater memorial looking down to the USS Arizona has stayed with me to this day.
In hindsight, that was perhaps the single most important part of the whole escapade; it was certainly the most thought-provoking and poignant. For some reason at the time, I remember being rather surprised that the majority of the other tourists there were from Japan; it struck me as odd then, not so much so now.
Oahu was big, busy, commercial and expensive, whereas our next destination was the complete opposite: green, lush, tranquil, slow, easy and for me, so much better. It is true to say I loved Maui; I loved pretty much everything about it and sorely wished our three/four nights there could be extended to say a dozen or so. There was a completely different atmosphere on the island, and the pace of life a little gentler, with the local people even friendlier – including a hotel restaurant waiter whose room service etiquette ensured I was completely and utterly satisfied!
Maui also gave us the opportunity to relax, well, more so than we had already; you’ll never know just how tiring it actually is looking at hotels until you have to do it! We had a full day to just chillax on the beach. The next day, other than two simple hotel visits, we enjoyed a whale/dolphin watching trip, although the only dolphins we glimpsed were as we were heading back to harbour. Oh well, them’s the breaks, and to be completely honest, it was the stunning scenery that took my breath away.
Before that little sea trip, the girls I was with wanted a little snack, and there happened to be a little McDonald’s just a way from the harbour (I know it sounds odd having a McDonald’s, but sometimes you can just have too much of fine hotel food!) I wanted a veggie burger, but they don’t do that sort of thing; however, they did give me a burger bun with all the salad stuff for free. I just had to pay for my fries, which was rather amusing and caused a bit of a titter among the girls.
Our trip came to an end, and we bade a rather sad farewell to the beautiful isle of Maui and started what an epic journey home was. You see, when you are on one of these sorts of trips, you are a guest of the airline, and that sometimes means you have to settle for less direct flights, a small price to pay for free travel, of course, but it doesn’t always feel like that. From Maui we flew to Honolulu, then it was Honolulu to Los Angeles; from LA it was up to Vancouver and on to Toronto before an overnight flight to London and a coach back down home. God, I wished I’d been able to collect air miles on that trip alone; it was so long and the flights back more exhausting than the whole trip itself, even if the last leg was in business class!
The other memento, well, that was a key ring; it came with a collector’s VHS edition of the movie Titanic that came complete with a real section of film and photos from the set that I purchased in Singapore, on another completely different trip. Again, this was a free adventure, although not anything really to do with work itself. Although, it is true to say that work did give me the opportunity in a roundabout way to embark on a wonderful journey around the world. You see, it was whilst at work that one of the airlines came around on a sales call, which they did on a regular basis, at least back then, to their best clients. During this sales call, the rep told us of a competition they were running to promote their new round-the-world airfares. Of course, I entered, not thinking anything more of it; you know, I never win those sorts of things. The competition was to design an itinerary using the round-the-world fare, and out of quickness I picked an easy and relatively short route. Three months down the line, I got a letter confirming that I had been selected as the competition winner and the prize – two tickets on the itinerary I had designed along with £1000 to spend on ground arrangements from their programme!
A few months after that, and lots of fun planning where to go, I and my most recent ex at the time and I departed on a round-the-world trip in just over three weeks that saw us visit Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney, Cairns and Singapore before coming back to home to dear old Blighty! This little, old, battered and worn thin key ring reminds me of that trip, the fun in Disneyland, the losing a day just like that (I snapped my fingers then, by the way) crossing the International Date Line enroute from LA to Auckland, a surprise birthday lunch for the said ex on board a specially hired yacht just out in Auckland harbour, a trip to the zoo, the red light area of Sydney, blue and red buses, walking along four mile beaches, midnight paddles in the sea, taking no notice of salt water crocodiles that could have easily munch me up for supper without so much as a please or thank you. Seeing a real-life koala, kangaroo, wombat, and a duck-billed platypus, and being so enthusiastically wrapped up in an erotically charged moment, pulling the headboard completely off the wall!
Oh, the memories are jumping out of my mind like sparks from a fire threatening to form an inferno of recollections should I let it, yet all these images of the past flashing before my eyes were conjured up from re-finding a little old battered and worn-out key ring. How amazing is that?
Mementos - a pocket full of memories!
What mementos mean the most to you?
© 2013 Copyright to Jason Shaw
