The souvenir that survives longest may be the habit you picked up while away.

Objects brought home tend to fade into the background within a year. What lasts is subtler: a way of taking coffee, a slower walk in the evening, a phrase, a willingness to eat at a different hour. Those things came home with you without being packed, and they quietly changed the shape of ordinary days.

After a trip, look for one practice you liked and keep it deliberately for a month. It costs nothing, and it will still be with you long after the things on the shelf have stopped being noticed.