Do you also like to travel? Visit foreign countries, discover unknown cultures, foreign languages and foods? Then you surely have a souvenir collection. All travelers bring souvenirs of their adventures and discoveries. One of the most popular souvenirs from vacation is sand. We can only guess how much sand is in a jar on wall shelves around the world. A lot! In all likelihood, you’ve also brought sand home from a certain place. Why are we so attracted to this fine rock, is it even allowed to always take sand with you, and what’s the best way to store it? You can find out here.
Sand in general
Sand is a naturally occurring sediment consisting of mineral grains. These grains may have a diameter of 0.063 to 2 millimeters to be considered sand. Smaller grains are called silt, and larger ones are considered gravel. The definition of sand thus depends on its size and not on its mineral composition. And that’s probably what makes it so fascinating, its diversity. On every sandy beach, the sand feels and looks different. Sometimes it is coarser, sometimes like powder, sometimes white, and in some parts of the world, black or pink.
We often associate many memories of vacation or travel with the sea. And where there is sea, there is (often) sand. So it seems obvious to take a handful of the substance in which you spent so much time, lying, playing and sunbathing. But is that even allowed?
Taking sand with you
Taking sand, stones and shells with you from your vacation is actually a tricky thing. In many countries this is forbidden and is punished with high penalties. The best example of this is Italy, where fines of several thousand euros are not uncommon if stones or sand are found in the luggage. Many other countries also prohibit encroachment on the environment, mainly to protect nature. Washed up coral skeletons form next year’s sand, protected giant clams should always be left lying around.
There are no uniform rules here, you should inform yourself before the vacation about the regulations in the destination country and pay attention to signs. In national parks and protected areas, the basic rule is not to alter nature, so do not take anything with you. In Greece, Spain and the Canary Islands, however, it is no problem to collect stones and sand in a jar and take them home. But how do you put the souvenirs in the best scene in the apartment? We have a simple but pretty solution for that.
Sand Decoration
Back from vacation, you just put the jar or bottle of sand and shells somewhere and eventually the mismatched containers pile up in a back corner of the shelf and are only looked at while dusting. So that your precious memories are spared this fate, we have the perfect storage option for the sand in the jar.
Our 100 x 20 mm test tube with smooth rim or the 150 x 20 mm with beaded rim are wonderful for a sand collection. If you want to add some shells to the jar, the 200 x 30 mm with beaded rim is perfect. Take the test tube directly with you on vacation, or transfer the keepsake into the test tube at home. Tightly sealed with one of our natural corks, the souvenir will remain in the jar for all time. If you already have several sand samples from all over the world, they can be wonderfully presented in a bowl filled with decorative stones. Or you can place the glass tubes in a decorative test tube stand made of wood or acrylic glass, which looks very good on the wall shelf.
