My refrigerator tells a food and travel story

Every time I open the refrigerator, it reminds me of Rome, well not every time, sometimes I am reminded of Malaysia, or Singapore, or Spain.

What’s my secret to travelling withput needing to leave the kitchen?

Fridge magnets!

Those convenient little whimsical souvenirs, which are great to gift and don’t take up much luggage space and pack in way more memories into their little moulded bodies than we give them credit for.

So here is a look see at what the refrigerator at my parents place looks like right now.

Fridge stickers from Hawaii: I was just 15 when I travelled half way across the world to Hawaii for a youth congress. I didn’t even realise what a big deal it was back then. We even met the president, not some president of a company or something (honestly that’s what I thought in the beginning), but the president of India.

with the then President of India, K R narayanan, in the rashtra pati bhavan

Aloha!

There was a followup meeting which was to be in New ypork, and we were to meet Kofi Annan and also a stopover in The UNICEF head quarters in Geneva. Yup, that was going to happen. I even had my tickets. And then 7/11 happened, a week before the meet. No newyork, no Geneva.

The fridge stickers are a reminder of blessed childhood memories, as well as the loss of innocence with the terrorist attacks

travels of South East Asia: the family travelled South east Asia extensively, sometimes together and sometimes on business trips. the very first time was to Singapore for the new years eve of 2000 yup it's been over 15 years. since then Langkawi, Genting, Bali, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Vietnam, thailand, singapore, became the quickest places for family outings. Memories of almost being trampled by an elephant, or Batik painting classes, bungee jumping by brother when he went to Hong Kong, pictures of mom and brother soaking it in  in Bali, or my father getting a fish spa in thailand. 

jackfruit seller on the streets of Hanoi

Srilanka : Another place the family has travelled in multiples, multiple number of times. whether for the Cricket World cup, or just because the 'tickets were so cheap this weekend, they were almost a steal!'

Australia and Newzealand: The men in the Family have travelled far and wide in search of adventure in these places. white water rafting, to bungee jumping to zorbing, these fridge stickers are a memorable reminder of fun father son bonding.

Egypt and greece: My dad is the only one in the family to have been to these ancient cities, where civilization began, and we have papyrus paintings of our names too as souvenirs.

The America: would you believe it my brother is the only one to have made it to the 'promised land', his Vegas in a Limousine, or jumping off a plane, his grand canyon trip, or the whole NewYork, washington DC  tour left us folks back home waiting to discover USA.

THe Africas: Another continent which only my mother has been to is Africa. Kenya and Tanzania, her pic with the tribals of Masai Mara.

Between us we have almost all the continents covered and to see the entire legacy up on the refrigerator is a fantastic ode to our wanderlust lives.

Fridge Magnet collections don't really have a formal name, memomagnetics has been suggested, derived from memoriale (latin) and magnetis (greek), but I like to call it memory collectors.