Over the years, my tree has gone from perfectly curated (and totally impersonal) when Steve and I were first married, to a hodgepodge of kid-produced ornaments, nods to favorite local spots (there’s a whole Mount Vernon collection on there) and ornaments picked up on our travels. The newlywed me would have been horrified, but I prefer it this way. We’ve made a tradition out of buying at least one ornament every time we travel – and picking one up from each national park we visit, whether far afield or close to home – and it turned out we were on the go rather a lot in 2021, so there are quite a few new additions on the tree this year.

I bought this adorable wood slice ornament at a boutique on the main drag in Lake Placid this summer. I like it because the hikers are approximately the same height proportions as Steve and me (heh) and because it’s true: life really is better on a hike in the Adirondacks.

Not purchased in Lake Placid, but ordered from Etsy in the fall – I will always have nods to my favorite state park on my tree. (Also note the Cornell ornament photobombing in the picture on the right! That’s one of three Big Red baubles I have on my tree.) I consider myself a Virginian to the core, but New York has its place in my holiday decorations.

As second homes go, Washington State is newer than NYS, but I’m starting to feel awfully attached to Seattle after traveling there twice in less than three months this year. My employer is headquartered there and I’ve been flying past Mount Rainier a lot. In October, Steve and the kids accompanied me and we spent a weekend at Olympic National Park. The park store actually had no ornaments (how?!) so I ordered this memento from an Etsy seller when I got home.

Our Thanksgiving travels took us to three legacy national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison) and a national monument (Colorado), and I gleefully added to my ornament stash at each one; my brother and sister-in-law were as committed as I was to tracking down the best ornaments in each park store.

It’s such a delight to hang travel souvenirs on my tree every year and reminisce about past adventures. 2021 was a good one for that, as it turns out. (And I think I more than doubled my national parks ornament collection – I already had Shenandoah, of course, and Joshua Tree and Channel Islands.) Wonder where 2021 will take us, and if I’ll be adding any more parks to the stash? I’ve got my eye on Great Smoky Mountains.

Have you added any meaningful new decorations to your stash this year?