My wife and I have been lucky enough to travel the world together during the past few years. Wherever we go, I collect bits and pieces—knickknacks, souvenirs, ephemera. I also use a small mp3 recorder to capture ambient sound: street food vendors in Bangkok; ancient church bells in Croatia; mule trains in the Grand Canyon; you name it.
It’s always amazing to listen to these recordings later—they immediately bring you back to a place, far better than a photograph alone could. The catch: You can put souvenirs on display and keep photo books on the coffee table. But you can’t really do that with sounds.
That’s why I created the Audio Memory Chest. It’s a box filled with tiny drawers—one for each trip. Inside, we keep small souvenirs, and sounds—whenever a drawer opens, it plays a random audio file recorded at that location.
You can learn about how it’s made and see photos of the process on my Instructables page. And if you want a custom-made version, please be in touch! I’d love to talk.