Diana Britt, Pasadena, Calif.

WHAT I COLLECT As a military kid, I never got out of the habit of wandering the earth and bringing home bits of it. My obsession with fans started in 1988 on a trip to Indonesia. I couldn't buy just one—which is why I have 80 now!

Paula Morgan of Nashville, Tenn., collects mortar and pestles (Courtesy Paula Morgan) [enlarge photo]

WHAT I'VE LEARNED... Some of my best pieces commemorate a location, including a fan from Greenwich, England, that looks like a clock. All time zones were once tied to Greenwich Mean Time because the area is at zero longitude.

If possible, I try to meet the person who made the fan. Near Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, I purchased a water-reed fan from an elderly man who had been crafting them for decades. I treasure my photograph of him holding the fan; it's sort of like a certificate of authenticity.

I have no problem buying more than one at the same spot. I went crazy at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain—in the gift shop, I bought half a dozen fans with wild patterns.

Paula Morgan, Nashville, Tenn.

WHAT I COLLECT My hobby began in 2003 when a striped mortar and pestle caught my eye in St. Augustine, Fla. After that, they just kept appearing to me whenever I was traveling.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED... When I was on a cruise to Turkey, the ship's staff chanted, "You see it, you like it, you buy it!" It has become my philosophy, because if you stumble upon something unusual, you can assume that you won't find another item like it.

The more valuable mortars and pestles have a story to tell. For instance, a green ceramic mortar that I bought in Athens, Greece, has ancient drawings on it, and the pestle says "Hygeia." It was the perfect find, because Hygeia was the Greek goddess of health, and Athens, Ga., is where I went to pharmacy school.

Also, ask others to collect for you. My mother got me a wooden set from a Shaker village in Kentucky. It's as plain and simple as the Shakers themselves.

Joan Loomis, Portland, Ore.

WHAT I COLLECT I got into cookbooks while working as a flight attendant in the 1980s. In Greece, I bit into an amazing lamb souvlaki at a food market. I had to learn how to make that dish just so that I could relive the moment.