Life on the shelf- my collections of travel memorabilia and other qualifying collections

Firstly I would like to thank all you keen readers that were awaiting last Wednesday’s entry that didn’t come. I can offer no valid explanation other than a lack of time and energy. Moving on to the matter at hand, this week I would like to reassure everyone of my long term commitment to travel, tack, tourism retail and of course geekdom… I have chosen to describe briefly and list most of my many collections of inanimates that I have accumulated along the way. With this are accompanying tips on how to display/make use of them, leaving your primary class far behind on show and tell day.

• Hats

This collection like many others began by accident in Dublin when some friends of mine began to give me peak beret style hats in a number of colours. Then I went on to find and buy more as time went on. To this day my collection is still mostly consistent of gifts, and I make use of it during cold weather, festivals and on short Euro -City breaks will often be found boarding a plane with one of my favourites…

• Pins

This collection began (officially) at the 2000 Paralympic games in Sydney when my choir sang at the welcoming ceremonies for some of the teams in the Olympic village. The athletes came with a number of exclusive souvenir pins bearing their country’s flags’ and as a thank you for the entertainment some of the athletes gave one to me. Since then I have come to value pins I already had and intend to display them on a nice wall hanging.

• Postcards

This collection began in Spain in 2009 when I decided that a fun and easy way to keep track in detail of the places I was visiting at the time was to buy a postcard, write the dates I visited, where I stayed and the main highlights (or lowlights) on the back for quick reference. I have been displaying these on my wall once they have been covered in clear plastic. A small percentage of this collection has been given to me by friends that have visited places i have not been and were aware of my collection.

• Posters

This collection may be the smallest and consists of some posters with beautiful photography from the tourist office of Asturias in the North of Spain to a poster advertising a bull fighting event at La Maestranza, Seville, in the south. Also in this collection are various flyers for shows I have seen.

• Tickets

From festival tickets, concert tickets, writsbands, through to subway/metro passes, this is one of my favourite collections. These tickets are spread across a couple of scrap books (the ones that have made it in so far) with coloured paper backgrounds and do serve as a perfect show and tell item.

• Maps

Beginning of course with a world map, this collection includes maps of Japan, Korcula Island in Croatia, and many others of individual cities that have been added to my scrapbook. The loose maps of this collection are on my wall and make a great talking point. (Currently my kitchen wall is a hand-drawn map of the world, not by me of course).

• Scrapbook miscellaneous items

This collection covers all things that are flat enough to put in a book and don’t fit into another collection. Examples include had-written train time tables, bags with logos from somewhere, itineraries, cards from hostels I have stayed in, museum pamphlets (well cut up bits of), pictures, quotes and boarding passes amongst many other random memorabilia.

• Snow domes

Currently on display on my bookshelf in Australia, this collection is almost if not 100 % gift and is the only collection that comes primarily from places I have never been. Of course that is now a new challenge to try and visit all the places for which i have a snow dome.

• Shoes

This collection is something that many girls have regardless of travel, and of course adding travel to the mix makes this many times more ridiculous. Having always been a fan of shoes, living overseas as opposed to being on a trip has sufficiently lowered my cautious retail inhibitions and my shoe collection is the result. Not being able to pick a favourite pair, these have been picked up (mostly at cheap prices) from charity/opp shops and allow me to dress up or down many of my outfits accordingly.

• Bags

Ever the faithful partner of shoes, bags also come in handy. My current favourite is an Estee Lauder tote which is perfect for hand luggage- only flights and is fit to been seen walking down even the street of Paris and avoid local scorn. This one was also a gift from a friend here in Scotland.

• Sarongs

Having declared my love early on for these brilliant garments, I have occasionally been known to leave home without one, more than once. In such terrible circumstances, my best friend has been known to buy one for me as a present or help me select one when I had planned to buy one for myself. These may make an appearance on my slowly dissapearing wall space at some point but are far too useful to remain there for long…

So there you have the core of my travel hoard and your GTG is curious to hear about any of the collections you may have from your travels and how they started. So till what I hope will be next week.