Travel Collectables: Stickers, Beer Labels and Magnets

Travel Collectables: Stickers, Beer Labels and Magnets

You may have read down the years how I always try to collect souvenirs on my travels. For example, when I backpacked around the world, I would always buy a fridge magnet for my Mum, send a postcard to my youngest brother Daniel and occasionally I would buy random gifts for my Dad, my brother Marko and my sister Cathy. For myself, I would collect banknotes, coins and stamps from every country.

Travel Collectables banknotes

erbil bazaar saddam banknotes

Shopping in Erbil Bazaar and finding some Saddam Hussein banknotes.

saddam hussein banknotes

Iraqi banknotes

45 and 90 kyat notes

Some of Myanmar’s crazyish numbered banknotes such as the 45 and 90 Kyat notes – no longer in existence.

My Beer Travel Collection
I also enjoy drinking and trying new beers in unusual and quirky places and as such I try to avoid the global, commercial excremental brand names. Each time I tried a new beer in a country, I’d write it down, I’d try to remember to take a photo of it, keep the bottle top (if it was a bottle), peel the label off and stick it in my album, as well as trying to find a beer mat or coaster for that beer!

More random beer labels including Aguila from Colombia.

Blue Girl, Joburg Beer, Castle and Windhoek…some of my many beer labels from my travels!

Travel collectables beer labels a lifestyle of travel

Travel collectables on Don’t Stop Living – beer labels!

My Travel Sticker Collection
Having owned a few physical items on my travels, I also started collecting travel stickers. My old guitar and laptop had stickers stuck on them, from places I had been. Since I don’t own a suitcase though, I don’t actually have anywhere to put these stickers while I’m travelling. So now, I simply buy them in places I go, and later in life will consider what I should do with them.

My Travel Embroidered Flag Collection
In 2006, my parents bought me a green fleece with Northern Ireland on it. Gradually I started to buy iron on embroidered patches and put them on this fleece. It started with just a few and then it grew and grew and grew until I had over 100 iron on patches! I started buying the flags of each country I visited as well as any significant regions or quirky badges that took my fancy.

My Stamp Collection
I have over 1000 stamps! I have collected them for years, even before I became a long term backpacker. These days, everytime I see a cool new stamp in a new country, I buy it for the collection. I even have stamps from Adammia, Christiania and Uzupis, a hat-trick of unrecognised countries!

Stamps of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Stamps from the Vatican City State

atrsakh stamps

Rare Nagorno Karabakh stamps!

My Mum’s Fridget Magnet Collection
I try to buy my Mum a fridge magnet from every new country, or even city or town if significant enough. This even has included custom magnets down the years. Basically my Mum has more fridge magnets than will ever fill a fridge and her current fridge is not even metal so those fridge magnets are now in a box! But I’m always looking for a new magnet for Mum!

Travel Collectables: My Mums Fridge Magnets

Buy my Mum a Fridge Magnet

Some of my Mum’s many fridge magnets from around the world.

Fridge magnets for my Mum

4 thoughts on “Travel Collectables: Stickers, Beer Labels and Magnets

  • Hi Layasa, thanks for the comment and sorry for the delay. I was suffering from depression and only now I am checking all comments, meesages and blog emails. I hope you enjoyed my beer stories. Stay safe, Jonny

  • You are an inspiration!! please take care of yourself, I know its easier for me to say than done. I skimmed through your stories and I feel personally connected, I like how as a westerner you have a simple and naturalistic view of the locals. I am an avid stamp collector and now a postcrosser during Covid times, hopefully I get to travel soon ones the vaccination is out. stay safe 🙂 cheers

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