Do you have a travel collection?  Do you set up rules on how the items can be collected?  Do you have to actually go to that place, or will you accept other people adding to your collection?  Right now, I have one active collection, but I’ve had a few others.

About 25 years ago, I started a foreign currency collection. I had money from all over; Japan, Philippines, Jamaica, China, Mexico, etc.  Some of the currencies came from my own travels, but lot of it came from other people.  I still have this collection, somewhere, in some box in our storage lockers in the garage.  That was the beginning.

Then I started collecting Starbucks Big City coffee mugs.  It started out innocently enough.  It was 1996 and I was at a neighborhood Starbucks with my boyfriend (who’s now my husband), and I made a comment about the San Diego Big City mug.  It went something like, “that’s a big ass mug,” next thing I know, he has purchased it.  I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but 26 mugs and 23 cities later, I have a Big City mug collection.  At one point, I even called Starbucks to ask them about the mugs and which cities had them.  The deal was this, in order for a city to have a big city mug they had to have at least 20 Starbuck locations.  It was with this collection that I started to make up rules.  The rule was I had to actually have touched ground in that city, and an airport layover was good enough.  I’ve had people offer to pick up a mug here and there, but no-can-do.  I actually had to have gone there.  Due to a variety of reasons, I have duplicates of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London.  I’m no longer actively collecting Big City mugs.  Starbucks discontined  the 20 ounce mugs and there was a redesign.    But, every once in a while I will find one.  The last one I purchased that was actually one of the 20 ounce mugs was in 2006 while in Bangkok.

Starbucks Big City Mugs

At about the same time I started the Starbucks collection, I inadvertinely started another collection.  Well, technically it’s not my collection.  It’s my mother’s.  I was doing a lot of business travel, so I would get a magnet for my mom.   That was 34 magnets ago.  Since then I’ve added a new rule to the collecting of the magnets.  The rule is: even if we’re traveling together, she is not allowed to purchase her own magnet. I purchase the magnets!  I think rules to collecting makes it fun

My Mama's Magnets

Now, I’m on to the KLM Delft Blue porcelain houses filled with Bois Jenever (dutch gin).  These houses are awesome!  The houses are handed out at the end of the flight to their business class passengers.  It’s like a final farewell drink, but it comes in a cute porcelain house.  Each house is an exact replica of a real dutch house.  There’s even an app that you can download that tells you exactly where the house is located in Holland, and it’s linked to google maps should you want to go and check out the real deal.  I’m still in the beginning phases of this collection, and I haven’t come up with firm rules yet.  The thing with this collection is that in order for me to get the houses I have to fly KLM, and I have to be traveling  in the business class cabin, so this collection is building slowly.  I currently have eight houses with two being duplicates.  I recently found out that you can purchase the houses.   Can I purchase them and still keep my collection “a travel collection?”  I don’t know.  If I just purchased them all, it will take the fun out of finding ways to collect them.  Obviously, I’m still working out the rules for this collection.

KLM Blue Delft Dutch Houses

Do you have a travel collection?  What do you collect?  Do you make up rules as to how and when you can add to the collection?  Let me know.