Unpacking a box from the basement, I found one more of Bob’s collections — vintage airline ticket covers (or are they sleeves? jackets? wallets?). Whatever we call them, they’re now a flash from the past. You may not even know what I’m talking about. Here’s a sampling —
After that, I made a stab at clearing my closet. I can’t do the Marie-Kondo thing and take everything out of all closets at once, there’s too much, but I thought I could take out a bit at a time. Then when I’m down to a manageable amount, I can consider her recommendations from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
I can’t complain about Bob for keeping his tickets because… in the closet, I found my collection.
What was I thinking?
The best I can figure out is this: We both loved traveling. We loved the world, and the way that working for the airlines opened it up to us. I think it was a way — however misguided — to remember where we’d been, a time capsule that we’d open someday and look back on, like I just did. It seems related to the urge to save old passports for the stamps.
So in a way I did Marie-Kondo the ticket sleeves — with the synchronicity of finding both batches, I took them all out and went through them, admired them, and moved on.
Among my tickets I found something else —
Gotta admire the helmet on that Centurion too.
It’s not the first time I’ve found unused travelers checks when closet-diving. It’s nice to have a little reward for my effort, and money always “sparks joy”, right? It also reinforces my resolve to keep looking closely when I sort things, rather than just chucking out the lot. And I’ll be sure to use the money for experiences, not stuff.
Here’s a funny thing — those ticket sleeves? People sell them on eBay. (I had to look) Will I try? Maybe I’ll give it a shot. But would Marie Kondo mess with eBay? Probably not.
Do you keep old passports, or other trip souveniers?
More on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Admiration
Hoarder Comes Clean 
In my house, my husband is the keeper and I am the purger … usually. But when it comes to travel-related memorabilia, I am the saver. I have a zip-lock bag for every trip I’ve taken, stuffed with boarding passes, museum entrance tickets, metro tickets, even a small handwritten receipt for hand-washed laundry on safari in Tanzania! And old passports – well, I have a stack! We are five in our family and have traveled for years, so even the kids have mini-stacks of expired passports. Much of the bagged paper ended up in photo albums or scrapbooks, but now that I blog about trips instead of printing photos and making books, I am trying to figure out how to “save” those little scraps. I may toss them eventually, but I’ll never pitch those precious passports!
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only passport-saver. I even have the first one, which may be impressive for the number of stamps, but if you look at the photo — well, just don’t look. Bob had boxes full of maps, brochures, and entrance tickets too. I have a few here and there. I’m always interested when I run across a hidden cache of them, because invariably there’s something that sparks a memory I’d lost and am happy to retrieve.
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Nice trip down memory lane. You have done quite a bit of traveling and I hope you can sell those on Ebay!! Every now and then I’ll come across a ticket sleeve (or whatever they are called). There aren’t many treasures hiding in my place any longer which makes me a bit torn. Sometimes I wish I kept more but I did use the Marie-Kondo method last year (with clothing, books, and some other things). There is one or two bins in the attic that I will bring down this summer to sift through. The three bins from my days as a Fellow working for a Congressman have dwindled down to a folder. Sometimes we keep things for the memories when the truth is the memories are always with us. Keeping a photo can trigger the memory too. Wish you the best with Ebay!
Thanks, and I’m glad to know the Marie Kondo method worked well for you. I’m getting there, but slowly, and hope to have it pared down well enough to “Kondo” my house before long. You are so right on the photos – I think the ritual of taking them makes it easier on the letting-go. Thanks for the comment– be well, -Sandy
Hello. I hope you are well. I’d like to know how I might contact you? I’d like to know if you’re willing to sell some of your Airline ticket jackets/sleeves? Thank you.
If I still have some I could put them on eBay if you’re interested
Wow! Thank you for your reply. I’d love to inquire more about what you have on hand. My email is sumyungai007 at gmail dot com. I’m sure you how the format should actually look. I only write it that way to reduce receiving spam mail. Thanks and I hope to hear from you!