Brian Knudsen
Bknut83
In full disclosure I will say that I started my collection as a single guy living in an apartment with not much space for collections. I am not a materialistic person. I would be the opposite of what you would call a hoarder. I hold on to almost nothing. Growing up the refrigerator in my house was a colorful collage of magnets that displayed our tests, report cards, pizza delivery menus and reminder notes to each other. When I finally moved out and I got my first apartment I had a roommate who didn't travel much. Neither of us had many possessions because we had both moved from our parents houses. After my roommate and I settled into our new place I noticed we had no refrigerator magnets. I had an upcoming trip so I vowed to pick up a few. My first trip was Europe with my friends a 10 day 3 country/3 city tour of Prague, Vienna, and finally Munich of Oktoberfest. Upon arrival in each city I set out on a quest to find no less than 2-3 magnets for each city. At least one magnet had to be the flag of the country I was in and another one had to say to name of the city. That is how I started my collection in 2009. Since then my hunt has taken my to over a dozen countries. My wife lets me pick them and she will help me. But I often tell her that I need the magnet to "speak to me". To this date I have approximately 70 magnets on the fridge. When I met my wife in 2012 I told her of my hobby and she quickly got on board. I often tell people of my stories from travels and every now and then I find myself justifying why refrigerator magnets are the perfect travel souvenirs. So here it goes:
1) They are cheap. I usually buy them for $0.50 -$3.00 each. Often you can buy 3 for $5.00. (I rarely haggle over magnets. My wife enjoys doing that.) 2) They are small and lightweight. After purchasing them I can place them in my pocket or my wife's purse. They take up no room in my luggage and also don't add any weight. 3) They are easy to display. In my experience when you have guests over people tend to hover around the kitchen area. Having the magnets displayed on the refrigerator can serve as a a talking piece and people can easy see them. I know people who collect postcards but I find they are harder to display. Shot glasses collect dust and easily break. T-shirts rarely get worn and are often found in the bottom of the drawer. As with most things this is my experience. People may collect various things but I find for the un-materialistic person magnet are definitely the way to go.
1) They are cheap. I usually buy them for $0.50 -$3.00 each. Often you can buy 3 for $5.00. (I rarely haggle over magnets. My wife enjoys doing that.) 2) They are small and lightweight. After purchasing them I can place them in my pocket or my wife's purse. They take up no room in my luggage and also don't add any weight. 3) They are easy to display. In my experience when you have guests over people tend to hover around the kitchen area. Having the magnets displayed on the refrigerator can serve as a a talking piece and people can easy see them. I know people who collect postcards but I find they are harder to display. Shot glasses collect dust and easily break. T-shirts rarely get worn and are often found in the bottom of the drawer. As with most things this is my experience. People may collect various things but I find for the un-materialistic person magnet are definitely the way to go.
Only thing I've ever collected.
