Most travelers and backpackers I know aren’t into collecting souvenirs.  Face it, there comes a time in everyone’s life when they take down their collection of shot glasses.  Also, as a backpacker carrying home breakables and added weight is a burden especially on a month or longer trip.  During a bar visit, I noticed some well designed coasters that were being used.  Most beer companies and restaurants use a coaster that has a front and back, and more often than not, the two sides correlate with each other.  This gives us a perfect opportunity to use a free souvenir to decorate the pad back home.

Step #1:  Collect 3 coasters from wherever you may travel.  Make sure they have different front and backs.

Step #2:  Go to your local art & craft store and pick up a cheap framing mat board.  They usually don’t cost more than a couple of bucks.  (And they are big so you can often reuse them).  Using black or white mat board creates a little better contrast to most coasters I find.

Step #3:  Line up three (art lesson 101 – odd numbers usually work better than even numbers) of the coasters and space them about how you want it to appear.  Then…cut the mat board with a utility knife so that the three coasters fill most the space.

Step #4:  Glue the coasters to the mat and hang in desired location.

So there we have an idea that is cheap, reminds you of that special place you visited, and adds decor to the apartment walls when you’re not travelling.  Cheers.