Het laatste nieuws

Belgium, 23-24 April 2005

English translation (thanks to Tom de Kort)

Tom de Kort from Wilsele has already 390 bags

Hobby? Collecting barfbags

Leuven

Collecting barfbags. It doesn’t taste good. But for 17 year old Tom de Kort from Wilsele it is a time taking occupation. Having 390 different bags, he’s far from the world record, but he is willing to have a go for it. “Two bags I would like to have very much: one from Air Force 1 and one from NASA”, he says with a smile.

Kirsten Bosmans

“It all started with a joke”, the boy remembers. “In November 2003, I was looking in a Guinness Book of Records and read about the ‘collecting barfbags’ record. And more important: I saw the recordholder was a Dutchman. With a bit of chauvinism I started thinking of a big collection of barfbags of my own. At first, my parents brought a bag home from their travels on airplane, but that took me too long since they only go on vacation once a year. So I started contacting family and friends in order to bring along some bags. And finally I started writing to some airline companies too. I was surprised that some of them send me an example.”

Through the Internet Tom swaps some bags with other collectors. “Maybe it seems funny, but all over the world there must be a few hundred people collecting barfbags. So I’m not such an exception. Most people laugh with my hobby, but they never react in a negative manner.” Tom has 390 bags at the moment. “I try to collect as many different bags as possible. The difference is in the logos and in the colours. The actual record is somewhere around 3,500 bags. So I have a long way to go, but I don’t mind at all. I find great pleasure in collecting.”

“There are two bags I would like to have: the Air Force 1 bag and the NASA bag”, Tom says. “People who can get hold of them, can always contact me. They can have a look at my website. Maybe there’s something between it I can give in return”

More information on www.groups.msn.com/tbrakerke or via den_tokke__at__hotmail.com