Country Badge On backpack

Prefect_1998

has any irish person have a national flag on their backpack? you see plenty of every nationality doing the sewn flag on the backpack but not many irish,

was thinking of doing this before i start to travel, but am in to minds...:D

any thoughts

Glowing

I did ..... you often get the Americans sewing on Canadian badges ... seriously!

Rabies

Haven't done it, but would prefer to add flags of the countries I've been to.

Neamhshuntasach

I do. I always put an Irish flag on the backpack i'm bringing with me. I have noticed it cuts out some of the ignorance Americans and Brits receive.

I have even put 'Yo soy Irlandés, No soy Americana' on it when traveling through Latin America because some people wouldn't recognize the flag and they would think i was American. I have seen many an attitude change towards me once they found out i was Irish and not a yank or brit.

Prefect_1998

yea the main reason was the attitude towards english speakers....found it quite a bit when away...

think a small flag would be good idea:D

RuggieBear

it's mainly a canadian thing so you don't confuse them with yanks!

juvenal

I've noticed it more as a collection of flags of countries visited. . . Although the Canadian theory also rings through

I have even put 'Yo soy Irlandés, No soy Americana' on it when traveling through Latin America because some people wouldn't recognize the flag and they would think i was American. I have seen many an attitude change towards me once they found out i was Irish and not a yank or brit.

slash-France

Steak

I always catch Canadians with flags sewn on but that's about it. think I'll put one on my backpack for the next time.

Prefect_1998

does it make yo stand out more as an amature...

http://cgi.ebay.ie/IRISH-FLAG-Patch-Ireland-patch-Iron-on_W0QQitemZ150249864046QQihZ005QQcategoryZ39645QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

cant find a decent one


love to do it as think bit of pride goes long way...

Neamhshuntasach

try o carrolls in town or something. you'll pick up a badge that can be sewn onto a backpack in there.

i don't think it makes you stand out as an amatuer. anyways the only people you have to worry about thinking you are an amatuer are thieves. and it won't take a badge for them to figure that out. half of them could be pyschologists the way they read body language.

lemon_of_old

Lots of Americans started sticking the Canadian flag onto their backpacks. The Canadians figured it out and switched over to the Quebec flag. Funny old world.

v.e.r.b.a.l

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

I do. I always put an Irish flag on the backpack i'm bringing with me. I have noticed it cuts out some of the ignorance Americans and Brits receive.

I have even put 'Yo soy Irlandés, No soy Americana' on it when traveling through Latin America because some people wouldn't recognize the flag and they would think i was American. I have seen many an attitude change towards me once they found out i was Irish and not a yank or brit.

That's a brilliant idea and I sure plan to rob it! I like the idea of a large (maybe A4-sized) Irish flag on my backpack to quench the brit/american stigma and then small patches of flags of each country i've been to on my travels...

On travels before I find people always talked to us, but as soon as we said we were Irish, not American or English, they opened up immediately and were 10 times more friendly

Flynn

The canadian with the flags are funny.. so many of them.. I dont have an Irish flag.. Nothing wrong with it but I like the anonymity... I got mistaken for Isreali recently (i grew a beard??) and i get a kick out of people not knowing where i'm from (i don't look Irish)
I do have county colours tied on though (more to find my bag at airports) And i have a soft guitar case I've been using to sew on flags for every country (only managed to sew on Belize so far!) the rest are waiting to be sewn on.. when i find a decent needle..

v.e.r.b.a.l

Flynn, where did you travel that you brought your guitar with you? I'm going travelling the world in 6 months and I don't know how I'm going to live an entire year without my guitar... but carrying it with me could be a more hassle than its worth. I brought it with me before to Greece when I went island hopping, but even that was a good bit of hassle...

Flynn

Hey Verbal,
YEa i left my guitar at home cuz it's expensive and i just wanted a cheap guitar to keep me going. so i started in america with the intention of buying guitar in Mexico.. I found guitar shops with over 100 guitars non of which were steel string. so i held out untill Belize and picked one up for bout 100euro's..(had a choice of about 3) its like a cheap epiphone... got a free soft case.. I dont find it any hassle.. maybe if it was a hard case... but i see people traveling with 2 or more surfboards or fishing rods or spear guns, so compared to that it's nothing..

You can either bring your guitar from home and get a hard case to protect it which will be more of a dose to carry but you will have good guitar that stays safe and in tune (very hard in the heat)

Or you can have a cheap guitar in a soft case that will prolly get damaged (took me less than 10 hours to fall down a flight of concrete steps with mine) but it wont matter cuz u only need to bang out a few tunes..

Depends where your going.. My mate did Oz with a hard case and said it was no problem.. (nothing is hard there though)

Would be a bit harder here cuz collectivo's dont turn people away so they pack up bigtime..

Im doin Central and south america at the moment with it... eventually the world.. ... im also getten ppl to sign it along the way..

Hope that helps..!

shinnersdcu

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

I have even put 'Yo soy Irlandés, No soy Americana' on it when traveling through Latin America

btw where did you get a badge with that on?or you make it yourself?

definitely putting badge on mine (over lowe alpine badge coz a good brand can draw attention also) was looking in O'Carroll's and will prob go with the flag and was thinking giant IRELAND but spanish one could really be cool for SA

ro1798

hi did you manage to get the badge in carrol's

Neamhshuntasach

shinnersdcu wrote: »

btw where did you get a badge with that on?or you make it yourself?

definitely putting badge on mine (over lowe alpine badge coz a good brand can draw attention also) was looking in O'Carroll's and will prob go with the flag and was thinking giant IRELAND but spanish one could really be cool for SA

I sewed on a blank white patch and wrote it in marker. I put it there because i was tired of telling people i was Irish in Spanish. I look more American or Latino so i thought a badge would convince people more than my words.

And you can get badges in O Carrolls for 2.99

v.e.r.b.a.l

Got an Irish flag patch in Capel Camping on Capel Street in Dub, then got another flag patch in O' Carrolls on O' Connell St. This one is better cos it says the word "IRELAND" above the flag - handy for anyone who wouldn't recognise the Irish flag and think I'm Italian (because I'm often mistaken for an Italian !! :P)

justfortherecor

I think another reason a lot of people buy little flags for the backpack is to cover over the brand name of the pack if its a good name (i.e. North Face, Lowe Alpine, etc.) I think these bags can be targetted by petty thieves in many places and also by corrupt baggage handlers as they can suggest a fairly rich backpacker etc.

Another idea to keep in mind when buying a flag.

AFC_1903

justfortherecor - I'd never thought of that, thanks for the idea! I'm now getting a patch (or patches, as my bad looks too nice and shiny.