Travis Barker, the renowned drummer of Blink-182, is auctioning off a significant personal item: his boarding pass from a recent trip to Australia. The auction, hosted on Trophy, lists the item at $8,000 (£6,220), with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Lost But Not Forgotten charity, which supports teenagers in crisis.
This boarding pass holds substantial emotional value for Barker, symbolizing his triumph over a longstanding fear of flying. In 2008, Barker survived a catastrophic plane crash that claimed the lives of four people, including two pilots and his close friends Charles “Che” Still and Chris Baker. DJ AM, another survivor, passed away from an overdose a year later.
The crash left Barker with severe injuries, including third-degree burns over 65% of his body. He endured three months of hospitalization and underwent 26 surgeries. After the incident, Barker refrained from flying for 13 years.
The Qantas boarding pass, now a collectible, features Barker’s handwritten note and a cross symbol at the bottom, alongside the message: “I know I got angels watching over me.” Barker was seated in row 7, which he regards as an “angel number.”
The auction description emphasizes the unique nature of the item: “A true one-of-a-kind item for the ultimate Travis Barker collector. Having not flown for over 13 years following his near-fatal plane crash, he was finally able to tour again overseas recently. This extremely rare commercial boarding pass is not just a piece of music memorabilia; it’s a true piece of Travis himself, complete with the original hand-written note and cross drawing.”
Barker has credited his wife, Kourtney Kardashian, with helping him overcome his fear of flying. In an interview with the LA Times, he shared: “Kourt made it so I fly, my kids fly now. She healed us. It takes a little piece of my life every time I fly. The amount of stress and anxiety it causes is just unbearable. It brings up all this old trauma, and sometimes I’m like, ‘Is this worth it?’ But I don’t like anything having a hold on me, either—I don’t like being afraid, and I don’t like having things from my past control my future.”
