I really see the moral of the story here is to simply not care so much what other people think. You do you. There are always these kinds of people who think their way of doing the hobby/passion is the right way or even the only way. You see this in cycling where you have to have a carbon fiber road bike and fancy lycra to be a cyclist, you obviously can't be having fun on an old bike just leisurely riding around the neighborhood!

If you want to collect stuff and organize by country go for it! Don't let people take away the joy because they are narrow minded.