Taking my Stamp Collection "On the Road."

When I was a kid, stamp collecting was mostly quite seasonal.

Growing up in Denmark-- which is far north and has dark wet winters and bright clear summers-- I'd spend lots of time indoors from October through April, and working on my stamp collection was one way to pass time when it seemed like it was going to rain for three weeks in a row. As the days got longer and April gave way to May and June, we kids would spend more and more time outside, building tree forts, riding our bikes or playing football ("soccer") in the roundabout at the end of our street. Although we didn't exactly "put away" our stamp collections, the albums ended up spending more and more time on the shelf.

When school let out for the summer-- in mid- to late June-- we'd often head off to spend some time at the "summer house" (basically an overgrown cabin, away from the city). However, even though there might be rainy days where we couldn't be outside, I don't remember ever bringing my stamps. Most of the time, however, the weather was "too nice" to be sitting inside with stamps, and we'd end up going to the beach. And since it would usually stay light past 9:00pm, there really wasn't such a thing as working on the stamp collection "after dark."

It wasn't until my early 30's, when I started traveling quite a bit for work, and to attend workshops and conferences, that I started bringing some of my stamp collection along. I realized that on those occasions where I might stuck in a hotel room, or in some remote location, I preferred to occupy myself philatelically, as opposed to watching mindless TV or surfing the Internet.

I'm about to enter a period-- until late July-- where I will be gone quite often. As I thought about that, I realized that I will probably get more stamp "work" done while I'm on the road, as I will be spending quite a few days in hotels and at conference centers. I have lots to catch up on, and stamps from this winter that I want to get listed for sale online-- stamps are small, light, and easy to bring along; the only thing that will weigh me down would be stamp catalogues, but I will focus on one area for each trip.

Stay tuned for reports "from the road!"