We live in an 1884 home filled with lots of Victoriana so collecting has been no small part of my life. We were actually collecting antiques when we lived in a rather predictable three-bedroom ranch nearly 30 years ago.
Back then “collecting” meant little more than buying old stuff. One week a nice old rocking chair, a month later a picture frame at one of the big outdoor antique shows. It had no focus or purpose.
When we moved and began restoring our 3,000+ square-foot Victorian in earnest, buying became more deliberate because we had rooms to fill. And, if we were to be true to the past, it had to be furniture and accessories of a certain kind and style.
What I’ve just described is the kind of collecting that probably sprang to mind when you saw the title. But many of us are travel collectors. And some of us probably aren’t even aware of it.
The most obvious category in this genre is the travel that occurs as a direct result of collecting. People who are serious collectors of anything often travel far and wide in search of their next acquisition. I’ve done a little of that. But mostly I’ve done a different kind of travel collecting.
Years ago when I was doing a lot of magazine freelancing, I was in the habit of “collecting” abandoned railroad rights-of-way. That is, I would ferret them out, visit them, hike them, photograph them and use them as raw material for future articles.
I’ve done the same with lighthouses, strange or unusual museums, covered bridges, abandoned town sites and alpine slides—to name a few.
Since we love yesteryear, our travel “collecting” has extended to historic hotels, especially those located in the major cities of the Midwest. I’ve often mentioned the Christmas Mystery Trips I planned for our family for more than a decade. From a “collecting” standpoint, MTs provided a double-barreled opportunity.
We could collect cities as well as hotels. So we’ve been fortunate enough to stay at many of the Midwest’s grand old dames—the Pfister (Milwaukee), the Canterbury (Indianapolis), the Raphael (Kansas City), The Renaissance (Cleveland) and the Omni (Cincinnati).
So what do you “collect?” Or maybe, “What do you want to collect?” Because as a traveler, you can choose to visit, take in, experience—“collect”—anything you want. And you can do it in any way you want.
For my dad, who didn’t have a lot of money or opportunity, it was small inland lakes. He collected by fishing them. Once he’d been on them, they were in his collection, and he’d move on to the next.
For others, it’s photographing every waterfall in a given area or state. I know sports fans whose goal in life is to attend at least one game in every big league baseball stadium in the U.S.
Others, especially RVers of my acquaintance, look forward to the day when they have visited every state of these United States. Statehouse tours? Sports halls of fame? Historic theaters? Railroad museums?
What is it that stirs the collector in you? Travel collecting has all the advantages and benefits of more traditional collecting—the excitement of the quest, the thrill of acquisition and the joy of discovery. Besides, it’s just plain fun.
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