A Great Way To See The U.S.A.

A lot of my friends think I'm crazy for liking to drive across country instead of flying. I get comments such as, "It takes sooooo long - why not get there as quickly as possible" or "How boring!" For me, it's an adventure. But most importantly, it's my way of collecting things. The memories I have of spending 2 days with an Amish family in Indiana are irreplaceable. We ran out of room inside our trailer for collectibles, so they built us a rack for the top, so we could keep buying! Or the time we helped pull lobster crates out of the Atlantic in Maine so we could purchase the crates from their owner, was hysterical - but the dinner that night was delicious!

It's memories like these that you can't get by flying places. And it's quite a bit easier to put your treasures from each area in a car than trying to pack them into a suitcase.

Of course the downside to this whole concept is the fact that eventually you run out of storage space or a place to display all the wonderful memories. (These things are more commonly referred to as "clutter.")

I don't think there's anything wrong with flying - but I think, for now, I'll stick with my adventures in driving and reveling in my clutter!

Why Collect Anything?

I have recently been challenged to explain why I have a house full of “stuff” that I don’t use. I have a 30 year-old-friend who just cannot understand why I keep old books that I’ve read or why I have teacups in my china cabinet that I rarely use, but love to look at. Probably the most perplexing thing for her to understand is the reason I have these things in my house when I have a business selling collectibles.

How do I explain to her that my aunt started my teacup collection and I was never allowed to see her when I was a child (my mother was a very possessive woman). But I would always get great gifts from her. Every Christmas or birthday, I received a china teacup. Now that my mom is gone, my aunt and I have a great bond - we enjoy treasure hunting for the scarce teacup that no one else has.

That same aunt gave me my first teddy bear. I now have a collection of way too many stuffed bears and animals. Then there were my uncle’s books – the only thing that I have to remind me of him.

I could go on and on, but the reasons my collections started were to create memories of people who are special to me. I guess that’s difficult for a thirty-year-old to understand - especially when most of her relatives are still alive and not very sentimental. Maybe she just wants to create her own memories and that’s okay.