Ok. I'll admit it. I'm obsessed with National Park Passport Stamps. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly worse things to be obsessed with, but I've heard the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. As with any obsession I blame my parents. From as long as I can remember my parents have been planning trips around National Parks and letting me stamp my National Park Passport Book. When I was little I stamped without regard for the organization of the book - now I try to figure out a way to fit the most stamps into the regional color coded pages.
For those of you that think I'm joking about being obsessed I present the following evidence.
1. When planning a trip my first stop is the National Park Service.(Upcoming Wedding in Boston - we add a week to the trip to visit Acadia. Wedding in Naples, FL - we add a few days to hit Everglades NP.)
2. I have googled National Park Stamps enough time to know there is actually a web page that lists All possible National Park Stamps. (Its important to know that I have not yet applied to be a "Master Traveler" but I've given it serious consideration!)
3. I know and address each region by color instead of location within the country. (For example you tell me your going to Oregon and I begin to refer to it as your trip to the light blue area.)
4. I carry my National Park stamp book "just in case."
5. On our most recent trip to Alaska a timid parent approached me to ask where he could get "one of those nifty stamp books" for his kids.
I don't see myself giving up my stamping habit anytime soon.
And why should I?
The National Parks are one of the greatest treasures we have been given from generations past. I can only hope that my enthusiasm for the National Parks (and their round stamps) rubs off on my children the way it rubbed off on me. Thanks Mom & Dad - An America the Beautiful Pass and Stamp Book are certainly much cheaper and more enjoyable then Therapy.
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