I Have Achieved Philatelic Zen

An area of my stamp collection that has given me fits for years is my general world wide.

I don't "collect" it per se, but I do keep stamps from all over as they, one way or another, come into my possession.

I am very anal about my collections. I agonize and spend a lot of time thinking about organization and, well, being organized. And it varies. Pre-printed albums for a couple of specialty countries. Labeled (using Stamp Tags) Vario Pages for my topical and more specialized collections (newspaper stamps).

The world always seemed to be sitting there in defiance. Vario pages didn't feel right to me. Pre-printed albums neither. I looked at Steiner pages (which I use for my limited dead countries collection and Haiti collection). Just nothing felt right.

Recently, I tried out stockbooks. In order by country. Under the country? No order. Not by date of issue. Not by Scott #. Nothing. The only stamps getting a tag? Those that are particularly of interest to me, have some meaning, or have some value - financial or otherwise. This avoids blank spaces and I don't have to spend inordinate amount of time looking up stamps and/or labeling stamps.

The lack of order within country goes against my very being, but over the summer, somehow, I've found inner peace with this system and suddenly my worldwide hoard is less hoardy.

Congratulations!

Your 'solution' is how I deal with stamps I don't have time for. It works, at least for the moment. Still, there is always the thought: Maybe tomorrow.

If it makes you happy, that is what counts.

How I do understand you , how I do understated you. Printed album never fit the bill. You never satisfy with the one you print yourself. I'm trying to like Vario, but I don't. And you always have those stamps in album that you don't like , but you need to fill the holes.

I always like to work with stockbook, but I found the stamps move way too much. So I guess I have to continue to search for my peace in mind too.

I print my own pages. Costs are very small and I can change at any time.

Peter

'My problem in using stock-books as albums, rather than, er, stock-books, is that the fixed arrangement of the glassine strips doesn't quite work with anything other than smaller issues. I either need to scrunch the stamps up, so the whole image isn't visible, or leave large gaps with rows if empty glassine. So I'm back to using them for their intended purpose!

See, now you all have me looking at my stockbooks, looking at my Vario pages, back to my stockbooks, back to my vario pages. Is that an album over there?

Thanks!

[]

ecmorgan, congrats on finally finding peace. Not easy.

I have gone back and fourth for many years. Whenever I think I have found the solution, something new come up...

The closest thing I've come across is this DIY:

Lighthouse Maximum

I want as large area as possible to work with.

Use their 2x3 pockets:



These come in clear and black. Each 'pocket' can then be customised.
I can cut Vario pages to fit (2 or 3 rows per pocket, depending on height).
I can also print my own page to fit. These can contain everything from regular squares to descriptive text and enlarges images for varieties/forgeries.
I can also add postcard or whole sheets (there is another maximum page for sheets).

Downside: A bit expensive

More info here:

https://www.leuchtturm.com/epages/l...ducts/332833

If we really want to be Zen, we have to burn the stamps……..



We need to concentrate on what we want; Postal offices don't stop to find a way to empty more our pockets; . Souvenir sheets, FDC, Sign limited edition and so on. Also this Mint never hanged way of thinking, PSE Grading ( so ridiculous) and mostly Stamps Album s that make us collect so many stamps we don't like, at least for me, I like some series from different countries , but not all of them

I don't say to not collect FDC, but in my case I don't need them to have a complete collection.

I use STEINER pages and only print those pages which I have stamps for or those countries that I hope to fill in the near future .