Let the project begin!

Marathon season is over. National Novel-Writing Month is nearly halfway done. The stock markets are going nuts, and the holidays are coming quickly.

I think it's about time for a new project, don't you?

Enter The Passport Project, my first organized foray into collecting passport cancellations from all the U.S. National Parks.

Growing up, I'd always eyed the "Passport to Your National Parks" with envy. I just loved the look of the thing -- the small, pocket-sized book, the sleek, sturdy blue cover, the pages and pages of parks to visit and stickers, stamps, and cancellations to collect. I don't know why I never asked for one; surely, at such a bargain price, my nature-loving family would have purchased one for me if it was above my allowance paygrade. But still, I ogled at them every time I was in a park visitor's center or bookstore, inspecting them and their accompanying sticker sheets with great interest.

But now I'm adult, and I have the full autonomy to shell out for my own Passport if I so choose. And a few months ago, back in July, I did just that.

And my Passport Project -- though I didn't know it as such then -- began.

I'm really very blessed to live in an area where my yen for national parks can be so easily fulfilled. The National Capital Region is awash in monuments, memorials, relics, statues, parklands, refuges, forts, and more. Everywhere you turn, there's another historic site, another colonial farm, another trail or pathway seemingly leading out to the wilderness, right outside my front door.

This has, as you might imagine, made my initial forays into passport cancellations very, very fun.

So fun, in fact, that now I'm getting serious. I'd like to use this blog to chronicle what I've seen, where I've been, and where I'm hoping to go next. And I'd like to throw some challenges out along the way -- for myself, and also for anyone who happens to stumble across The Passport Project (heaven help you).

So, the first challenge is this: Beginning with this past Oct. 1, I will strive to pick up each and every cancellation within the National Capital Region within the next 52 weeks. There are 56 different locations to visit, by my count, so that sounds doable, if slightly difficult. :) My deadline will, of course, be Oct. 1, 2009. And not to worry -- I'll provide plenty of updates along the way, since that IS the point, after all! :)

C'mon, join in! What's YOUR contribution to The Passport Project?

:)