Monday, June 6, 2016

International Stamp Show - The World Arrives in New York


























Having found a couple of old postage stamps among our family's  papers, I thought it would be good to find out if any of them had value. Short answer is "No".  But it was fun and interesting to get to the answer of "worthless". The International Stamp Show is in New York this week. Despite gorgeous weather on a Memorial Day holiday weekend, the center was filled with people who know and care a whole lot more about stamps than I do. For me, the hook was seeing John Lennon's childhood stamp collection. 


Then...down to business. I walked the floor and found the countries from which the stamps came. I met interesting people who know so much and are so generous with their time. Having made my rounds, checking in on all the countries I wanted to learn about, I was heading for the exit. But before I left, Bhutan caught my eye. I'm planning to travel to Bhutan this fall. True to its reputation as a country which measures its national happiness output, the couple at Bhutan's booth smiled broadly as they proudly told me that they had traveled across the world to represent their country at this international showcase.