The Daily Dig

Every weekend for the past 10 years or so I have hit up the local thrift stores, flea markets or yard sales in the area. Mostly I am looking for records, but I always stop by the art section looking for original paintings, unusual frames and old photographs. Every once in a while you come across old photo albums with the pictures still inside. Most of the time people remove the photos and just donate the book itself, but sometimes people who have passed on or people who just don't need the photos anymore donate the whole lot. Yesterday I found 5 albums for $2/ea that were all from the same couple's vacations from 1975-1982. The photos are largely just of the historical landmarks they visited from Sweden to Hungary to Germany (and many more) but every couple pages were truly candid and remarkable photos of the couple, their friends or the random staples of life that are largely passed by and ignored. More extraordinary than the photos themselves is the astounding amount of record keeping with each book. Every photo has the description on the back as well as a written representation in the interleave. Also included are personal diaries, maps, itineraries and memorabilia. The travelogues are truly engaging and one could save money on a vacation and just live vicariously through the images and words captured along their journeys. It's obvious that the couple has lived a much fuller life and adventurous life than I have so far, but this is a nice reminder to get out and see the world. Attached are a couple photos and one of the many pages of documentation.