L E T T E R B O X I N G ! The obsession begins, continues, and makes me brave the wilderness.   A LINK TO BOXES I'VE PLACED A LIST OF BOXES I'VE FOUND (and what's this P-factor you talk about?) VIRTUAL LETTERBOXING? If you know nothing at all about letterboxing, or you just want to learn more, read on, fair traveller...   ABOUT MY OBSESSION I first heard about letterboxing on an art list I'm on. Which is strange, since the art part of it is pretty much secondary to the adventure of the whole thing, but hey...any introduction deserves a great big thank you from this camp. Since finding this little hobby, it's been hard to duct tape me to the chair. If I'm not working on the new business or writing in my insanely-often-updated journal, the chances are pretty great that I'm either researching a new placement site, finding an existing box, or carving one of the letterbox stamps. (I hope to put images of a few of those I've done online sometime soon. For now, there really are some in the archives of my online journal, if you'd like to see.) I'm actually thinking of hiking the width of the country on the Pacific Crest Trail one of these days. Although that's crazy for a lot of reasons (mainly that I've never backpacked in my life), I just keep dreaming of all the cool places I could put new boxes....   WHAT IS IT? Letterboxing is, essentially, a giant treasure hunt. You make a logbook (or take along paper, a stamp pad, and a pen, just in case the one in the box is messed up), and a hand-carved (or purchased, if you prefer) stamp to represent yourself. You check the letterboxing USA site, or the letterboxing yahoogroup for boxes in your area. Then you hike on out to wherever it is (which can range from an easy hike in a local park to strenuous treks up the sides of mountains). Once you're there, you will find inside a location stamp, a small notebook, and probably a pen and some letterboxing instructions. You stamp your symbol into the logbook you find inside and leave a little note, and stamp the location stamp into your own logbook. Then you hike back on down from wherever the clues have led you, and start planning the next trek. It sounds simplistic, but it's addictive, like crack.   MORE INFO? Join the international artgirl letterboxing cabal (not just for artists, not just for girls, either), for a mailing list that talks about everything from finding the perfect purple hiking socks to making ice cream when you get to the top of the hike, to making your own handmade logbooks. Subscribe to ialc-list Powered by groups.yahoo.com http://www.letterboxing.org the grand-daddy of all letterboxing sites. http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=letterboxing for livejournal people who letterbox http://www.pcdx.com/pclg/index.htm Perfect Circle Letterboxing Group - woo! We need one of those here in Seattle, methinks. http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/letterboxing/ Mirkwood's letterboxing site, with lots of info http://www.letterboxingcentral.com/ A whopper of a site, this one's got all kinds of info for all skill levels. http://www.letterboxing.org/faq.html The comprehensive FAQ -- easily the best you'll find.   A FEW RELATED THINGS If you need help in learning to carve your own stamps, do a search for "eraser carving", or the Spring, 2002 issue of IN(ner) QUESTION has a great guest article by Libby Magnello about making your own stamps. Also, in the Summer issue (to be released in August, 2002), there is a whole article on this hobby, in much more depth than I go into here. Most hardcore hikers follow a very strict"Leave No Trace" policy, in order to keep our natural areas from turning into human-trampled wastelands. Please read through it and follow it as closely as you can -- every person counts. coming soon: how to make your own boxes how to place them and write clues some creative ideas for clues a gallery of stamps THE INTERNATIONAL ARTGIRL LETTERBOXING CABAL!!!   letterboxing | moderngypsy.com