Traveling Has Me Puzzled

Hi there. Now that I have you here, I need to come clean.  That title was, uhh, kinda clickbait-y. This post isn’t actually about the puzzling nature of travel (as if that’s even a thing). It’s about jigsaw puzzles, the newest hobby to compete for my limited time and scattered attention. A long-time crossword puzzle lover, I’ve only recently gotten into jigsaw puzzles. My timing couldn’t be worse, though, as puzzles and cats are a horrible combination.

Even with my new handy dandy, piece-protecting, feline-foiling roll-up puzzle preservation mat . . .

. . . it only works if I can get free and unencumbered access to it.

My new “mystery” puzzle (solved without the aid of a picture) and I don’t stand a chance, do we?

I would NEVER go after mommy’s puzzle pieces (mainly because I can’t reach the tabletop). But I will chew the box.

Even when I can sneak in and get some puzzling done, it’s only a matter of time before my efforts are thwarted.

Subtle, Mango. Really subtle.

But despite all the four-pawed interference, I have managed to get a few travel-themed puzzles completed.  It all started when my brother gave me this one after he viewed my Travel Opens Doors posts:

The addiction begins. . .

Our recent summertime trip to Breckenridge resulted in many frivolous purchases, including this ski run jigsaw. When I was in 5th grade, my parents took us on a ski trip to Colorado, but on the day the rest of the family skied Breck, my mom and I went shopping in town instead, so I’ve never actually skied any of these runs. That’s ok. Skiing not required for successful puzzle completion.

I bought this puzzle of vintage travel posters intending it as a trivia prize at our Travel Bucket List Party & Fundraiser, but couldn’t bear to part with it.

So I didn’t.

We had lots of “assistance” with this one.

I saw this travel-themed puzzle in a local shop and just couldn’t pass it up.

Fun to assemble, but a depressing reminder of how few national parks I’ve visited. I’ve only been to 12 of the parks pictured.

Discussing my newest obsession at work led to a trade and allowed me to keep the national park theme going.

I haven’t even heard of some of these parks.

And while trades and purchases are fine ways to obtain these visual-spatial brain teasers, I also subscribed to Completing the Puzzle, a puzzle-lending company. Remember getting DVDs mailed to you from Netflix? It works like that. The three-month term I chose allows me be puzzled during the height of winter when I’m stuck inside much of the time. Conveniently, it will expire right around the time the snow melts and my focus shifts to gardening.

I couldn’t help getting another door puzzle from Completing . . .

I have several more travel-themed puzzles on my Completing wishlist (Evening in Paris is on its way as I write this), but I’m afraid my subscription will expire before I can get to them all. No matter. I intend to resubscribe next winter. In the meantime, my Amazon wishlist is filling up fast with travel-themed puzzles, so this probably won’t be the last time you see a Traveling Has Me Puzzled post from me.

Next time, though, you won’t be puzzled by the title. 🧩