How to travel with all your favorite board games and The Absence of "shelfies"

-  the  SHELFIE  -

There are many facets surrounding the attractiveness of board games and the culture there within. One of the biggest facets, some might claim, is the artwork that is used for the games. Attractive artwork can even sometimes be the single driving force behind placing certain titles up on one's coveted game shelf. This game shelf is important to gamers. It's a grail of sorts. A display of awards, memories, and status. Board gamers take pride in this shelf and enjoy basking in it's presence. Showing off one's game shelf and admiring others is a big and beautiful part of board game culture. Individuals will often post "shelfies" of their proud collections to the internet and to others. Especially when adding new additions or rearranging. 

I wants. I wants all!

Above is an impressive example of one of these shelfie shelves from our friends over at Woosung.boardgames. Follow them on IG for some great gaming content! Their beautiful collection is one that any gamer could appreciate (and want to steal). 

However...having a large collection of great games means you need to have the space to display them in. This is an area with which I lack and have lacked for quite some time.  

-  The  lack  of  shelves  -

There's a lot you don't know about me, but one common theme in my life is a very simple and limited existence. My lifestyle and past occupations have pleasantly provided a path for me that often has me sustaining in very small spaces and with very few material possessions. In fact, I've spent a decent amount of time "living" out of my car. By choice, mind you. This standard of living has made me a master of consolidation and organization with the things I do hold dear. You might guess that some of those dear things would be board games. And you might guess that living out of a car doesn't actually provide many opportunities for impressive shelfies. 

-  The  consolidation  -

And of course, I love board games. I also love being very mobile. So, how do I keep up with all my boxes that contain all my precious games and all their lovely components? Simple...I don't! 

Yes, this is on a hotel bed. Yes, the bag is heavy.

The bag above is my game bag. It basically always goes where I go. Would you believe me if I told you that it contains anywhere from 15-20 board games at any given time? Well, it do. And not just small lightweight titles. It contains heavier titles such as Terraforming Mars, Pandemic (Cthulhu), Arkham Horror LCG, and more. 

-  the  ocd  nightmare  -

So, how do I do it? Well, sadly it starts by taking everything out of those pretty, space-occupying boxes we mentioned earlier. I know...rough huh? 
What comes next is a litany of tactics involving many different size zipper bags and rubber bands. 

Still on the hotel bed

The photo above would make many people cringe. It might have made you cringe. Who would do such a thing!? Apparently someone who lives without a lot of space, but still wants their things. 

-  the  compromises  -

This post was inspired by a couple of things. One; I've actually been seeing several posts on social media about individual's board game consolidation techniques lately (some met with some opposition), and two; I've been on the road the last couple of weeks, game bag in tow.

And so I live without the satisfaction of having a beautiful display of my board game collection. And I'm okay with that. What I have instead is actually something I'd rather prefer. I have the ability to take all my love for board games with me in a physical form to share with others. I have the ability to pull out a game at any moment and occasion to play and create an experience with others. This is my trade off. This is my joy.

Sorry if you don't appreciate my neat consolidation techniques! I hope to be able to pull out a game from my bag and play with you some day! Do you have similar techniques? What do you do to help consolidate? Feel free to respond in the comments below.
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