One year has passed since I was able to go back home for a brief vacation with my family. It's becoming harder and harder to go back often as I was able to do in the past. The reasons are many, from the increased cost of the flights to the more duties at work and not forgetting the global Coronavirus pandemic and the war going on in Ukraine.

And to live so far away is not easy, even when you do like a lot the Country you moved to (Japan in my case), you still miss many things, from family and friends to food and daily routine. For me it's also not being able to share with my children the places and events that accompanied my childhood.

So by the way, during the Pandemic I've felt that I needed someway to feel a little bit closer to my hometown and its football team, that I used to follow all my life. And I've started to collect all its uniforms (preferably match worn, by players during the games).

The "match worn" type differs in terms of cost (more expensive) and easyness to find on the market from the new store ones and the ones that were prepared for the games but weren't used by the players.

Usually I try not to spend too much in one month for this hobby, but sometimes is not easy to "resist" when you find a good piece on the web (EBay, etc.) or someone offers you one at a good price.

There's actually a community of collectors, divided by teams they support and I was lucky enough to get in touch with the biggest collector of Venezia's uniforms, a guy from Mestre, that now informs me everytime he finds an interesting piece.

It's not like being able to go to the stadium everytime Venezia plays at home, but it helps a little bit to feel closer to home.

Really hope to be able to bring my son to the stadium soon, maybe next year.

Everyone has his/hers own hobby I guess...what's yours??

Alberto