by Ray Fauteux

Created on: March 07, 2009

If you are interested in taking up rock collecting as a hobby there are many ways to start your collection off on the right foot. You might consider searching the Internet. Collections that range from inexpensive beginner's sets to very expensive sets with rarer rocks are available.

There are also many books and catalogs on the subject that will provide tons of information on how certain rocks are formed, how to identify certain characteristics, and where they can most likely be found. If you have a touch of the explorer in you, then chances are, you have found the perfect hobby.

Every natural setting has rocks of some type that are for the most part, specific to the location. What a great way to tie in your rock collecting hobby with traveling to all sorts of different destinations.

Are you off on a trip to Hawaii? The Hawaiian Islands are filled with igneous rock. These are formed when magma cools and hardens. The big island of Hawaii is home to one of the world's most well known volcanoes that still actively spews lava that flows to the sea. As it hardens new rocks are formed that would make an interesting addition to any rock collection.

If you are planning a camping trip, be sure to check out all the lakes, rivers and streams you come across. When big rocks erode, the sediment that results will eventually form into stones that vary in characteristics depending on the region. The stones you collect will be reminders of your holiday.

If you are interested in adding Metamorphic rocks to your collection then be prepared for a trip to a part of the world that often experiences intense heat. A combination of extreme heat and pressure forms these types of rocks and of course, there are certain regions of the world where they will not be found.

Half the fun of being a novice rock collector is simply finding rocks that you find attractive and interesting to you even though you have no idea what kind they are. That way when you get home you can do research on the rock and learn about it. As you do your research you will be learning more about rock collecting in general. It would also be helpful to buy yourself a rock identification guide as well. Of course they will help identify what you have found, but they will also give you an idea of where to look for certain rocks on you next excursion.

When you do find rocks that interest you, it's important to label them. The easiest way is to put them in their own plastic bag and label the bag with the date and location where you found them. That way, when you get home it will be much easier to catalogue them.

For many people, rock collecting is the ideal hobby. You can find rocks anywhere and they are completely free. At the same time they are much older than anything you are likely to find in an antique shop. Better yet, rocks have a story to tell. They can be part of historic floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, and who knows, one day you could stumble on a rock that travelled from a far-off Galaxy and was part of a meteorite impact.

Rocks speak of far-off places, how animals lived, about mountains and oceans, and environment and civilizations that ceased to exist eons ago. Rock collecting is about much more than putting your rocks in a shoe box and storing them in a corner of the closet. The real value is in the story they tell about the world around us and the way it was many years ago.

Learn more about this author, Ray Fauteux.
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