Traveling Hobbyist

I Travel For Records

New Arrivals

Lou’s Records – San Diego, CA

My romanticized version of Southern California was shaped almost exclusively by my love of the 2005 film, Lords of Dogtown. It made the streets of Venice Beach out to be a sort of grungy wild west for incredibly cool and underprivileged teenagers. Which, more than anything, was what I wanted to be: cool. This culture,…
Record City – San Diego, CA

The humble strip-mall record store is rarely a shop that gets the recognition it deserves. Often nestled between a Chinese take-out restaurant and an AutoZone, these shops are the real hidden gems. Devoid of foot traffic, the strip-mall record store must offer something unique, something worth the dangerous journey to the suburbs. Record City does…
Portland Record Show 2026

Portlanders love records. Like, really love records. The record store to resident ratio here is like 10 to 1. This means that there are some great record shows as well. Portland has more than one record show throughout the year, as well as smaller meet-ups/record swaps at places like Gigantic Brewery. The biggest of these shows…
M-Theory Music (San Diego, CA)

Like many tourists, when I’m traveling, I tend to try to seek out the very best. The biggest, grandest, most famous a city has to offer. If you’re in Denver and you are seeking out a record store, you will probably see countless recommendations for Twist and Shout. A truly gargantuan record store worthy of…

The Cost of a Vinyl Record Set up

Vinyl records have been around for a very long time, but in the last 10 years, the hobby has undergone some pretty major changes. Although the medium looked to be dying out for many years, it has recently made a massive comeback. Tons of people are just now getting into the hobby of record collecting…
Vinyl Record Storage: From the Best to the Good Enough

Once you have visited enough record stores and amassed enough records, the big question that needs answering is: How should I store vinyl records? Not only do you want to find a vinyl record storage solution that is aesthetically pleasing for your specific listening space but it also needs to protect your precious records from…
Colorados Best Record Stores: Beyond Denver

It’s easy to get sidetracked doing silly things like hiking or drinking copious amounts of microbrews when you’re in the Centennial State, but tons of amazing record stores are well worth your time between hitting the dispensaries and the ski slopes. Although Denver is very much the cultural center of the state and it has…
The Best Record Stores in the United States

There are many things that can make a record store great. The selection, the store’s place in the local music scene, and of course the people. Everyone has that special record store in their life, and I’m sure the record store you are thinking about now is indeed the best record store in the world,…