Despite missing the family, I had a wonderful time. I was able to relax. I read in the sun. I swam in the sea. I hiked and saw some amazing places off the beaten track.
It was just what my soul needed.
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personal journey
As long as your heart is open, there is always the possibility of love. And a beautiful love is what I found on a yacht sailing the Mediterranean four years ago with Sun Fun You Mediterranean Voyages.
Something I really do not spend a lot of mindshare on is my gender. I love being a woman; I am proud of it, I wouldn’t change it for the world. But, I simply don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it.
During all my travels, it has become clear that the rest of the world sees me as a woman, first and foremost. Some of the my most colorful memories are directly related to the fact that I am a woman, and I am thankful for each and every one.
Here are just a few cherished nuggets…
I don’t have time to travel. Who has time to travel?
Wait.
That’s the point.
Traveling allows you to take a break from daily routine and see a new perspective ...then take home with you the gift of renewed energy, a more open mind.
stretching was tranquility, not effort. And pulling definitely involves effort. Lots and lots of effort as my muscles shake, and pain courses up and down my legs, in this case, inside and out, front and back. Tremendous effort and discipline as sweat pours off my body, into my eyes, and up my nose.
I’m just trying to figure out what the milestones are that made his stay there living, and not an extended business trip.
Every milestone I think of, I can think of a time I did that activity somewhere that I wasn’t remotely considering a home.
So, what is it?
I’m starting to think it’s intangible. It’s a state of mind. If you think of someplace as home, then it is. Can it really be that simple?
I published some of the pictures on Facebook, some on this blog. Others I just kept. I also digitized all my old photo albums and added those to the library, painstakingly noting dates and locations.
It was all going swimmingly, until…
After giving her such grief for her trips to Chicago, I couldn’t be more grateful for them now.
Years ago, my friend Ellen and I decided that instead of celebrating NYE with a party, champagne and noisemakers, we would travel. That way, we could remember how we capped off each year from a distance, and move forward to launch the next.
So far, we have traveled for every New Year’s since we made this decision, often with other friends joining us
We can use the red side to signal, politely, to our seat mates that we aren’t open to talking at the moment. And the green side can signal that, yes, if you want to tell me about your grandson’s clarinet recital, now would be an okay time.
The Colonel drove us to my Dads’ wife’s cousin’s farm outside of Kaunas, where I was greeted with a warmth and enthusiasm that was touching. And overwhelming. The only English speaker was the eight-year-old, and she was also the only shy person in the whole family. So, things were a little chaotic for my jet-lagged brain to process. And even more so once the bottle of vodka was opened, the Euro-techno music started playing, and the dancing began.
There is a lot more to my dad outside of his travel biography, but I really don’t know that much about it. And, if you asked him about me, I am not sure he would be able to tell you very much.
For anyone who has ever used a navigation system, and driven (or walked) beyond where the map has coverage, you were probably prompted with a message warning you that, “You are not on a digitized road,” meaning that the detailed directions will cease, and you are on your own until you return back to civilization.
Starting something new, like writing, is exciting. But it is also scary. Having Lamott to look up to as a woman ahead of me on the trail, and not only surviving, but thriving, is reassuring.
So, the bottom line of my trip, is that I recommend skipping Uluru, and spending an extra day or two at one of the other amazing locations across Australia. I left feeling unfilled and disappointed. But, I do have some amazing photos!
Writing is a way I explore place, just like reading and traveling are.
I don’t remember not traveling. I started earning frequent flier miles when I was 8 years old. I vividly remember the year my sister and I got matching Snoopy suitcases for Christmas. Nothing else we got that year even came close to being as cool as those suitcases!
After my parents divorced, and my mom moved my sister and I across the country, my sister and I flew alone cross-country several times a year to visit our dad. And, my sister and I went on great holidays with our dad to Mexico and Jamaica, and with our mom to England, Florida, New York, D.C. and Australia.
But, even more common than flying were the road trips. With our dad, we took trips to Wisconsin (the Dells), Indiana (the Dunes) and Michigan (some kind of Lithuanian summer community). With our mom it was all about the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite.
I learned about history, culture, politics, and life. Not through the filter of television, but by actually traveling and seeing it.
I started this blog in 2012 to explain what travel is teaching me now, or key lessons I learned in the past. My hope is that you enjoy reading it a fraction as much as I enjoy learning it!