When I read of your passion that others have for travel, it brings waves of exhilaration from my core. I grew up listening to AM Radio stations late at night from across the country imagining the people and life in those far off places. I went to the library and read each month’s National Geographic magazine from cover to cover. The vivid color and images of cultures and landscapes captivated my mind. And when I was exposed to great books in school, I was drawn to their adventures in print with quotes from some of my favorite authors…
* “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
* People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck
* “It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau
* “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… Let’s go exploring!” – Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes
As an adult, because of my career, I did travel to 35 countries and meet a great number of those who mysteriously ended up being very much like me, despite their differences in language, culture, and color. In the past eight years all of that suddenly came to an end when my partner’s illness changed their life and mine into one that blessed us to spend our time mostly together in one place. And that’s fine as well. For it has allowed me to understand why I was drawn to such adventures and other cultures. I learned that the measure of adventure you have in life is proportional to the anticipation you rise in the morning for each day. The love of learning and experiencing new things can carry you beyond your own borders, challenges, and limitations. So, the old saying rings true… Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures. Travel well!
You have a traveling life line, Tyler; the wanderlust is an innate part of who you are. There will always be a restlessness, but I’ve learned, since I have a traveling life line too and some more years on my life (I traveled for work once upon a time), there is a balance. I need a home life that feels like a sanctuary, so that I can hit the road when the mood strikes, have my adventure, and then return to the serenity that creates my foundation. Even when you do settle into more stillness, that stillness will be punctuated by adventures. 😘
This is the love letter to travel I wish I could have written 💜 I teared up listening. I've always loved to travel, to breathe the air of unfamiliar places, to feel uncharted ground beneath my boots. I used to feel calmest and happiest in airports and train stations. All that changed when I became chronically ill and was forced into the quiet life of watching the seasons through my bedroom window and tracking shadows on the wall as each day passes. There is beauty to be found in the quiet & still life, truly there is so much goodness in it, if you have eyes to see. But i've found there is ache too, at least for me, a deep ache for all that lies beyond the window pane, out in the wide world. For now, my inner wanderer must find contentment with remembering past adventures (thankfully there are many to recall), and of course adventuring vicariously through others!
BIG sigh. This was a good one. GO. After reading and hearing these words this Sunday it really has been an insightful couple of years for me to compare. Seeing the pace slow of my parents, relatives, neighbors, and older friends makes it more of an urgency for me to GO. Create the wish list of places in the world to exist, breathe in, and GO.
Beautifully written…. You have wandered since you came across the country as a wee one in your “Moses “ basket…. It’s part of you. One day, you will also yearn for your feet to remain on familiar ground with quiet contentment….. until then, journey on!!!!
This one really hits home. After a long stretch of wandering, I believed I was ready for that stillness you speak of, when really, what I needed was balance and a rest. I've been "in place" for a stretch now, and I can feel my wanderer awakening again. Thanks, as always, for sharing these beautiful thoughts of yours.
Never be normal. It is fine for most folks, and there is nothing wrong with foraging purpose and joy in the mundane. Because life is filled with beauty and magic no matter where you are if you know how to see it. But if you have been given the glorious gift of having the courage to go against the status quo, and make your way in this world swimming opposite the current of the nine to five, stuck in traffic, everybody working for the weekend, normality that we are taught to strive for, then swim you must! Swim hard! Leap at adventure every chance you get like a salmon defying gravity up a waterfall!
To me this is such a privilege and I am so very blessed to be able to live my life as a wanderer and to know so many people and places around the world. I will never be rich financially, and I am totally okay with that. I have chosen my abundance in the form of stories, memories, people and experiences that fill my heart and soul and I never feel I am missing out.
So keep gathering those smiles and sparks. Come and get some more down here amongst the monkeys, volcanoes and sea turtles! When we are all old and worn, we will settle in and tell our stories and they will bring us peace to relive them once we are no longer able to make more! And we will inspire other to not be normal too.
When I read of your passion that others have for travel, it brings waves of exhilaration from my core. I grew up listening to AM Radio stations late at night from across the country imagining the people and life in those far off places. I went to the library and read each month’s National Geographic magazine from cover to cover. The vivid color and images of cultures and landscapes captivated my mind. And when I was exposed to great books in school, I was drawn to their adventures in print with quotes from some of my favorite authors…
* “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
* People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck
* “It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau
* “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… Let’s go exploring!” – Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes
As an adult, because of my career, I did travel to 35 countries and meet a great number of those who mysteriously ended up being very much like me, despite their differences in language, culture, and color. In the past eight years all of that suddenly came to an end when my partner’s illness changed their life and mine into one that blessed us to spend our time mostly together in one place. And that’s fine as well. For it has allowed me to understand why I was drawn to such adventures and other cultures. I learned that the measure of adventure you have in life is proportional to the anticipation you rise in the morning for each day. The love of learning and experiencing new things can carry you beyond your own borders, challenges, and limitations. So, the old saying rings true… Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures. Travel well!
A true love letter
You have a traveling life line, Tyler; the wanderlust is an innate part of who you are. There will always be a restlessness, but I’ve learned, since I have a traveling life line too and some more years on my life (I traveled for work once upon a time), there is a balance. I need a home life that feels like a sanctuary, so that I can hit the road when the mood strikes, have my adventure, and then return to the serenity that creates my foundation. Even when you do settle into more stillness, that stillness will be punctuated by adventures. 😘
This is the love letter to travel I wish I could have written 💜 I teared up listening. I've always loved to travel, to breathe the air of unfamiliar places, to feel uncharted ground beneath my boots. I used to feel calmest and happiest in airports and train stations. All that changed when I became chronically ill and was forced into the quiet life of watching the seasons through my bedroom window and tracking shadows on the wall as each day passes. There is beauty to be found in the quiet & still life, truly there is so much goodness in it, if you have eyes to see. But i've found there is ache too, at least for me, a deep ache for all that lies beyond the window pane, out in the wide world. For now, my inner wanderer must find contentment with remembering past adventures (thankfully there are many to recall), and of course adventuring vicariously through others!
Yours is THE podcast I listen too. >soft smile< thank you and I'm glad I subscribe.
and … "Life of suitcase and wind." … how beautiful. how true.
BIG sigh. This was a good one. GO. After reading and hearing these words this Sunday it really has been an insightful couple of years for me to compare. Seeing the pace slow of my parents, relatives, neighbors, and older friends makes it more of an urgency for me to GO. Create the wish list of places in the world to exist, breathe in, and GO.
Beautifully written…. You have wandered since you came across the country as a wee one in your “Moses “ basket…. It’s part of you. One day, you will also yearn for your feet to remain on familiar ground with quiet contentment….. until then, journey on!!!!
This one really hits home. After a long stretch of wandering, I believed I was ready for that stillness you speak of, when really, what I needed was balance and a rest. I've been "in place" for a stretch now, and I can feel my wanderer awakening again. Thanks, as always, for sharing these beautiful thoughts of yours.
Never be normal. It is fine for most folks, and there is nothing wrong with foraging purpose and joy in the mundane. Because life is filled with beauty and magic no matter where you are if you know how to see it. But if you have been given the glorious gift of having the courage to go against the status quo, and make your way in this world swimming opposite the current of the nine to five, stuck in traffic, everybody working for the weekend, normality that we are taught to strive for, then swim you must! Swim hard! Leap at adventure every chance you get like a salmon defying gravity up a waterfall!
To me this is such a privilege and I am so very blessed to be able to live my life as a wanderer and to know so many people and places around the world. I will never be rich financially, and I am totally okay with that. I have chosen my abundance in the form of stories, memories, people and experiences that fill my heart and soul and I never feel I am missing out.
So keep gathering those smiles and sparks. Come and get some more down here amongst the monkeys, volcanoes and sea turtles! When we are all old and worn, we will settle in and tell our stories and they will bring us peace to relive them once we are no longer able to make more! And we will inspire other to not be normal too.