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  • Home
  • about ~ wander.essence ~
    • ~ the places i’ve been ~
    • ~ places i’ve been in the u.s.a. ~
  • Travel Destinations
    • America
      • Virginia
    • American Road Trips
      • Four Corners Area
        • Arizona
          • Monument Valley
          • Navajo National Monument
          • Petrified Forest National Park
          • Sunset Crater National Monument
          • Walnut Canyon National Monument
          • Winslow
          • Wupatki National Monument
        • Colorado
          • Colorado National Monument
          • Colorado Towns
            • Grand Junction
          • Great Sand Dunes National Park
        • New Mexico
        • Utah
          • Arches National Park
          • Canyonlands
          • Dead Horse Point State Park
          • Hovenweep National Monument
          • Moab
          • Valley of the Gods
          • Natural Bridges National Monument
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            • packing list for el camino de santiago 2018
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    • imaginings: the call to place
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wander.essence

wander.essence

Home from Morocco & Italy

Home sweet home!May 10, 2019
I'm home from Morocco & Italy. :-)

Italy trip

Traveling to Italy from MoroccoApril 23, 2019
On my way to Italy!

Leaving for Morocco

Casablanca, here I come!April 4, 2019
I'm on my way to Casablanca. :-)

Home from our Midwestern Triangle Road Trip

Driving home from Lexington, KYMarch 6, 2019
Home sweet home from the Midwest. :-)

Leaving for my Midwestern Triangle Road Trip

Driving to IndianaFebruary 24, 2019
Driving to Indiana.

Returning home from Portugal

Home sweet home from Spain & Portugal!November 6, 2018
Home sweet home from Spain & Portugal!

Leaving Spain for Portugal

A rendezvous in BragaOctober 26, 2018
Rendezvous in Braga, Portgual after walking the Camino de Santiago. :-)

Leaving to walk the Camino de Santiago

Heading to Spain for the CaminoAugust 31, 2018
I'm on my way to walk 790 km across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

Home from my Four Corners Road Trip

Home Sweet Home from the Four CornersMay 25, 2018
Home Sweet Home from the Four Corners. :-)

My Four Corners Road Trip!

Hitting the roadMay 1, 2018
I'm hitting the road today for my Four Corners Road Trip: CO, UT, AZ, & NM!

Recent Posts

  • anticipation & preparation: ecuador June 16, 2022
  • a florida road trip {part three}: fort lauderdale & st. augustine June 8, 2022
  • a florida road trip {part two}: the everglades & the keys June 1, 2022
  • a florida road trip {part one}: miami May 25, 2022
  • three days in boston May 11, 2022
  • croatia: dalmatia May 4, 2022
  • croatia: zagreb, istria & plitvice lakes national park April 27, 2022
  • michigan’s lower peninsula: “the mitten” April 13, 2022
  • michigan’s upper peninsula to mackinac island April 6, 2022
  • a wisconsin road trip: of apostle islands & cheeseheads March 23, 2022
  • minnesota {points north} March 9, 2022
  • minnesota {points south} February 23, 2022
  • arizona {points south} February 9, 2022

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on journey: taking ourselves from here to there

wanderessence1025 March 28, 2018

In Alain de Botton’s fabulous book, The Art of Travel, he writes: “we never simply ‘journey through an afternoon.’ We sit in a train.  Lunch digests awkwardly within us.  The seat cloth is grey.  We look out the window at a field.  We look back inside.  A drum of anxieties revolves in our consciousness.”

Of course, we don’t want to bore our readers with every detail of our journey, but maybe there is something that stands out, some aspect of the journey that is worth remembering and, later, telling.

on American road trips (or road trips anywhere…)

In the U.S., we are used to driving everywhere.  We embark on a road trip in adventurous spirit, determined to marvel over everything.  What passes outside our window may be stunning, silly, ugly, industrial, tacky, or even frustrating (traffic usually). The roadside may be littered with farmland and silos, decrepit buildings, businesses gone by the wayside, people doing bizarre things, bucolic rolling hills dotted with cows or sheep, or billboards hollering outrageous slogans.

I took my first major road trip when I was about 10 years old.  My whole family, with the exception of my baby brother, piled into our Ford station wagon. My parents drove us to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where my mother was born and raised. I don’t have any pictures from that trip. I’m sure all we kids did was complain: “Are we there yet?  I have to go to the bathroom!” I vaguely remember squirming, reading and getting carsick.  I have no clue what I saw along the way.

In the fall of 1979, less than a year after I graduated from the College of William and Mary, my first husband Bill and I embarked on a 2 1/2 month road trip around the U.S.  We loaded ourselves, our clothes, a tent, a cooler and sleeping bags into a Chevy van with my husband’s two pugs, Max and Ulysses, and my mutt, Lilly, and drove around the country.  We camped, we stayed in hotels, we slept in our van.  We visited Bill’s father in New Hampshire, made our way to Acadia National Park in Maine, crossed the Canadian border into Ottawa, then returned to the U.S. via Michigan. After stopping in St. Louis to visit friends, we made the endless slog across the Kansas plains until we came to the Rocky Mountains, eventually making our way up to Yellowstone.

New Hampshire lakes 9/17/79
New Hampshire lakes 9/17/79
Lilly in New Hampshire 9/17/79
Lilly in New Hampshire 9/17/79
Acadia National Park 9/19/79
Acadia National Park 9/19/79
camping in Maine 9/19/79
camping in Maine 9/19/79
Ottowa, Ontario 9/22/79
Ottowa, Ontario 9/22/79
Sleeping Bear National Dunes (Michigan) 9/23/79
Sleeping Bear National Dunes (Michigan) 9/23/79
Sleeping Bear National Dunes (Michigan) 9/23/79
Sleeping Bear National Dunes (Michigan) 9/23/79
St. Louis, Missouri 9/25/79
St. Louis, Missouri 9/25/79
Kansas Plains 10/2/79
Kansas Plains 10/2/79
Colorado Rocky Mountains 10/3/79
Colorado Rocky Mountains 10/3/79
Lilly at Rocky Mountain National Park 10/4/79
Lilly at Rocky Mountain National Park 10/4/79
Rocky Mountain National Park 10/4/79
Rocky Mountain National Park 10/4/79
Colorado National Monument 10/6/79
Colorado National Monument 10/6/79
me at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area 10/7/79
me at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area 10/7/79
Grand Tetons 10/8/79
Grand Tetons 10/8/79
Grand Tetons 10/8/79
Grand Tetons 10/8/79
Old Faithful 10/9/79
Old Faithful 10/9/79
Bison at Yellowstone 10/9/79
Bison at Yellowstone 10/9/79
me at Fairy Falls, Yellowstone 10/9/79
me at Fairy Falls, Yellowstone 10/9/79
me at Imperial Geyser, Yellowstone 10/9/79
me at Imperial Geyser, Yellowstone 10/9/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Mammoth Hot Springs, 10/10/79
Lower Yellowstone Falls 10/10/79
Lower Yellowstone Falls 10/10/79
Sour Lake 10/10/79
Sour Lake 10/10/79

After leaving the Rockies, we drove north to Banff, one of my favorite places on earth.

Banff Crag, Canada 10/14/79
Banff Crag, Canada 10/14/79
Banff Crag, Canada 10/14/79
Banff Crag, Canada 10/14/79
me at the Columbia Icefield, Banff 10/14/79
me at the Columbia Icefield, Banff 10/14/79
Big Horn Sheep on Mt. Norquay 10/15/79
Big Horn Sheep on Mt. Norquay 10/15/79

By October 26, we were at the Oregon coast.

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Oregon Coast 10/26/79

We arrived in Crater Lake, Oregon by October 28.

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Crater Lake, Oregon 10/28/79

By October 29, we reached the California coast, then went inland to Yosemite, where it was so cold I remember waking up in the van to find the dogs’ water dishes frozen over.  In Death Valley, we met the opposite extreme – sweltering temperatures.

Crescent City, CA 10/29/79
Crescent City, CA 10/29/79
El Capitan, Yosemite 10/30/79
El Capitan, Yosemite 10/30/79
Half Dome, Yosemite 11/4/79
Half Dome, Yosemite 11/4/79
Upper Yosemite Falls 11/4/79
Upper Yosemite Falls 11/4/79
Pioneer wagon, Death Valley 11/7/79
Pioneer wagon, Death Valley 11/7/79
Scotty's Castle, Death Valley 11/7/79
Scotty’s Castle, Death Valley 11/7/79
Sand dunes, Death Valley 11/7/79
Sand dunes, Death Valley 11/7/79
Devil's Golf Course, Death Valley 11/8/79
Devil’s Golf Course, Death Valley 11/8/79

I don’t have a travel journal full of witticisms or vivid observations. I know we saw wild and crazy things, listened to plenty of Tom Waits and the Eagles, and told funny stories to each other.  After all, Bill was a master of the long joke and I could spin hilarious yarns about my friends and our antics. It’s all lost now.  I vaguely remember jotting a few notes someplace, but I have no evidence of it now; whatever I wrote has vanished.  As I didn’t make much effort with my writing in those days, it was probably dull as mud.

All I have today is an album full of snapshots to remind me of that epic road trip. However, since someone ransacked our van in San Diego and stole our camera (because I stupidly left my passenger side window partway down when we parked in a neighborhood to take the dogs to the beach for 15 minutes), we don’t have any pictures from San Diego back across the U.S. to the East Coast.  On that lost portion of our trip, we stopped at the Grand Canyon, Farmington, NM to visit my uncle, and New Orleans, Louisiana, with several other stops along the way.

*********

On a long road trip by car, if we ever want to get anywhere, we can’t stop at every whim to take pictures.  Taking pictures out of a car window simply results in blurred impressions.  In the last several years, when driving alone, I’ve held a journal in my lap and jotted notes without looking down – admittedly dangerous and not recommended.   Recently, I bought a voice recorder to record my thoughts – a much safer option. 🙂

on planes, trains, buses & pilgrimages:

Of course, our journey isn’t always a road trip.  Sometimes it’s a plane flight, or multiple connecting flights, a train or a bus ride, or a combination of all of these. Sometimes it’s a walk or a hike. However we travel, there is bound to be something illuminating in it.

Waiting at the bus station in South Korea 2010
Waiting at the bus station in South Korea 2010
me with our driver in Jaipur, India March 2011
me with our driver in Jaipur, India March 2011
Heathrow Airport June 2013
Heathrow Airport June 2013
En route from London to Barcelona June 2013
En route from London to Barcelona June 2013

The journey to our destination can be excruciatingly boring, or it can be fascinating, if we observe the unusual and render it well.  Anything that informs our journey, adds dimension and depth to our travel experience, can become a subject for a travel piece: an encounter with strangers, a movie watched, music on a playlist, a conversation, unexpected challenges.

on bringing ourselves along

We might also consider the following: How do we bring ourselves along? The truth is that no matter how far we travel, we still lug along our happy, sad, angry, adventurous, forgetful or stressed selves. It is impossible to excise our inner or physical selves from this world to which we’ve escaped. How does that self make itself known in this new place? Do we learn something from our best or worst selves?

I’m challenging myself to write about the journey itself in a more engaging way. I invite you to explore how we take ourselves from here to there.

********************

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

– Jim Jarmusch

In Vladimir Nabokov‘s book Lolita, at the beginning of part two, Humbert Humbert and Lolita take a road trip across the U.S.A.  Nabokov captures a small part of their journey perfectly in this passage:

Now and then, in the vastness of those plains, huge trees would advance toward us to cluster self-consciously by the roadside, and provide a bit of humanitarian shade above a picnic table, with sun flecks, flattened paper cups, samaras and discarded ice-cream sticks littering the brown ground. A great user of roadside facilities, my unfastidious Lo would be charmed by toilet signs — Guys-Gals, John-Jane, Jack-Jill and even Buck’s-Doe’s; while lost in an artist’s dream, I would stare at the honest brightness of the gasoline paraphernalia against the splendid green of oaks, or at a distant hill scrambling out — scarred but still untamed — from the wilderness of agriculture that was trying to swallow it. (p. 153, 50th anniversary edition, Lolita, June 1997)

Inspired by Nabokov, I wrote about a road trip we took one winter to Philadelphia.

As we drive north on a freeway hemmed in by concrete barriers, the Toyota RAV’s wipers swish the drizzle to and fro on the windshield, a squeaky metronome.  Vehicles from Maryland, Virginia, and The Garden State whiz past, their tires flinging dirt-infused mist on our windshield.  A Warehouse for Lease! slumps on the fringes and black spiny trees blur along the roadside.  U2 sings “Mysterious Ways” and highway vagabond Miranda Lambert wants to “go somewhere where nobody knows.”  I’ve snagged my left thumbnail and as usual, I don’t have any nail clippers in my purse.  The annoying snag persists. A yellow sign forbids U-turns and when we cross the bridge, a ghostly mist rises off the Susquehanna River. Barns, silos, and bristly sepia fields scroll past and an aqua “Town of Perryville” water tower mutters a greeting.  On the industrial corridor near “Port of Wilm,” metal utility towers spread their triple-triangle arms and factories belch smoke, gasping their last breath.  Blue-green porta-potties stand in formation along the tracks and containers lie like coffins on idle trains.  The derelict train station’s windows are broken.  Citywide Limousine squats beside a lot of Ryder trucks and an empty pedestrian bridge covered in chain-link looms over us as we sputter underneath.

Finally, “Pennsylvania: State of Independence,” welcomes us while Hidden Figures of NASA stand in all their mathematical genius on an electronic billboard.  Run-down brick row houses hug the highway behind a thin veil of chain-links.  CSX rail cars hunker along the highway, dead in their tracks.  Another billboard promises “The Wounded Warrior Project helps me heal the wounds you can’t see.”  At Philadelphia Energy Solutions, giant cylindrical tanks squat on the land and, next door, bundles of paper haphazardly occupy a recycling plant. A pink “Risqué Video” sign entices those so-inclined.   We skid into the Philly outskirts, land of the free and home of the tired.

****************

“ON JOURNEY” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 750-1,000 word (or less) post on your own blog about the journey itself for a recently visited specific destination. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments. Include the link in the comments below by Tuesday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Wednesday, April 4, I’ll include your links in that post. My first post will be about my road trip to Cape May, New Jersey.

This will be an ongoing invitation, once weekly through April, and monthly after that. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

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journeys: anticipation & preparation

wanderessence1025 March 23, 2018

~ on anticipation ~

Part of the thrill of travel is in the anticipation. As soon as the idea takes root in imagination, our curiosity blossoms. We want to immerse ourselves as soon as possible in the journey.  Our date of travel may be far off, but we’re anxious to begin our journey, even if only in our minds.

Perhaps we read novels, memoirs or travel essays set in our destination.  We might read about history, architecture or food. I’ve always loved to read fiction, so tying travel and fiction together seems like a perfect wine-food pairing.  You can find inspiration on my two pages (works in process): books |u.s.a.| and books |international a-z|.

Maybe we love photography, so we thumb through books by famous photographers such as Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, or others; we might look through travel magazines like National Geographic Traveler or Afar for inspiration.  We may explore photography exhibits at museums.

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Hyeres, France (1932) – Henri Cartier-Bresson at the Barnes Foundation

We might be interested in painting or drawing, and so peruse art by Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Paul Gauguin and others, in art books or museums.

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The Powdered Woman by Adolfo Best Maugard at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

We might watch movies, TV series, documentaries or travel shows set in the locale we’re visiting.  These may draw us in, inspiring us to see a culture in a new light.

Maybe we study a language before traveling to a new culture. Either we take college courses, or a course in adult education, or do self-study courses.  Maybe we simply pick up a few phrases or we delve deep to study the complexities of language.

If we’re taking a road trip, we might make a playlist of music that either mentions our destination, or evokes feelings about it. Music can immerse us as we journey to the place, and keep washing over us once we arrive.  We can create a playlist for other trips too, filled with music endemic to that place, like Fado in Portugal or Spanish guitar in Spain.

fullsizeoutput_14219

Legends Corner, Nashville, Tennessee

Maybe part of our ritual is to prepare a journal we’ll keep when we embark on our journey.  We might create a bullet journal, or draw pictures of our destination, or glue in inspirational artwork, or paste some photos of the place.  Possibly, we create a collage, or make a list of creative intentions for our wanderings: how shall we push ourselves to create something new from our wanderings?

We might pick up nature guides that we’ll use to identify plants or birds native to a particular region.

yellow-billed stork in Lake Langano, Ethiopia
yellow-billed stork in Lake Langano, Ethiopia
Abyssinian Ground Hornbills in Lake Langano, Ethiopia
Abyssinian Ground Hornbills in Lake Langano, Ethiopia
birds in Lake Langano, Ethiopia
birds in Lake Langano, Ethiopia

Possibly we join a group to help us prepare, such as a Meetup Travel Group or an A-Z Book Club that reads books from all over the world; a hiking or rock-climbing group to help us get in shape; or a fellowship like American Pilgrims on the Camino, to learn from others who have done the pilgrimage and want to share their experiences with the uninitiated.

~ how do we prepare for our journey? ~

We probably buy a couple of guidebooks.  We look online for travel guides and blogs. We search for images in magazines or online.

We pin down our dates.  Possibly they’re hazy at first; we only know the time of year we’d like to go. Maybe the first thing we do is book our flights.  Or we might book our first couple of hotels or Airbnb apartments.  Maybe we build our trip around a cultural or natural event, such as Oktoberfest or fall colors or cherry blossom season. Once our money is invested, our journey becomes reality.

Cherry blossoms Japan

Cherry blossom season in Japan

Once the trip dates are finalized, we can start plotting our itinerary, maybe in a journal or a Word document or an Excel sheet.  We make note of the places we want to see, recommended restaurants and entertainment venues.  We try to figure out how much we can see in each day.  Maybe we like to take it slowly, seeing a few sights and then lingering in cafes or bars, or lounging on a beach.  Or maybe we try to see as much as possible.  Will we walk everywhere, or take public transportation, tuk-tuks or carriage rides?

Maybe we buy a map and start plotting our journey.  If we’re taking a road trip, we might use Google Maps to determine driving distances between places.  If we’re using public transportation, we can find transport information on blogs, or travel websites, or again, on Google Maps.

If we are walking on some kind of pilgrimage, or planning a strenuous activity, we might need to prepare ourselves physically, by going to the gym, walking, hiking, climbing, skiing, swimming, surfing or bicycling. We might need to practice carrying a backpack.

Most likely, we need to get our equipment in order: make sure we have the right camera and lenses, that we have an art journal and art supplies, or a voice recorder.  Possibly we want to make sure we have a back up battery for our phone if we’ll use it as our camera.

Finally, we have to pack.  If we’re doing a pilgrimage, such as the Camino de Santiago, we need to pack all the essentials, but keep our backpack as light as possible.  If we’re going on a romantic holiday, we might want to have cute clothes.  Maybe we leave room in our suitcases to buy local clothing. Possibly, if we want to seamlessly meld into a place, we’ll bring along clothing that’s commonly worn in that locale.  If we’re interested in fashion, we might pack cute outfits that we can wear against scenic backdrops, as many photographers do on Instagram.

OR. Maybe we don’t prepare at all.  Maybe we are spontaneous souls who throw ourselves out into the world. We go with the flow, wide open to surprise.

*****************

“ANTICIPATION & PREPARATION” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 750-word (or less) post on your own blog about anticipation & preparation for a recently visited or a future particular destination. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments. Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, March 30, I’ll include your links in that post. My first post will be about Cape May, New Jersey. 🙂

This will be an ongoing invitation, once weekly and then bi-weekly through April, and monthly after that. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

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  • challenge: a call to place

the call to place: cape may, new jersey

wanderessence1025 March 22, 2018

Cape May. August 1994. I lounge on a blue-and-yellow striped beach chair, a dusting of grit stuck to my sunscreen-slathered legs, my feet burrowed into sand.  Immersed in a book, I bask in the sun, getting up periodically to dip into the water.  My husband digs a hole in the beach with his bare hands. Into that hollow, my 1- and 3-year-old sons toddle, brandishing toy shovels, digging and piling sand into yellow construction equipment: a cement mixer, a bulldozer, a dump truck. I’m amused by their concentrated industriousness.

When not on the beach, we climb the lighthouse and marvel over the beach and town sprawled beneath us.  We cook dinners in.  I am happy yet overwhelmed by motherhood. I fiercely love my children, but in the process of loving them, I’ve lost all sense of myself.

Driving through the beach town in our blue Chevy van, chock-full of car seats and beach paraphernalia, I glimpse colorful Victorian houses blur past the window. The charming town, with its promise of candlelit dinners in Victorian inns, will have to wait for another time.

Cape May lighthouse
Cape May lighthouse
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May Point
Cape May Point
Hotel at Cape may
Hotel at Cape may
Cape May Point
Cape May Point
My 3-year-old son
My 3-year-old son
Cape May-Lewes Ferry
Cape May-Lewes Ferry
My 1 1/2-year-old son
My 1 1/2-year-old son

I tell my husband I’d love to come back one day without our children: to stroll on the beaches and through marshland, wander aimlessly through town, pop into shops, stay in a cozy bed-and-breakfast.

December 2017.  Twenty-three years later. I need an escape. My youngest son, 25 and living under our roof, has become a force to be reckoned with. After an upsetting altercation, I decide it is time to take care of myself.  After all, memory beckons: those Victorian houses, windswept beaches, billowing sea grasses, marshes and shore birds, seafood and ice cream. Oh yes, and, north of Cape May is that crazy amusement park, Wildwood, which might flash its bawdy vintage signs despite being closed in winter. Inspired by John’s Instagram, which features vintage American icons in Arizona, I’m interested in rediscovering Americana.  My getaway won’t be to Arizona, but to the Jersey shore; only a 4 1/2-hour drive, it’s close enough for a two-night escape.  There will be no romantic dinners this time because I’m going alone.  It’s time to pamper myself.

On this southernmost point of New Jersey shore jutting into the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic, I can meander on a deserted wind-swept beach, lingering in memories of my little boys when they were untarnished by the world — so innocent, so industrious.

*****************

“THE CALL TO PLACE” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 500-word (or less) post on your own blog about what enticed you to choose a recently visited or a future destination. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments.  If your destination is a place you love and keep returning to, feel free to write about that. If you want to see the original post about the subject, you can check it out here: imaginings: the call to place.

Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, March 28 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, March 29, I’ll include your links in that post. My next post will be about Nashville, Tennessee.

This will be an ongoing invitation, once weekly through March, bi-weekly in April, and monthly after that. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

*****************

the ~ wander.essence ~ community

I invite you all to settle in and read a few posts from our wandering community.  I promise, you’ll be inspired!

  • Jo, of Restless Jo, writes of her enthusiasm for her recent trip to Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalucía, Spain. I love her words: “I’m sure I must have gypsy blood somewhere in the ancestry. The rhythmic stamp of that foot and the proud arch of the neck has me on the edge of my seat, breathing suspended, totally in the moment. Who wouldn’t travel for this?”  Read more about her excitement over the Festival of Flamenco and the dancing horses at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go. 🙂
    • Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
  • Jude, of Travel Words, shares her call to move to West Penwith during a visit in 2015.  Her dream has come true, and she now lives there. Her words are captivating: “I am enchanted by the landscape where the sea and the sky become one, a land littered with history, where the past is always present.” And she goes on, with delightful descriptions and photos.  Can I visit one of these days, Jude?
    • Just Back From… West Penwith
  • Sue, of WordsVisual, shares her sense of place through two haiku in this piece from 2015. She attempted to climb Cadair Idris, a Welsh summit, but the weather didn’t allow for it. On that climb the black rock was “glowering” and “unfathomable.” On the other climb, it seemed it might be a success, but alas, it wasn’t to be: the last of the sunlight was “taunting.” I like to hope that she will get there one day, if not in physical reality, at least in her imagination.
    • 5 Photos, 5 Stories, Day 3

Thanks to all of you who wrote posts about a call to place. 🙂

 

 

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imaginings: the call to place

wanderessence1025 March 15, 2018

How are we called to a place?

Sometimes, our destination is handed to us.  We’re offered a job in a new city, or even overseas; we’re invited to attend a wedding or want to pay our respects at a funeral; maybe we simply want to visit family or friends. Our family may have a vacation home that keeps calling us back. Maybe we’re on a honeymoon or an anniversary celebration and will settle only for a romantic destination. We might have a coupon or some financial enticement to visit a place.

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Al Hamra, Oman – my job took me to Oman in 2011-2013

Maybe we have chosen a random place jointly with another traveler, meeting in some middle ground, or at some mutually agreed upon and convenient destination.

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My friend Jayne from California met me in Jaisalmer, India after I left Korea – 2011

Perhaps we’ve dreamt of a place.  Possibly, we’ve seen a painting that inspires curiosity and entices us, or we’ve heard exotic music, the notes of which linger in our minds, a soundtrack that won’t stop. Maybe we’ve seen a foreign movie, and after we leave the theater, the music and language follow us around, whispering in our ear; a vision of the place lingers. Maybe a novel, a memoir or a travel essay has ignited our imagination. Perchance, we’ve been inspired by blogs or Instagram pictures.

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Santorini, Greece 2012

Quite possibly, we’ve developed a taste for a foreign cuisine, and we find ourselves inexplicably dining at ethnic restaurants, wishing we could savor more of that culture’s flavors. We might be on a quest to explore regional wineries, or the culinary or craft beer scene in a place.

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Homemade lamb meatballs and green peppers at Meteora Restaurant in Kalambaka, Greece 2012

Maybe we choose our journey due to constraints of time or money, to a place within driving distance, or in the next town.  We might have visited a place earlier in our lives and only had time to skim the surface, so we want to return and delve deeper.  We hope to find more meaning out of our journey this time around, given that we’re wiser, more observant and comfortable in our own skin.

Perhaps we’ve suffered some hardship or grief in our lives, or we’re seeking answers to metaphorical questions about life, so we’re called to make a pilgrimage, long or short. Maybe we’re simply trying to escape the hum-drum existence of our lives, and want to visit a place as far removed from “home” as possible.

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Cape May, New Jersey December, 2017

Perhaps we have come into some money and want to go someplace new, and, seeking spontaneity, we spin the globe and go wherever our finger lands.  Maybe a place has always held an inexplicable mystique.  We know we’re drawn to go, and the call can’t be denied.

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spinning the globe

We might seek out beaches or mountains or chaotic cities or exotic cultures.  Possibly, we yearn for adventures and physical activity out in nature: hiking, swimming, boating, bicycling, motorcycling, hot-air ballooning or mountain climbing.

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Hot-air ballooning in Cappadocia, Turkey 2010

Maybe we’re on a spiritual quest, called to visit churches, mosques, synagogues or temples. We might yearn for a focused retreat: yoga, creative inspiration, self-esteem building, writing, photography or cooking.  Perhaps we’re writing a book or a story and want to explore a place thoroughly to create a realistic setting. We might want to go on an artistic or literary quest: to explore Monet’s art or Hemingway’s haunts.

mosque in Muscat, Oman
mosque in Muscat, Oman
church in Crete, Greece
church in Crete, Greece
church in Lisbon, Portugal
church in Lisbon, Portugal
Temple in Kunming, China
Temple in Kunming, China
Temple in Bagan, Myanmar
Temple in Bagan, Myanmar
Church in Iceland
Church in Iceland
Temple in Nara, Japan
Temple in Nara, Japan

Possibly, we love a certain kind of music, like bluegrass or country, and we want to seek out its origins or explore a unique music scene. Maybe we’re determined to visit every National Park or every UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We may want to settle in a place for a time and live like a local. Perhaps we want to explore the history of a culture.  Maybe we’re on a scavenger hunt of sorts: to find quirky off-the-beaten-path places, or unusual art or cultural festivals, or the iconic features of a place. Maybe we’re called to do 10k runs or walks, marathons or Ironman competitions in far-flung places.

Maybe we’ve taken up vision boarding and, led by our inner compass, we’ve put together a vision of a place never considered before. Maybe serendipity has led us to a place. Maybe we are list makers, and we’re checking off the next thing on our “bucket list.”

What I want to know is – how were you called to a particular place?

Here are some of my dreams for the future:

  1. Escape From the Modern World on a Pilgrim’s Path Through Japan

*****************

“THE CALL TO PLACE” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 500-word (or less) post on your own blog about what enticed you to choose a recently visited or a future destination.  If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments below.  If your destination is a place you love and keep returning to, feel free to write about that too.  Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, March 22, I’ll include your links in that post. My first post will be about Cape May, New Jersey. 🙂

This will be an ongoing invitation, once weekly through March, bi-weekly in April, and monthly after that. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!

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