On the stereoListen as we goNothing’s gonna stop me now- Phantom Planet, CaliforniaMusic has the remarkable ability to capture the essence of a place, or at least the assumptions the rest of the world has of that place. This song, and the rest of the OC soundtrack, captured SoCal for so many of us in […]
“In order to find the treasure, you will have to follow the omens. God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.”- Paulo Coelho, The AlchemistI once found omens fascinating, a fairy-tale-like idea that you never experienced yourself. I looked for them, hoped […]
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”- John MuirSaturday, October 1stTrip meter: 2,651 milesLocation: a dirt road near San Simeon Creek CampgroundSo, this journey was certainly an adventure. Whether optimism or naivete, I hadn’t booked a campground ahead of time along the Pacific Coast Highway. With a large fire still raging […]
The world is just so beautiful- AilieCamping in Yosemite National Park requires strict use of the provided bear lockers, as bears are so prevalent food is not safe in your tent or car. I woke in the middle of the night to shouting somewhere nearby, accompanied by a loud banging on one such locker. What […]
We crave a tight-knit social network, people who see your true self and accept that self wholeheartedly. When you find this, you’ve found your tribe. Some are lucky and belong to many tribes – family, a group of friends from college, work colleagues. Others might have none. When I told Ben I was working on […]
More than once, when I talked to someone about this journey and answered the question “is your husband going with you?”, the response was something like this: “and he let you do this alone??”. Sometimes this would be followed by a comment about how the speaker (always a man) would never let his wife do […]
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, Strong and content I travel the […]
Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life- RumiBack in the early days of this country, when European immigrants marched west, I imagine they looked around and said “this looks different, let’s call this a different state.” Crossing the border from South Dakota into Wyoming felt immediately like I […]
