I popped over to the West side of the Northern Cascades yesterday.
Blinded by the sun, nearly, as I squinted up at the toothy peaks of this range.
A sharp intake of breath now,
the residue of winter clinging
to a handful of valleys,
twisting white in the summer air.
I turned and floated my way down to Diablo Lake:
cool blue drink, pebbled soul, whisky warm wind.
I stood by the lake edge and pondered on why I love traveling so well. I do a lot of it! I hop in my truck and I go. I pack the dogs, a pair of jeans and my fly rod and I take myself places. But I also love my home. I miss it, the quiet space that lies inside my 102 year old farmhouse walls. My books. My herbal tea collection. The sound of the breeze in the grapevines…
I think I travel to free myself from the things that find their way inside me.
I travel to get back to the core of myself.
To rest. To recover. To pour myself out. To be filled up again.
To see friends and family; to be in their care.
To take moments at the edge of lakes, beneath the boughs of trees, under the wings of eagles; to rise up, to descend.
To wade through all of those emotions I’ve stored up, to cure those little heart bruises inflicted by the carelessness of others,
to understand the world around me and to be in it and part of it.
To feel space.
I’m just:
Another organism.
Another soul.
Another truck on the highway.
One more girl with her windows down and the breeze in her hair.
To collect a nest.
To inspect a fish.
To feel the sun.
To call the wind.
To trip and fall and get up again.
Do you travel for the same reasons?
Do you travel at all?
To test the water.
To be tested by the water.
Today, all is full.
Full of love.
This is my favorite post ever. Your words rang in my soul like church bells on sunday.
Keep writing!
This is my favorite post ever. Your words rang in my soul like church bells on sunday.
Keep writing!
This is my favorite post ever. Your words rang in my soul like church bells on sunday.
Keep writing!
gorgeous writing, you!
yes, this is exactly why I travel…
but you said it best….
And, yes. I do travel. I travel so much that I don't really have a defined home. But I seem to find a little bit of home everywhere. I think that is why I like to travel so well- because you find pieces of yourself along the way, and collect them in your pockets as you go, like pebbles.
And, yes. I do travel. I travel so much that I don't really have a defined home. But I seem to find a little bit of home everywhere. I think that is why I like to travel so well- because you find pieces of yourself along the way, and collect them in your pockets as you go, like pebbles.
And, yes. I do travel. I travel so much that I don't really have a defined home. But I seem to find a little bit of home everywhere. I think that is why I like to travel so well- because you find pieces of yourself along the way, and collect them in your pockets as you go, like pebbles.
Yup.
Just like pebbles.
xx
you make me want to pick up and go to the old mountains i miss most. xox
The past three years I traveled overseas for work a LOT. I was alone there in my free time. No friends, no tasks, no chores, none of the usual daily worries. no emotions of other people. Just me and myself. I miss that so much.
Actually the pebbles are parts of ourselves too, because we collect the ones that catch our eyes, that reflect or say something to us.
You and Penelope are quite a lovely looking pair…I travel for that reason too when I travel alone and I love it! xoxo
your trip looks amazing!
i love traveling as well.
there's a great sense of unknowing and adventure.
places, things, people to discover or rediscover.
to break the monotony of everyday life. to wonder. find things inside and outside your self.
for many reasons, but mostly to feel free.
and feel big and small in the same breath.
🙂 happy trails!
-Lynsey xx
I just arrived back home in Pinetop an hour ago and I love this post. All the way home today I was pondering the question of why I love to travel as well. I love to travel to visit with family and friends but I also love to travel back home to my "space", my "things" and my life. I enjoy the serenity of traveling alone where I can stop at the drop of a moment and collect thoughts, pictures and memories. I'm happy to be back home however and will start planning the next trip soon. Thanks for your beautiful words and thoughts, Jillian. XXOO Sal
Lovely. When ever you have a picture of Penelope, I just melt! Is she a mini? She doesn't look too tiny; I would love to have a little impish dachshund!
that's a beautiful dress! I travel for work, and for my soul, though I wish those two things were always in the same trip.
love these photographs! Lovely post, I felt like I was standing there right with you on the shore of that pebbly lake. And yes, I travel for the same reasons… there's nothing like flinging oneself out in the open somewhere.
I'm comforted knowing just knowing you touched down in the Cascades. I think it's because you've been popping up in my mind all day. Right there with the river rocks stacked up on my studio table. And the gurgle of a bright chartreuse fish.
Love ya doll face.
– K
You and Penelope are such a pair…I have to smile so big! And I am with you entirely on the traveling bit…enjoy!xo
I could not have said it better myself! I travel for mostly the same reasons. It's an enlightening and refreshing experience. Good for the soul. It helps me to gain a new perspective. When I travel across state or internationally it is mostly for those reasons, but also to experience and learn about a different culture. Wonderful blog, thanks so much for sharing!
By a convergence of circumstances and the fact that I love to drive, I bought a motorhome a little over 5 years ago. I thought I would keep it only long enough to find where I wanted my next home to be. But I fell in love with travelling in my own "home" and kept it! It is not "green" or financially practical but as my work goes with me and I can take my dog and cat, have my own bed, bath and kitchen (I LOVE to cook – not fond of restaurants except the occasional diner) – it turns out to be the perfect way for me to travel. I am completely self contained with power from a generator so not roughing it even when I choose to "park"/camp in a remote spot.
I have spent up to 7 months travelling around the countryside.
So for me, travelling is going in my second home to somewhere new, staying as long as I'd like…living like a local if I want (I tow a Jeep).
I do it for the love of new and different experience, a different view, to see who I am in a different place and to satisfy that bit of me that is an adventurer.
I think I knew, even before I asked, that you are all seasoned soul travelers. Plucky men and women of the highways and byways of the world.
I hope you find what you're looking for.
xx
Oh! And Penelope Pie is in fact a true miniature. She weighs slightly less than 10 pounds. I'd like to be able to say that she's vain about her figure BUT if she could, she'd eat EVERYTHING within reach on any given day — she totally has the hound glutton gene.
🙂
HA! You make me laugh… my childhood doxie had a nickname at times: Garbage Mouth.
Thanks for the specs on your cutie Penelope Pie! Just love her— and of course your writings.
A traveler's soul. We all share a piece of it. I leave slivers of my soul all over in places that have touched me. I think we humans connect to each other on a deeper level when we come across the soul-pieces of others. We may not realize, but when a place TAKES you, it has a bit of soul.
Beautiful post.
I have a doxie too, and seeing pictures of your pup just tickle me so much. So cute.
your words speak to my soul.
[and penelope speaks to my heart!]
xx