humanity
If nothing else, travel opens your eyes to the colorful quilt that is humankind.
A Path of Roots, Grounding, Ancestors, Sensuality
I wake up some mornings and forget for a moment that we're in the middle of this pandemic. It would be easy, as someone "non-essential," with a roof over my head, to feel directionless in the middle of all of this - the chaotic soup of events in the world right now, caught by the latest turmoil and my powerlessness over each thing in another part of the world, and also in mine. I've grounded myself, instead, in remembering things I've felt passionate about, nourishing parts of myself that I haven't, and in excavating my childhood through an emotional sobriety 12-step process. Alternating things that delight me with those that challenge me to look at, back and forth, the terrible, and that which I love, taking a breath. And going back and back and back into my past brings up many things, and one of them is my ancestors. The dysfunction in my family, and the creativity and life in it, the dysfunction in the cultures I come from, western and eastern, and the beauty in them too. I'm starting to get unstuck from my trauma and be able to go back and forth with more flow between pleasure and challenge, rather than sticking with either until I go flat.
Kora Tien WellnessPublished 3 years ago in WanderBeyond the Language Barrier
“Do I have a fever, Lori?” Cheeks tingling and burning, I seated myself across from my translator at the wooden table. Lori raised her eyebrows and gently placed her hand on my forehead and on the back of my neck. She frowned slightly, “I think so, Maggie, but let me double check.” She called out a few words I couldn’t understand and a middle-aged woman poked her head out of a makeshift kitchen a couple of rooms away. I knew they were speaking Khmer, a tongue only spoken in the country of Cambodia.
Maggie ElizabethPublished 3 years ago in WanderFaith in Humanity
I constantly hear people say that there are no good people left in the world and quite frankly I use to think the same thing. I would get so stuck on all the bad things happening in my life and in the world that I couldn’t see all the good that was happening too. Or if I did see the good, I was still convinced there was more bad than good. I needed to switch my dark lenses for those notorious rose colored glasses. I needed to see that good deeds can be seen all around us, we just have to keep our eyes open.
babs gardellaPublished 3 years ago in WanderPart VIII : Memorable Moments that could only Happen in Plattsburgh
Hitching a Ridge The Northway In 1988, homecoming was a given. So when Steven and Matt found Tim in the Point upon arrival, they more than a little surprised but why? We must backtrack a few hours first. At the time, I lived in Albany, and Steve, Tim and Matt rolled into my apartment at 304 Quail Street. I was promptly informed that Tim would not be accompanying Steve and Matt on the final leg up the Northway. Neither my memory nor my primary sources can confirm the issue, but at the time, Tim didn't put up much of an argument. He was completely resigned and lodged no protest as the car drove off. Still, the arrangement would not do since my departure time was three or four hours away. No time to waste, Tim went full Plattsburgh mode. In other words, the chance for decadence was out of reach, and Plattsburgh bred us to find an expedient solution at all costs.
Rich MonettiPublished 3 years ago in WanderTravel, Laugh, Love.
Put yourself in that one situation where, within moments, you have contemplated every life choice you've ever made that has lead you there. Were your pants down? I'd be willing to bet they were.
Linda DykePublished 3 years ago in WanderHow An Elephant Saved My Life
“They say an elephant never forgets. But what they don’t tell you is that you never forget an elephant.” Bill Murray as Jack Corcoran.
Tree LangdonPublished 3 years ago in WanderMoments
When I left school, I chose to take an apprenticeship rather than attend college, due to the fact that living in the middle of nowhere made getting to a college both difficult and expensive. I won't bore you with the details of the experience, but I learned a great deal about taking care of animals, and it was the first time I had lived away from home, which wasn't surprising since I had only just turned sixteen.
TypethreewriterPublished 3 years ago in WanderOld City Blues
Sometimes you never know how much you’ll miss a city until your gone. That is what I told myself years after I moved a second time away from my birth city. When I was only a young one, my family uprooted from Ohio to Mississippi, where I spent my middle school years. At that time, the only thing I missed about the city was an old friend who I went to private school with. We were two peas in a pod, but after the move, life happened, and the letters stopped coming and being sent. I've still yet to connect with such an old friend, but maybe in another life, we will be bike riders together. Ah, I digress.
The Adult StorytellerPublished 3 years ago in WanderWhy To Travel Right Now?
I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and that the world is in turmoil, but it is a new year. I hope the there is light at the end of the tunnel and that we can all get some normalcy with 2021. With that the one thing that we truly have been missing is travel. I understand flights and events are getting cancelled and our reason for travel seems to not exist anymore.
Stacie SimpsonPublished 3 years ago in WanderLights in Seattle
I rolled out of bed in my Seattle hotel room around six that Tuesday morning in May. I got dressed and walked out the hotel doors. Took a left through the courtyard, then a right onto the street. I looked ahead of me to see the red lights from the Pike Place Market sign cutting a break in the grey clouds of the day.
Jaci SchreckengostPublished 3 years ago in WanderStranger in a Strange Land
Strangers in Strange Lands My husband works at a five-star hotel and the stories he comes home with are enough fodder for at least several novels and a salacious television series. “Last night a couple from Minnesota pulled the dresser from the wall and checked for dust,” he tells me, “and then complained ad nauseam when they found a hair.” As if the housekeeping staff is made up of Russian shot putters on steroids whose job it is to rearrange the furniture. It’s not enough that these poor women (it’s mostly women) have only half an hour per room to wipe away all the comings and goings of the former occupant. No, they must feed the delusion of the new tenant in such a way that they believe they are the only person who has ever inhabited the room. A hotel suite is not a private residence and a pillow out of place is not proof that there’s been a home invasion.
Lezlie WadePublished 3 years ago in WanderHer Flight
Who would have thought it would be a life-changing event. One that would have her rethink and take a deeper look at herself. She thought it would be a simple solo adventure and anticipated no real excitement to come out of it, boy was she wrong. It started when she arrived at the airport, after checking her baggage, she slipped into a cozy airport chair awaiting her flight to begin boarding. Her first time in 1st class should be thrilling she thought. She remembered how in movies 1st class meant royalty and prestige. She thought it would be an excellent birthday present to herself to be among those who drink champagne and eat caviar.
Stephanie BattlePublished 3 years ago in Wander