Well hello there fellow traveller….

Tags

england, france, paris, sketchy travels, solo travel, travel

Two years and 10 months since I last posted here. How is that possible? It seems like a lifetime ago. One of the things I loved about posting regularly on here was slowing down and taking the time to relive my travel memories, and having a journal to come back to for reference.
Today I start again. So I will post a photo log synopsis. In a world that is chaotic; between politics that are dividing us and a pandemic that has halted all of our international travel for the foreseeable future, it is even more important to remember travel even if it’s virtually. It is a gift that can only bring humans together and make the world smaller by showing us how we are ALL so much more similar than different. Coronavirus cancelled a trip to Berlin in May and a trip to Paris in just a week. To my surprise I took it in stride. The world was in all this together, and knowing of several people who had died of the virus just within my small daily circle, complaining about skipping a couple of trips seemed inappropriate.

Now more than ever, I need to feel the security of the world being held together by the love and openness that sometimes can seem so invisible in today’s political climate, but becomes SO evident the second I open myself up to strangers when I travel. Oddly enough, with coronavirus shuttering travel plans, it has brought me closer to many international friends. We hold regular zoom parties, face time when we didn’t before, check in on each other, share how much we miss each other, and make plans for when we can see each other again. And the dream of when we can hug each other, sing together, and laugh over drinks, keeps us all going.

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Since my last post in 2019, my daughter lived in Paris for a year, and visiting my “baby” in a foreign city she was so at home in was surreal. I had a brief lived relationship with a man in Paris, and an even briefer relationship with a man in England. Which in turn taught me perhaps I should look closer to home for romance! I travelled, of course. I didn’t expand my horizons the way I had planned in my last post, instead I went to France 3 times in 2018 and to England in 2019. Apparently even in my spontaneity I am a creature of habit. However, I did expand my roster of international friends exponentially. I explored new ways of traveling solo through Couchsurfing meetups in foreign cities and Solo Armada (a facebook group that brings music lovers all over the world together for gigs).

It’s hard to pinpoint what was a highlight of my last (almost) 3 years of travel experiences. Maybe there wasn’t one. I learned a little more French (which I promptly forgot. Quel dommage), ate new foods, discovered a few hidden gems off the beaten path, shared my daughter’s first absinthe in a wonderfully quirky, tiny, bohemian bar in Paris that felt like Hemingway should walk in at any moment (blissfully devoid of any American tourists). I mourned Notre Dame, and ached with the pain of a death while I watched her burn, thinking I would never see her again.

Notre Dame, Paris

I discovered a $5 chips and fish place in London with the best fish I have ever had that would walk your food across the street to the local pub and deliver it to you so you didn’t have to interrupt your beers with friends. I met a Czech woman in a Paris restaurant who decided to befriend me and pay for my entire meal, because she had saved all her money from a year so she could leave her abusive boyfriend and travel solo, and she wanted to share it with me and thank me for the gift of my company, just to say goodbye to her and have her walk away, never be seen again. I still wonder about what her life brought her on her return back home.

Dole, France

It feels like all my moments are small moments over the last couple of years, but still the kind that aren’t easily forgotten. It makes me realize how much I do have. I don’t have money but with my $350 Norwegian flights, budget Airbnbs, and open heart, I have learned about kindness on a scale some have never approached who have billions, and it’s priceless.

For 2021, I had planned on going to Tblisi, Georgia (A place I will cover in my next blog post). Now that may be on hold. But provided we can travel at some point in 2021 I have been invited back to visit Australian friends (from previous posts) and my plane ticket was a recent birthday gift from them. I am lucky. Inexplicably lucky. And since I started this journey in 2013 I have constantly been in awe of how these wonderful opportunities and friendships keep falling in my lap. I don’t understand it, but there won’t be a day that goes by that I don’t appreciate it with every ounce of my being.
What are you doing in lieu of travel now? How are you all holding up? I think often of our international travel community and how many of us use travel for therapy. You are all on my mind.
Until next time, happy “travels’ and kisses from me.

Where will 2018 bring me?

Tags

kerouac, new travels, new year, paris, traveller, wanderlust

  

Shakespeare & Company-Hemingway’s haunt on the Left Bank, Paris

 
I can’t believe it is now 2018 and I haven’t  written here in 7 months.  Life took over, as it is wont to do, and art and travel took a back seat for the remainder of 2017.  I haven’t even posted about my last trip to England but once I can get a drawing done I will!

Right now I’m back anticipating my next trip to Paris in April with the same newness I always feel when I return there.  And planning new art pieces.  For Paris; all new itinerary, places to visit I haven’t made it to before, and old places to visit that I love.  For art; new mediums, techniques, and challenges.  After this next trip however, one of my resolutions is to try somewhere new this year.  And I’m excited by the unknown possibilities!  Who knows where 2018 will bring me, in life and in travel.  One thing I’ve learned since I started traveling was that the unexpected parts of life, the parts we can’t possibly anticipate and plan for, are often the best. And I have a good feeling 2018 will surprise me!

While I look ahead to 2018, I also find myself looking back at 2017 and contemplating the growth and change I have made.  Last year took me to places and personal experiences I didn’t expect. Places that were amazing, experiences that weren’t always.  But even the negative experiences changed me in positive ways and I feel ready to face new challenges with a strengthened but open heart.  

There’s a quote from Jack Kerouac that I try to live by…

 

Despite how difficult things ever get, I don’t want to grow hard. I want to face everything with an open heart. Sometimes that’s hard to remember to do, and sometimes it gets me in trouble because there’s always someone who will take advantage of that.  But I don’t believe experiences are as full and life as satisfying if we build fortresses to protect ourselves.  I’d rather take the risk and “carpe diem” Every new travel experience convinces me of this.  

So until next time, happy travels and kisses from me….
 

“Where do you want to go?” Scotland was the answer….

Tags

edinburgh, scotland, travel, traveller, wanderlust

I was listening to a song last night and this line struck me…..

”She said, ‘Where do you want to go? How much do you want to risk?’”

I feel like since my adventure began 4 years ago with that first trip to France, I am always asking this.  I am always ready to go, and an impulsive nature I never even knew I had (that contrasted drastically to my previous self) emerged since that June in 2013.  While  that first trip was planned to the t, I now feel free and confident enough to just go; unexpectedly, anywhere, with just a backpack.  I have become a master at scraping money together for last minute airfare, I can fit a week’s worth or more of clothes in a backpack, and I navigate Airbnb like it’s my job.  If someone says “hey let’s go”, I just say “where?” not “how?”.

After a trip to Australia, and a chance meeting  I found myself with an invite to Scotland.  It’s funny how life evolves like that.  Ok, so of course I would go.  Who wouldn’t.  So I was off!  I didn’t think there was a place I could love like France.  Although my trip to Australia (as I mentioned in a previous post) was by far the hardest to come home from due to my dear friends I left behind. But I am learning that countries are like people; you can love them all as much, but differently.  The second I stepped out of the train station in Edinburgh I was in heaven.  Enough medieval buildings and nooks and crannys to make me swoon!  I knew I would have to come back.  The architecture, the whole vibe was even better than I expected. I had less than a day in Edinburgh (the sacrilege) and jam packed as much as I could in those few hours.  I had an apartment literally UNDER the castle and could sit at my little table and peer up at the castle while I drank my coffee.  I didn’t actually do this, because I couldn’t figure out how to use the coffee machine, but I COULD have if I wanted to!

After meandering the wet stone streets and exploring some medieval alleys in the greying light,  I popped into a dark paneled pub snuggled into the curve of an ancient street. There I had my first haggis that was artfully disguised as Chicken Balmoral;  a comfort food of haggis, chicken, thick bacon, and a gravy like whiskey sauce.  Paired with my stout, this was a good way to spend my first few hours in Scotland!  I moved on to an under city visit of Mary King’s Close, a network of buildings that town officials decided to just build over hundreds of years ago, leaving a sort of city under the city that was inhabited as late as the 20^th century.   It was the type of place that makes those little soft hairs on the back of your neck stick up just a bit!

Next day and I began exploring. I did an obligatory visit to Edinburgh Castle,  high tea in an elegant old hall with tremendously high ceilings, and snapped pictures of the panorama of Edinburgh. I skipped the crown jewels, which I regret a bit, but with such a small amount of time waiting in lines wasn’t really an option.  If you have more time do it.

The  next two nights would be in Stirling, Scotland, a small city with an imposing castle looking over it and “guarding” it,  but we had a couple of stops to make on the way.  First Culross, with pastel hued little cottages and tiny narrow streets, right on the water.  You step out of the car and kind of feel like you’ve traveled through time.  I got a little guilty pleasure out of seeing the square where part of Outlander was filmed (yes I am obsessed). I didn’t want to be a typical tourist but it was kind of neat.  Next stop Dumfermline Abby and Castle and probably one of my favorite places on the trip.  What I loved about Scotland was that all the history books I poured over were coming to life in front of me.  Here Robert the Bruce was buried, and William Wallace’s mother lay in the cemetery not far away.  The ancient abbey erected by Saint Margaret was exquisite in it’s simplicity and distinct architectural features. It just made my heart beat a little faster.

Arriving in Stirling I knew I had a day packed with activity the next day so the little (no-so-little) airbnb cottage was the perfect place to relax.  Honestly this was one of my favorite airbnbs I have ever stayed in. Every turn revealed some quirky wonderful feature that just made me smile!  Once settled in, had some indian food for dinner (of course!), and headed to the pub for live music. A simple night at the local pub Nicky Tam’s, where I got a lesson on how to drink beer and whiskey the Scottish way, was the perfect end to just another perfect day.

Stirling Castle the next day was an unexpected surprise. I have seen some castles by  now but this one, perched high above town and meticulously preserved, with almost all the buildings accessible to guests, was spectacular! Definitely worth a detour out of your way if you happen to be travelling in the area.   A short drive away I climbed the steep hill to Wallace Monument (after William Wallace, aka Braveheart of movie fame).  Really tight spiral staircases that never seemed to end (and made my heart beat a little faster in a different way)  finally brought us to the top with the 360 degree views of the surrounding area.  You kind of just wanted to breathe for a bit and soak it all in.  Which is just what I did.  I didn’t want to go home, but fish and chips were calling  and after such a sturdy climb we were famished!  And really, when food calls, you listen!

My time in Scotland was all too brief and before I knew it we were off to Lincoln, England.  In my short time in Scotland I fell in love with the places, and the history, and knew I would have to come back.  Though i fit a LOT into those couple of days, I was disappointed that I hadn’t had the full haggis experience in all it’s, ahem, glory.  My haggis covered in bacon and whiskey sauce in Edinburgh didn’t quite seem like I had done the experience justice.  So on the very last stop in Scotland I grabbed some at the local grocery and planned on making it that night after arriving  at the  Airbnb in England. More on that fiasco, I mean attempt, in my  next post.   Along with details on the cathedral in Lincoln (Notre Dame has nothing on this place).

Until the next time though, happy travels and kisses from me….And hopefully details on my next trip!  Italy? Or Morrocco?

Starting an art/travel journal…and little pleasures!

Tags

old friends, sketching, travel, travel journal

I’ve been organizing little souvenirs and pretty papers and sketches for the last few months for an art journal.  I bought the empty leather book I’ll be using for the purpose in Kangaroo Valley in Australia.  While I was sifting through the bits and pieces of paper I had stuck in there for later use I found this clipping from a magazine I picked up in Oz. I love it!

 
NOW

Now—

Now—

Now—

Now is where it all begins

Now is where the journey starts

Now is what will be remembered

Some memories fade beyond repair

Cast out to wander the desert forever

Some thoughts remain true and strong 

Hurtling you along. 

Today was a day full of small surprises and found things.  While rummaging through my art supplies to start my art journal, I came across a sketchbook I brought to France with me a year ago. Rereading all the passages was so much fun, and the best part was I had completely forgotten about it.  It was like reliving the trip all over again!   It definitely has convinced me to make sure I take the time to write my thoughts every time I travel.  

And then last but not least I found the little bird that is part of a pair I bought in Australia. I left one with my dear friend Anna and brought the other home.  He stayed wrapped up and stuck lost in the corner of a suitcase until today.  So happy he is home!

  
Small things, but pleasant ones!

Happy travels and kisses from me!

When you begin your wanders later….

Tags

travel, travel later in life, wanderlust

I’ve been contemplating this post for quite some time and I often wonder about others like me.  The question of beginning your travel life AFTER you have a family or after a certain age when it’s a little bit unorthodox to jump into a new life of wandering.  So so many people ask me “Why do you like to travel so much?”.  Of course I find this an odd question, but I suppose there are people who don’t.  The fact that I began at this time in my life is not what most would call normal.   Most people sow their wild oats when they are young, backpacking after college, studying abroad, etc. and probably always travel throughout

after my blessing at a temple in Australia

their lives, but  I did things a bit in reverse.  I was raising three kids and had two long term relationships that failed spectacularly.  I was in the middle of the second one of those failing relationships when I decided to change my course, grab my happiness, and satisfy my soul.  It had never been a priority, but I wasn’t getting any younger, so what the hell.  This means juggling a schedule for the kids while I am gone, enlisting  very supportive friends to help,   and navigating a somewhat incredulous ex who doesn’t always quite understand my need to go.  But it CAN, and does get done.

 

I didn’t have a passport until 4 years ago. I turned 40 this year.  Oddly enough I feel younger than I have in years. I am always aware in the back recesses of my mind that I am older than the average solo traveler.  It means the people I meet are often younger than I am.   Most of the time it never occurs to me that this might be strange.   Until some well meaning person starts to question me.  People can’t wrap their heads around two aspects: 1. that I actually ENJOY traveling alone (yes “even as a female”), and 2. that I am beginning later in life (hey I am far from

Road stop pina colada in Cuba

geriatric people!).   They ask “Why didn’t you wait til the kids were grown?”, “Don’t you miss your kids”? “Don’t they miss you?”, when I was married “your husband LETS you go?”, after I was separated “How does your ex manage taking care of the kids alone?” (this one kills me.  Apparently men are incompetent with child care? psh), “You’re really going ALONE?”,  “Is that safe?”, “Do you feel like you are too old to just take off?”. “You’re so lucky you can do that, I would never be able to leave the family/work/commitments, whatever.”

After these questions I will occasionally reevaluate my choices.  I begin to feel guilty.  Am I wrong? Selfish? Will my wandering leave a void in the kids’ bond with me?  What I come up with is, I have NO choice. None.  I have to live my life the way I have for the last 4 years.

Commarque, France

It makes me a more complete person, a more educated person (which in turn makes me a better, more understanding person), it fills my soul, and finally gives me a really tangible happiness.  Am I wrong or selfish?  I really don’t know. I know it’s not what most of the women I know would do.   But I have always been the square peg in a round hole (or is it the other way around).   I do know that by witnessing my travels my girls already have a more independent spirit than I even had at 30.  They are already planning which foreign city they will study and then live in. Lucky girls!  They plan trips in their heads and both my older girls have already traveled.  My oldest to Cuba, Paris, and England, my middle one to Ireland.  None of these things would have taken place for them before I began my own travel.  So in a way, my choice 4 years ago added so much to all our lives.

 

Life isn’t always a box we can  fit our expectations of life in. I never expected to have a child right out of college and be navigating parenthood when I was practically a kid myself.  I never expected to have marriages that didn’t last til we were old and shriveled.  I thought love was the most amazing thing on the planet. I never expected to fail at it. I didn’t expect to get so sick that I was in bed for 5 months with dozens of travel magazines to keep me occupied.  I never expected…and I didn’t plan.  But there is a time for all of us I think when we can CHOOSE where our lives will meander. Not just with travel.  There are many factors we can’t choose due to economics, etc.  and maybe those things make travel impossible for some, but we can always always always choose not to live in that box.  I know there isn’t a box that can hold me now…..or my expectations.

Until next time, happy travels and kisses from me.

 

 

Paris, my home….

Tags

paris, travel, travel sketches, wanderlust

Wanderlust: a strong longing or impulse toward wandering, has been my blessing and my curse.  The blessing is in the obvious; the experiences and most importantly the people I have met and even learned to love along the way. The curse is that I am always waiting for the next trip, always looking ahead, and I never feel settled.  I have an itch I constantly want to scratch.  There are times I envy people that are simply content to stay put, but I know it will never be me!

Sketch of the little florist on Ile Ste Louis

I returned from my Paris trip this week, and even a quick journey helps to soothe me.  For a little time anyway.  However, I’ve been noticing that every time I leave Paris it gets harder.  When I leave France  I feel like I am leaving home.  Even the driver that took us from the airport said “I remember you. You have been here before”. I had a strong feeling on this last trip that someday, in the future, it WILL be my home.  I don’t know how I will make it happen, but I do know that I have to and I feel a peace in making the decision.   Now to win the lottery!

 

I have talked about the benefit and joy of solo travel before (previous blog post on this subject here).  I love it, but this time I took off to Paris with an old friend . I haven’t traveled with someone before and I was a little nervous at first. We are very good friends but would we be compatible traveling companions?  Would I still get alone time when I needed to explore solo? And would planning our days be difficult to do when there were two opinions involved?

My fears were allayed almost instantly.  And I can’t wait to travel with her again! My friend also has an independent streak and is a confident traveler.  She was happy to let me explore on my own and with compatible interests planning was easy.   Of course when drinking wine and relaxing is a big part of those plans how can you complain!  There will always be benefits of traveling solo that I can’t get when someone else is with me.  And while ,in the past, my wanderlust had affected my willingness to enter into  romantic relationships,  my recent trip and the fun I had with my friend
have me pondering the benefits of sharing my travel with with a romantic partner  as well.  The end of the day recaps, the laughs over shared experiences, the making love in foreign places.  And I realize maybe someday I will find a person who gets as excited as I do to go places and sharing those experiences with a partner will make them that much richer.

But back to Paris, that’s why you are reading, right?  I did a lot of new things like eating dinner in the Eiffel Tower and meandering the tight streets of Montmarte and eating in the most adorably ancient restaurant in the shadow of Notre Dame (where I MUST return  someday).  I also finally saw  Monet’s massive waterlillies at the  L’Orangerie.  I tested my French skills a little more this time, and with a (tiny) bit more confidence.  Oh and the BIG one, one of the most exciting parts of the trip; I had my first motorcycle ride, at night in Paris!! It was just a short ride but so much fun!  I did many of my old favorites as well. Like eating at Angelina’s on the Rue de Rivoli (my oil painting of the dessert case is in this post), listening to the bells at Notre Dame each morning from my bed, and eating at my favorite Basque restaurant on the left bank.   It seems that eating is a big trend here, as it should be when in Paris!

My painting of Angelina’s desserts….

On the last morning, I left my friend at Notre Dame, and with a slightly heavy heart I wandered the streets knowing that I was leaving and not knowing when I would be able to return.  I breathed deep and dreamed of that “someday” when I will be back and won’t have to return to a different home. When this city will actually be my own home.  I watched the people who were on their way to jobs or appointments with a twinge of jealousy.  I listened intently to the language I love so much all around me.   I heard the music of the musicians on the bridge as I passed, smelled the smells of the city, heard the sounds, and took a moment to tell myself “you are living. you are breathing. you will remember.  and this is life.  THIS is life. this moment with all your senses heightened when you are so aware of the city you  love all around you is LIFE.”  And I will return.

But until then, as always, happy travels and “bisous” from me!

Near Notre Dame

The old restaurant

and it’s wonderful details

Montmarte

What happens in Paris stays in Paris!

Place de la Concorde

 

 

Balm for a sore heart…

My last trip is just out of view, and I usually have a fair amount of time before I start planning the next one.  But after a few weeks on an intense emotional roller coaster, I decided to go to the one place that always soothes my soul. Paris bound in February!  Any tips for offbeat places, things to see, where to stay?  I usually stay on the Ile Ste Louis, and will probably stay there again, but I’m interested to get input from fellow travelers!  This may be a solo trip again, although I am contemplating bringing a friend which would be my first trip with a companion.

And what do you do when you’re in Paris? Beyond the usual touristy stuff?  The fun of going somewhere for the 4th time is now I’ve done all the things I’m “supposed” to do and can really start exploring a little.

Thoughts?

Happy travels and kisses from me.

Ships that pass….

Tags

goodbyes, travel, wanderlust

I wrote this from the plane last week as I was leaving Australia.

I have a lot to post about the last half of my trip, but as I sit in this plane and write this the only thing that seems relevant is the friends I have left.

How often do I talk of ships that pass on here? I realize fleeting friendships are inevitable, and especially for those who travel. I’ve always felt that travel is amazing for the scenery, the food, the architecture, and the history, but it’s the people that color in the lines of my travel experiences.  I embrace them, even with the bittersweet feeling that often goes with these transient acquaintances. I cherish them and I know they are all gifts that enrich my life. Yet….sometimes I wish the world was a little smaller, because certain friends hurt just a little more to leave.

This particular trip has been extremely hard to leave behind emotionally.  In a way that caught me by surprise. I’ve done this before. I’ve left. I said goodbye time and again, but this one was different.  And as I sit here in my cramped seat drinking my third glass of wine, I even find myself crying because of it.  No, it’s not the wine!

It’s inevitable if you open your heart to the generosity that exists in most humans around the world that you will make connections. Some are smaller passings, some long term friends.  I have mentioned Anna and Neil, my hosts on this trip, several times in previous posts. I met them for a total of about 5 hours on my first trip to France. We always laugh that such a  very brief meeting led to what will be a lifelong friendship. This wonderful, loving couple fill a void I have had my entire life. My… entire… life….  And all it took was a chance meeting of several hours to fill it.  Coming from an unhappy and abusive childhood I had to travel 10,000 miles to finally feel a connection that felt like I had a home.

On this trip, I made friends at a little pub in the Blue Mountains while I mourned the election results, and their company made an otherwise stressful evening one of my most fun and memorable parts of the trip.  With a motley crew of Aussies, Canadians, and Americans we bolstered each other’s spirits.   That unexpected nature of travel in action!

I will always be grateful for all the people I have met over the years that have shared their heart in some way and made me fell more connected to this enormous crazy planet we all share space on. So as my Australian friends say “See you when I see you” because goodbye is a dirty dirty word.  And until next time…

Happy travels and kisses from me.

US Election Day in Australia

Tags

anamericaninoz, australia, down under, Election day, travel, wanderlust

So I’m in Australia on my country’s Election Day.  I voted less than 24 hours before I left.  About a week and half ago.

I figured I’d get a break while I was over here, but you see…the rest of the world is watching this pretty intensely. It’s what everyone asks me about over here.

So today while the election results roll in I will be holding my bottle of Dr Jurds Jungle Juice that I bought in a teeny tiny town on the way to the Blue Mountains.

God knows what’s in it.  But when the results come in I may not care! And besides according to the label I’ll feel three years younger if I drink it!

So much to tell

Tags

Adventure, australia, down under, travel, wandering, wanderlust

And so little time. I have many MANY wonderful travel stories to share and people to tell you about and limited time and wifi to do it in. For now more pics and when I can write more I will.  Posting this as I sit at a rock music festival in Newcastle…..

What I’ve been doing most days for the last weekend…

What I ate 
The lovely lady I’ve been staying with the last couple of days in Port Stephens feeding just some of the local birds. Yes that’s her backyard. 

More of her birds 

The view from the “mountain” I climbed Friday 
The kangaroos I fed  

  

And the koala I visited. I was seriously grinning ear to ear and crying after these two experiences  

And today…music festival and henna. 

Til next time. Happy travels and kisses from me!!