mine is a desire for internal geographies



Call me what you will, but I really don't have a desire for international travel.  This may change, yes, but for now, this has been my experience.  With any sort of public announcement like this, I can already hear the gasps.  Who doesn't want to see the world?  After all, don't we owe it to ourselves and others to broaden our perspectives and experiences?

I crave open spaces.  I take delight in the quiet.  I feel most alive when I am communing with nature.  And simplicity is very important to me.  These experiences fuel my spirit.

I LOVE road trips.  My husband and I have taken so many over the course of our lives together (I remember reading Homer's Odyssey out loud to one another during one summer behind the wheel).  Now that we live in the midwest, we both desire mountain, ocean or desert landscapes so this is the direction with which we point our car (or the rental).

Although, who am I kidding?  What other landscape is there?  Ahhhh....a cityscape, yes.   This is appealing for a day or so and after that, I am ready for my open spaces once again.

When I travel I either want to arrive at a destination where the natural world is the backdrop, where I can plant myself for several days at a time and just absorb OR I want to be traveling in a car, preferably on back roads, meandering my way through unexpected small places, stopping all along the way.

When the outside world is too visually over stimulating for too long, I am unable to hear my inner voice.  When I can't hear my inner voice, I lose my compass.

I am constantly thinking.  There is a whole world available to me inside myself.  Although I've been traveling this world for years, it's a well that never tires or becomes dry.  It only continues to motivate and inspire me.  In contrast, the thought of traveling internationally (taking planes, trains, buses, being surrounded by people and noise, having to transfer from here to there and back again) is exhausting and depleting for me.  I know myself well enough that the time it takes to recover from these self imposed events (there are enough that are out of my control and just happen on a daily basis), the more the wind is taken directly out of my sail.

Yesterday, I took myself on a road trip.  We usually try to incorporate one day trip a week into our summer schedules.  We've already camped along the shores of Lake Superior and will do so at least four more times before the end of September.  At the end of July, we are planning on traveling the mountain (and prairie) landscapes of Montana.  For the meantime, I remain content, right here, wandering the open spaces of my internal geographies.

As a footnote, I realize there is room for an argument in my story here.  For instance, why can't I travel internationally to a place where I won't be overstimulated?  This travel story is only the tip of my iceberg.  And yes, staying in a yurt in the open spaces of Mongolia does sound a little appealing but...

Do I fly?  OF COURSE.  Usually in hopes of reaching a quiet destination, however, and one that isn't in the spotlight.  A few years ago, my husband and I flew to Denver and then rented a car and drove the back roads of New Mexico and Texas.







Comments

  1. Love this Kari! I used to dream about far away places quite often, but I appreciate being present in my surroundings and near my comfy bed more all the time. Although, a month stay in a rural village in the South of France or North of Italy sneak into my day dreams at times.

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    1. Thank you, Ti. Ahhh, yes...Italy and the South of France...
      Happy you can appreciate your current surroundings and your own bed too (smile)

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  2. Love this Kari! I used to dream about far away places way too often, but being present in my own surroundings is an adventure daily and so close to my comfy bed.

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  3. what a beautiful piece. know thyself! i love the title. when i was very very sick, and i longed to do, and to travel, i felt as i though i was on a very long journey which was inward. yes. yes. i understand this. (though i do yearn to travel and live abroad...) thank you for sharing this with us. montana? hi.

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    1. Thank you, Ariyele, thank you. I have NO DOUBT you have traveled and are traveling an inward journey. Here's to your traveling/living abroad AS WELL. Cheers(!!!) to you, my friend.

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  4. I always enjoy reading your blog. Your thoughtful and thought-provoking words inspire me. I just came back from a road trip with my 9 year old son. Mother and son only, exploring West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. I want to give him a view of all the world eventually (the backroads of Ireland are breath-taking) but I also want him to know the beauty that is near and easily available.

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    1. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading - ha!
      Thank you for your comments. I REALLY appreciate them.

      I am not a mother but from what I've gathered, 9 year olds are extremely impressionable beings, eager and curious about the world. I can't help but feel SUCH FORTUNE for your son. How lucky he is to take a road trip with his Mother! In my opinion, it's one of the best ways to form a life long bond and memories that will never be forgotten.

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  5. No gasp coming from my direction. Everything you wrote sounds so familiar to my own point of view. I've visited 3 other countries, twice overseas and for now (and into the foreseeable future) I'm just content to road trip here, or explore my own backyard. Even when I did "TRAVEL" I really just wanted to plop down and take it all in and found my sister's "go, go, go, we have to see it all" attitude quite disconcerting. My partner and I are perfect travel companions and I look forward to our little trips together. We have our first trip planned for the end of this month, but I already feel like I've missed so much time out this summer. It's hard when everyone seems to make big plans over summer weekends, weddings, birthdays, picnics, etc. Often I will realize it has been a month since we'll have had a summer weekend to ourselves.

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    1. Robyn, thank you for sharing. So good to see you here. I feel as though summer has had a very slow start and I have already missed some possible road trip opportunities. LOVE to hear you have a perfect travel companion when your adventure does arise. Take pics and alert me to them. I can't get enough visual images! p.s. LOVE your mail art and tiny bound books LOVE.

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