USA

The Littlest Birds

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am- a reluctant enthusiast… a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breath deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. -Edward Abbey
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USA

Sail On

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy; if the world were merely challenging, that would be no … Continue reading Sail On

Canada, USA

Till It Shines

Oh Canada– land of poutine, Caesars and unfailing politeness. I cannot understate just how much I enjoyed spending a month visiting my northern neighbors.
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USA

Janglin’

…Back there it is so difficult and desperately important to find a reason for staying alive. How else should a person go on living? Sheer misery makes one profound. But here there are no problems, mere thinking becomes a game, existence needs no justification. A person discovers: the world is beautiful, and life is brief. -Herman Hesse
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USA

Thin Line

Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music- the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself. -Henry Miller
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USA

La Belle Fleur Sauvage

Yosemite is such a flirt! Views for days, meadows that glow gold, plunging waterfalls. It had been awhile since my last visit to the park, yet I still had that fluttery feeling in my stomach while driving in, proving once again just how easy it is to fall in love with places, and that true love can last a lifetime.
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Camino de Santiago, USA

Bullet the Blue Sky

To make living itself an art, that is the goal. – Henry Miller

Now I know why many men have stopped and wept/ Halfway between the loves they leave and seek/ And wondered if travel leads them anywhere… -Leonard Cohen, Stranger Music

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Iceland

King and Cross

Welcome to Iceland, There is no sunlight, You are on fire, A demon takes your face… Come to Iceland, And give us your eyes.

I sang that song a lot during my week in Iceland, much to the bemusement of my two road trip companions. Iceland was everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be- which is to say slightly strange and strikingly beautiful. I had extended my layover in Iceland months before, but aside from Google-imaging ‘Iceland’ and ‘northern lights’, had done very little actual travel planning up until a few days before I was set to leave. Luckily through Couchsurfing I connected with a Norwegian gal who was about my age and a travel baby from France, and we decided to split the cost of a rental car to road trip north along the Ring Road for a week. I will try my best throughout the rest of this post to remember/ not butcher the names of places we visited, but a few months have already passed and one of the hostels we stayed at was called Grund í Grundarfirdi,Grundarfjordur, so no promises.

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USA

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

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Portugal

Country of Illusion

In keeping with tradition, I instantly had it bad for Portugal. After only a few hours of aimlessly exploring Lisbon’s narrow, hilly streets, I was head over heels. I had no real agenda during my three days in Lisbon, and so spent the first following my whims, which largely amounted to chasing whatever music I heard. This led me to dim cafes where acoustic guitars strummed soulful fado, and the sounds of a clarinet performing a bluesy version of “Mr Sandman” led me to the top of a hill with a huge castle and a view of the entire city. Around every corner I found something new to charm or surprise me, and there was a timeless quality to the city, as if nothing had changed in 500 years except for the street art, serving to bring the buildings reluctantly into the present.

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