When I was 14 years old, my father and I packed my sister’s Buick with camping gear, simple foods, and a box of audiobooks to sustain us for 6-weeks of back road exploring up the Eastern US Coast and around the maritime islands of Canada. We left the sweltering Alabama heat and meandered up the Appalachian Chain, crossed the border between Maine and New Brunswick, and explored Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Quebec. It was a beautiful and impressionable time. Memories from this trip remind me of when I first started seeing conversations with strangers, sleeping in the woods, and eating vegetables in the dark as teaching moments; when I realized that sharing deep words and long stretches of silence on the road with my family are precious. Traveling always changes me. It reveals something new about the world beyond and within me that can only be learned by leaving what is familiar and comfortable.
The curiosity for wandering that I found that summer later took me around the US, to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England and now Ireland. During these times, I’ve traveled with my dad and other family members, but often I went off alone.
This blog is in no way a complete reflection of any of these experiences, but blips of stories and photographs that remind me of the importance of relating to and learning from the people and places I encounter; of the joys of simply wandering.
Enjoy!
Lydia
The curiosity for wandering that I found that summer later took me around the US, to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, England and now Ireland. During these times, I’ve traveled with my dad and other family members, but often I went off alone.
This blog is in no way a complete reflection of any of these experiences, but blips of stories and photographs that remind me of the importance of relating to and learning from the people and places I encounter; of the joys of simply wandering.
Enjoy!
Lydia