2014 Year in Review

Greetings from Prescott, Arizona, where snow is falling as 2014 comes to a close...

2014 included one of my biggest and most anticipated travel goals: I went on a double home exchange to Denmark and then Sweden. There were a few things I lost during the year, but what I gained was way more valuable: a state of deeper happiness, a more savvy adaptability, new friends that instilled and returned to me the interconnectedness of our humanity (imperfect or messy as they were), some killer dinner parties, playtime and celebration with ranch horses out in pasture, practical experience at an equine facility/horse ranch, time with canine pal, Otis, soaking at Eden Hot Springs, and lots of Real Love encounters = being a better steward of this lifestyle.

I am going into the new year living life a little slower than I have for the past several years. I'm shifting my extra time towards homesteading in my backyard and classes at the local college, while I continue to sell beautiful things online. I'm finding myself more content with what I have, learning to sit with loneliness and not run from all of the feelings that come and then go. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I do the best when I let my heart be broken for the world around me to see and focus on all the good I have. Gratitude and hope are the "drugs" that get me through.

I have also learned that the value other people communicate to me does not have to speak louder than the value I find in myself. This has been work, but it's so worth it. It'll keep being worth it. If you've been following my blog, then you've seen my recent posts of the events mentioned above. Just me, saying thanks for being a part of it and I hope to thank you in person over the next couple weeks. With much Love, Sharon

30 Days of Indie Travel | Overland Travel Memory, Day 4

I am starting off late this morning. I have spent enough time reflecting on various overland trips, especially those with Chris M. as they were/are the spiritual hearth of overlanding for me. The best one was back in January 2000; he and I quit our jobs, packed up our belongings, loaded up his adventure-style truck (the Bajataco) so we were "self-contained," and set out for Baja Mexico.

I remember feeling like a sort of pilgrim, one who's traveling to understand the land, who's here to learn about relationships and follow queues, to learn the forgotten wisdom of the ocean, and the secret essence within nature that is the cause of all magic. Chris' patience and amazing companionship helped me to understand, let me find "my way." He probably remembers seeing me fumbling sometimes, yet never griped. He knew I wasn't searching for a specific end (other than a couple hot springs), that I was not embarked on any special quest. It was an everyday venture for me. I was traveling and escaping... well, because I was traveling and escaping. The world tottered during that time as we drove back and forth between the coast lines to find outpost after outpost, yet beside me Chris stood firm, offered me solidity, a time and space where there has always been more time and space.

This turned out to be a 4-month overland journey in all, and if Chris were here (we are on separate adventures now) we would have plenty to talk about over supper. Love, Sharon