Swept
Nearly every photograph I look at lately whispers to me. “Travel,” they say. “Move. Adventure. Explore.” I find myself plotting new locations to watch sunrises, imagining stories that might be told at sunset, daydreaming about conversations with strangers. I want to learn languages and make mistakes and wander down dark alleys, discovering shops time has forgotten.
I remember being 17 in Germany, so sure that the wrong turn would take me to the right place. There were small bakeries that made pastries in the shape of fish bones and marketplaces that sold bundles of sticks and strawberries in the cold. I walked down streets drunk on new cities and lack of sleep. I declared one road on some island heaven and watched as the sail boats glided across the lake.
I remember being 21 in Ireland, falling in love with the melodic accent and the rosy cheeks of a dair-haired boy who worked on a boat. I climbed over stone walls in the pouring rain to see nature’s sights and ate blue ice cream that seemed more from Hogwarts than this world with the way its flavor seemed to change. I ate sandwiches on riverbanks and noticed a balance there I hadn’t seen in the States. I wasn’t ready yet to wander cities alone.
Ten years later, there was Scotland. A country I traveled alone. This time solitude was comfortable. I was ready to open myself to strangers, and wonders unfolded. I discovered stories and fairy hills and old stone circles. I ate meals in cities and coastal towns and small villages. My heart broke open with love, over and over. My time there was a dream.
And soon, the wind will carry me away again.
{image from Project Yosemite, featured in 16 hours}
Oh Brandi this makes my heart sing! I am feel the exact same way as you. Maybe it’s my blood getting ready for another move to a part of the country I never thought I’d see, maybe it’s just me getting antsy with being somewhere for over 6 months. I’ve been feeling like I need to go somewhere and see things. I hope you find somewhere to go! If you want to see Arkansas, you have a place to stay after July ;)
I cannot tell you how much I love this. You described my thirst and love for travel to perfectly. How you felt in Scotland was exactly how I felt about it, too. Its beauty was heartbreaking.
There’s just something traveling gives you that nothing else does. Earlier today I was reminiscing with a friend about a trip we took together (the one I covered here on NYAO, actually!). I loved the way you described the ice cream, you painted a picture for me of the setting and you got me thinking about the little random moments in trips where you discover something that you otherwise would have never experienced. I wonder where you’ll find yourself next!
Lovely post! You’re bolstering my courage to travel to a new place by myself (a long-standing resolution that I’m hoping to keep this year!).
Oh, Brandi, I can’t tell you how much I love this.
I can’t wait to hear where the wind takes you next.
xo
You have already led such an amazing life. One that i would love to replicate. I just can’t wait until i’m old enough to travel, to see, to hear, to learn and most of all to love all the magic this world has to offer. Reading your entry just fills me with desire to explore and start an adventure.
Gorgeously written. Felt like I could taste that blue icecream and see those sailing boats.