“Every man has a map in his heart of his own country, and the heart will never allow you to forget this map.” –Alexander McCalll Smith A couple of months ago, my husband, Matt, and I took a trip to Washington wine country. We left Seattle in the morning commute, crossed over Snoqualmie Pass into…
The padding did nothing to keep my shoulders from aching under the weight of everything I had crammed inside. I was late. If I didn’t hustle, I would miss the bus, which meant I would need to haul these textbooks and notebooks and leftover sand all the way to downtown Honolulu on foot. I picked…
Navigating through the open desert in a packed van en route to our snow leopard research station in Mongolia’s South Gobi, I looked at some homemade sausages we were transporting to the base camp. They were tied to the grips above the windows, and every time we went over a bump, they would swing back…
Not all who wander are lost. The first place I drove when I got my license was the grocery store. I don’t know why, but all of those lined shelves in sections, labels out, helps remove stress. All’s well with the world there. I don’t even have to buy anything. Just wander and feel better.…
I read a lot so I thought I was adventurous, but I’m realizing that living vicariously through the experiences of characters stumbling out the backs of wardrobes into a wintery wood, being kidnapped aboard a spaceship to Malacandra, or tesseracting through the universe isn’t quite the same as riding a camel in Egypt, climbing to Machu Picchu, or eating my way through Italy.
My family loves travel. If we’ve saved up a chunk of money the first thought is, “Where to next?” My sister Lucy spent a couple years on a tiny Honduran island teaching children. My mom spent teenage summers motorcycling and giving medieval castle tours in Europe, was a missionary in Laos, and was a bridesmaid…
Kindred 