a new blogging direction: ~wander.essence~

Friday, March 16: Yesterday, I wrote my first post on my new blog.  Here is what it’s all about.

~ wander.essence ~

~ the art of meandering around the world in a leisurely manner, lingering in a place & discovering, layer by layer, its unique character – its essence – while, at the same time, discovering one’s inner self ~

It is traveling intentionally and with awareness, and then distilling the experience into creative expression.

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In this blog, I seek to mingle travel and art.  I hope to inspire curious explorers of the world to make an art of wandering, and then turn that wandering into art. My focus is on people in later life, usually 50+ folks who have time and money to travel and want to explore their creative selves in the process.

Pokhara, Nepal January 2013

~ what I hope to do here ~

This blog will cover all my travels going forward, and may consolidate the high points of some of my earlier travels.  I hope to include posts about:

• travel imaginings – what inspires our destination choices;
• immersion in a destination BEFORE embarking on a journey;
• the intentional experience of a destination – by walking, bicycling or driving AND observing; sampling and writing about local food; keeping a journal; taking photographs; sketching or painting; writing poems, travel essays or short stories; creating collages; or expressing creative urges in otherwise meaningful ways;
• creative expression, through blogging or other means, about a destination upon return.

I plan to offer challenges to my readers: poetry challenges, photography challenges, writing (fiction and non-fiction) challenges, and other artistic challenges. The challenges will vary according to my whim.  I’ll encourage fellow wanderers to set intentions before each trip – intentions to notice something new, to define what’s iconic about a place, to describe a place using the five senses, to try a new activity or local food, to write a poem or a prosaic stream of consciousness –  to create something, anything that ignites your soul.

Santorini, Greece September 2012

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I’ve only posted one piece (plus several pages) on it so far, but more will come shortly.  I hope you’ll follow me there.  As for my set of 16 blogs (yes, it’s been a little crazy and just a bit cumbersome!), all of them will remain online but are now closed books.

Here is more about ~ wander.essence ~

The only other blog I’ll continue to post on is this one: nomad, interrupted.  Here, I’ll continue to post monthly cocktail hours and maybe some local outings.  I may include bits of Americana.  But everything about travel will now be consolidated on my new blog.

I hope you’ll wander and create with me. 🙂