Traveling Along the Windmills of My Mind

If I could go anywhere, where would it be?

The question for me would not necessarily be WHERE. True, there are places I yearn to visit, but those take a second place to the HOW.

I have always loved traveling around with my husband in an open, unplanned way—more like jumping in the car (camper, plane) and let’s see what happens. Although it is harder to do this for all places or when  traveling far from home, we always try to leave enough open spaces in any plans for the ‘magic’ to happen; the unexpected, the chance encounters, the surprises.

I like trusting the universe to bring what is needed, that the best will come—or at the very least, what I need to learn. Sometimes I get back what I need in unpleasant ways, showing me the state my head is in—it being a reflection of where I am at the moment—a wake-up call. So if you don’t like surprises, it is probably not for you. If you are not sure where your ‘head is at,’ it may not be something you want to try.

It is definitely an intuitive way to travel. You are trusting to be led by your intuition and if you haven’t honed your intuition, it may not be something to suddenly try. It is how I traveled when I found the inspiration for my novel, Dance the Dream Awake.

I imagine that some street people who choose to live on the street are in that state of mind a lot and it may be the reason they don’t want the responsibility of a house, car, job; responsibilities that modern society brings with it. The experience of living in the present is a ‘high.’ Or, it can be a smack up-side-the head if you are out of balance in your life.

When it works in positive ways, it is exhilarating. You meet people who open you to something new. That could be a fresh perspective, information to help you further your journey, a gift from the universe, a unique place to visit you would not have found on your own, etc.

Backpacking is also like this, but I have always been a car person. I love my car (not the vehicle, but the mode of travel) although campers can be wonderful as well. The whole camper community is a lovely way to be as well as to travel.

To travel in this open way, you do not go from Point A to Point B to Point C. Instead you wander from Point A to stops along the way that may lead you down side roads, detours or unexpected sightseeing stops you had not planned, meeting people you might not have imagined, and then on to Point B or maybe skip B to detour through another series of place to Point C. And so on.

We traveled around the country in a converted school bus in the 60’s, following a caravan of busses around the country to listen to a ‘new age’ guru who spoke at major universities around the country. I gained more wisdom in those months than I could have learned my whole life. Everything was accelerated. It was not all good experiences, but the bad experiences taught me things I needed to learn very quickly—through reverse learning, i.e., I learned what I did not want for the rest of my life. But the good experiences were priceless. I saw the beauty in people; the giving, selflessness that exists everywhere in this country. From the coasts, to the heartland of America, to the ghettos of Washington, D.C. there are good, loving people who are willing to give you the shirt off their back to help you from the little that they themselves may have.

There was:

The Hawaiian singer on Kauai that touched our hearts and we touched hers—that when we left she cried. The same with a Tahitian dancer we met on a different trip.

The young couple in Oklahoma that took us into their home to share an evening with friends in conversation that was exhilarating, loving and unforgettable. 

The old guide at the ruins of Coba that the other guides looked down upon for his poverty and lack of book-learned information, but from which we gleaned information that was handed down by word of mouth, showing us different leaves used for teas and herbal remedies, who my husband gave his shirt to because he sensed the man needed it (a sturdy shirt for a working man in the heat of Mexico’s interior) but did so on the QT because my husband sensed the other guides would criticize him if they knew, but whose gratitude was evident. It is not always about what we can receive but about what we can give and share.

So, yes, there are places I would love to see, but if I never get to them I can still travel by car and gain the more important gift of travel—meeting new people that add value to life, and learn things I might not have otherwise learned.

Have you ever traveled like that?

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