I’ve been asked what I’m going to write about. Will it be pretty descriptions of mountain and sunsets? Will I write about the people I meet? Or the kitschy food joints we find? So yeah, maybe all of that. Or none of that. I’m leaving the door open. I do know I want to be inspired and share that with those who are looking for the same thing. I want to feel awe and wonder again, be childlike in my amazement. I want to be blown away by the new, the strange and the simple.
I also know this: I want to be honest. In prep for this trip and this blog, I did what I do best. I researched. A lot. And I found some gorgeous travel blogs. Exquisite photography, amazing foodie pics, beautiful people.
And I started to feel overwhelmed. I took an online Iphone photography class to enhance my non-existent skills. I studied the WordPress themes of the most successful blogs and spent a week trying to configure my settings. Then I stopped. I just want to have some great experiences, write about them and share them with some people. I’ve journaled since I was 8 years old, words have always been an exercise of catharsis, meant for an audience of none. In making my musings public, I feel a sense of responsibility.
So what’s the point? I promise to talk about the real shit here. The doubts, the mess-ups and mishaps. The rainy boring days as well as the glorious one of a kind days. The love and camaraderie balanced by the arguments and frustrations. I’m not going to paint you a pretty picture, I’m gonna be real.
And that brings me to the name of this blog. I’m a big fan of change. It’s at those moments of upheaval and transition in my life that I have found an inner strength and resilience that allows me a glimpse into what is truly amazing about being human on this earth at this time. I’ve always been open to change, to following new paths and exploring new options. There’s real excitement in the unknown and with fear and anxiety comes a sort of tension that makes me feel alive. I want to thank Lylo, for seeing the truth in me and giving a name to this journal. It’s my life manifesto, one that welcomes the bends in the road, the inevitable ways the world conspires to through you off course, the resets and road blocks and alternative byways. The blog name is a metaphor for my belief that we have no control, that we must be prepared to be thrown off-course, and that we can try to accept it all with grace and humor. So for the next three months, everything is subject to change. Weather, itinerary, life goals, relationships, ME. And THAT makes me feel happy and free.