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Happy first full day of summer (winter for TSLL southern hemisphere readers)!
With the arrival of the longest day of the year, TSLL arrived in Paris on a jet plane,
and the immense amount of daylight and beautiful weather simultaneously made for a wonderful first day in the City of Light.
I began thinking about the time travelers spend as they are on the plane or train or car, in the airport or station, waiting to collect their luggage - all moments in which we are temporarily acquainted with many strangers who share a similar moment of uncertainty. Sometimes this uncertainty is riddled with fear. In other moments, it is bubbling with hopefulness. And both of these feelings can occur within the same person, even on the same
trip.
The uncertainty of safe arrival, whether we will spot our luggage, whether we will be fed when we are hungry or fed food that will satiate, whether we will be able to sleep or our seat partner will be
tolerable, silent or chatty or superb without knowing exactly why. When the stars seem to align and all goes well, I am reminded to celebrate in some small way - perhaps champagne upon arrival or simply a generous tip to the busboy or taxi driver who accessorized a trip's memory in a beautiful way (simply by connecting the dots of to and from smoothly).
However, even when details don't work out as we had hoped, it opens the doors to other wonderful memories of growth and discovery. From something as simple as the driver you scheduled to pick you up not arriving, so you are left to your own devices to find a taxi - which is absolutely something we can do without a hitch - to luggage not arriving
and as my mother reminded me, go to the consigment shops or just shops in the city of your destination, pick up clothing that works and then keep what you loved and consign or donate the rest before you leave. Whatever doesn't work out as planned, look for the treasures as they are there to be found.
But back to the uncertainty of the traveler as they travel from point A to point B - basically it is a moment of limbo. A moment of not being physically anywhere you would call home. There have been times, and I felt moments even on this trip, of angst (probably more out of habit
because upon reflection, everything went very well). And isn't that a significant part of growth - feeling the angst, feeling a sense of limbo and saying yes anyway? When we say yes, we move forward, we choose the opportunity of growth. We may not know what we're growing into, but we nonetheless open the door and introduce ourselves.
And so, traveling and dancing with what life would like to share with us is a wonderful invitation to accept no matter where you travel to or with whom you travel (as you will see in this Wednesday's post - traveling with yourself is a wonderful companion to consider).
Thank you for your understanding as for the duration of my trip, the regular weekly posts (Style Inspiration, Decor Inspiration and Outfit of the Week) will be set aside to leave room for travel-inspired posts. What you can count on to continue is a new weekly podcast episode each Monday, a new This & That each Friday and the weekly newsletter to be delivered with a
letter from the editor (me!) each Friday.
Have a most wonderful first weekend of Summer and until next week, I'll see you on the blog.
