Unexpected wanderlust

Come and join me in these beautiful red chairs while I tell you a little bit about myself.

To my husband (and at times the people who get engulfed in this) I have this habit to loose myself in unexpected wanderlust, which is both endearing and absolutely irritating. I know, because I have been called out on it on more than one occasion. The need to go out wondering has seldomly been planned. I could wake up at 4am and have this desire to go watch the sunrise in a fog blanketed forest, or search for the moon down passageways in the middle of the night and everything in between. I think I am this way because I hate schedules and grand plans. Don’t get me wrong, we have schedules and plans (work time, school time for the children, some planned holidays and weekend getaways) but to be truthful, I hate the strict structure we are meant to build our lives around.

I love embracing my inner wondering star and letting her guide me and a lot of the time my husband and our children and if I could, the cats would be willing participants in this all. I don’t know, there is something about picking a direction and a travel radius and just heading out to some place we (or I) have never been before. I get excited about stepping into a town that is filled with old buildings and cobble stone roads. I lose myself in antique charity stores and libraries built before I was born. My soul is excited about standing in forests that have trees older than my parents and grandparents alike, and old buildings where I can feel the spirit of a time so long ago. I love touching the bricks that hold the building strong and looking out of windows, imagining what it would have been like to live there hundreds of years ago. I love places that have found a new spirit in something old and discarded. It’s beautiful!

There is something to be said about the people who spend tireless hours maintaining these places that excite me and bring me so much rest. I have taken a seat under an old willow tree and sat there for hours listening to the stories it must tell, hearing the rustling of its leaves and the creaks of its branches as the wind blows through it. I have stood next to a canal in Haarlem, Netherlands and watched as the boats pass me by. I have found quaint coffee shops where the owners still serve you your coffee while their children run and play between the tables. All this because my wanderlust has no timing. All this shared with my family and friends and sometimes even just on my own.

The list of the places I (un)expectedly wish to visit is huge, in fact, I don’t think one lifetime is enough to take me to every corner of this earth. There is a list though, and one day, when we have a map up on our houses wall, I will share the pictures of wondering and make it a piece of art created by the adventure found in wanderlust.

Photo: Taken by BM Nicholson @ Woodstock one of the places we discovered while we were wondering around the Netherlands.
https://woodstock69.nl/  

Theme Song: Come Away With Me – Norah Jones