Hello my beautiful friends and happy Spring! 🌸 I hope wherever you are the weather is getting warmer and sunnier (and if it’s not, I’m sending lots of FL sunshine your way!).
I can’t believe it’s been a year since I set off on my Portuguese adventure. Not going to lie, there are days when I’d kill for a tasty glass of Vinho Verde along with a cod dish with fresh bread and olive oil. Ah, foodie heaven.
Since I posted last, I’ve added two new stamps to my passport having visited Germany in November and Costa Rica just last month. I’ve got a highlight rewind in the works for both trips that I’ll post later, not to bury the lead with my next adventure!
So here it goes…
In just a few weeks, I’m saying a “see you later” to my home in Dunedin, putting all of my stuff in storage, and hitting the road on a several months-long cross-country road trip around the U.S.
Since my trip to Portugal, I’ve been feeling an unsettling restless and the need for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life very much here in Dunedin along with my friends, the sunshine, and my golf cart. When I was recovering from gallbladder surgery this summer/fall, the pull for a change started screaming at me pretty loudly. Until the idea of a cross-country road trip hit me poolside like a ton of bricks — and I knew I had to follow my intuition. As many moments of joy and amazing memories I’ve had and continue to have here, Dunedin also represents a very painful time in my life that can, at times, be really difficult to continue healing/recovering from. But I’m doing my best. :)
So off I go in mid-April across the U.S.! I’m so excited to visit states and cities, I’ve never been to (so far, I’m at 32/50 states). The golf cart will remain in excellent care until I return (thank you Greg and Ann!). And of course, I’ll write about the cities I’ll visit, cool things I get to do, favorite booze and brews spots, and the challenges I’m certain I’ll face along the way. The first leg of my trip will take me from Florida up through the Carolinas out to Arizona, with many fun stops planned in between. Hope you’ll join me along the way!
Also, I’ve renamed my publication Belong To Where You Are…for a very fitting reason.
As the years have gone by and the list of my previous addresses grows, I’ve realized that home isn’t a location — but a magical, comforting, and joyful energy that is free of geographic boundaries. And no matter where you find that home-like energy, you will always belong.
I’ve found home in a to-die-for slice of New York-style pizza on the Jersey Shore. I’ve found home planting flowers and my vegetable garden at my house in Lancaster, NY in the springtime. I’ve found home screaming my head off during a Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy. I’ve found home driving my beloved golf cart around on a gorgeous, sunny day in Dunedin, FL. I’ve found home as I meander through the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute. I’ve found home walking the Lake Ontario waterfront in downtown Toronto. I’ve found home going for drinks with my bestie, Ash, at the local Elks Lodge in my hometown of Sullivan, IN. I’ve found home connecting with and in the presence of such incredible friends — old and new, near and far. And certainly, I’ve found home during the holidays, special occasions, visits, and vacations with my family, no matter what and where we celebrate.
You can belong to more than one place. And who knows? Maybe I’ll belong to another special place I haven’t even been to yet. I’m so excited about the trajectory of my life both personally and professionally and know this adventure is going to be awesome.
More to come! :)
Love and light,
MW
Can’t wait to follow your adventures, we love to travel this country of ours, camping all the way.
Can't wait to hear about Costa Rica. I went their last July and loved it! I was in Guanacaste province.