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| Traditional Maori meeting house near Oakura Beach. Visit this site for more information. |
In speaking on Skype with my sister Julie yesterday, an avid reader of our site, she asked, “When are you guys going to travel the country and visit some other gorgeous areas? Don’t your readers want to see you traveling?”
My answer to my sister allowed me to say aloud something we’ve both thought and spoken only to one another and now to all of you. We love sharing our story, our story of living in different locations all over the world embracing our surroundings, and learning to live in a manner comparable as to how the locals may live, not as a tourist.
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| The Maori had set up tents for a special event. |
No, we don’t visit a lot of tourist attractions, although we visit some. No, we don’t eat out a lot, although we do on occasions. No, we don’t go on lengthy road trips staying overnight in hotels, spending budgeted dollars on attendance at popular venues that tourists often flock to, rightfully so, when they travel for short periods of time.
We don’t consider ourselves tourists. Instead, we’re visitors, temporary residents, respecting the laws, culture, and traditions of the locale, the people, and the surroundings while we live life on our terms.
Is defining our lives important? For us, not so much. As committed as we are to providing interesting stories and photos for our readers, it would be unrealistic to say that our personal desires don’t come first. For true happiness, one must consider the ways in which to choose to navigate life, not always an easy task.
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| We’ll continue to return to this site of Oakura Beach in hopes of spotting blue penguins. |
We appreciate every one of our readers but we truly believe based on responses we continually receive from those treasured readers, that they accept the fact that they are following the simple story of our daily lives.
We’re an older couple, unencumbered with “stuff,” as we move from country to country sharing the nuances, challenges, and joys of our surroundings which may not appeal to some. We don’t expect everyone to find our story interesting.
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| We looked for the blue penguins but doubted we’d see any with people in the area. |
Long ago, when we decided to travel the world, part of our motivation was to feel free to live how we choose. After spending the majority of my adult life with chronic pain from which I am now “free” we decided we’d live life to the fullest spending each day doing exactly what we feel like doing. It could all change in a day or an hour.
Some days, we feel like getting out to see what’s around us. Other days, we don’t feel like doing anything other than hanging out together, outside as much as possible, taking walks, taking short drives to explore the area, and visiting our “temporary” town or village.
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| On each drive through the country, we find many rivers. |
In essence, this site is not as much of a “travel log” as it is a “lifelog.” Should we ever decide to write a book (which we’re not interested in doing at this time), it wouldn’t be entitled, “A Guide to Traveling the World to See the Most Popular Sites.” That’s been done over and over again in books and websites.
It may be entitled, “Wafting Through our Worldwide Travels with Ease, Joy, and Simplicity,” as indicated in our mission listed at the top of each page in our heading.
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| We hadn’t seen a pinecone in a long time. |
We wrote that motto in 2012. It remains the same for us today. Nothing has changed in our beliefs. Everything has changed in how we respond to our surroundings; adapting, accepting, learning, and growing.
Sure, we have quiet days without a smidgeon of excitement or adventure. Who doesn’t? But, here on the Alpaca Farm in New Plymouth, New Zealand, and in many other parts of the world we’ve only needed to step outdoors to find our hearts soaring with a sense of pure pleasure and joy.
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| A river under a bridge when we drove down an unmarked road. |
Being able to share that joy with all of our readers, each and every day only enhances the experience. If in a small way, we bring a smile to the face of one reader a day, we’ve been gifted with an opportunity we never imagined possible. Thank you for sharing “our world” with us.
We smile with you…there’s so much more yet to come.
Photo from one year ago today, February 16, 2015:
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| One year ago, in Princeville Kauai, where we lived for four months, an albatross chick safely nestled in the grass under mom or dad’s legs. It’s these kinds of experiences that make our travels especially meaningful. For more photos please click here. |