Bio: Hi, I’m Joyce. I love to travel and I’m learning that I love to write. In 2012, my husband Daryle and I started to really assess our dream of “traveling more” and what that meant. The result was an all-in life-changing 14-month journey to 23 countries and 23 US states. Life will never be the same.
Follow Joyce’s Blog: Learning To Travel Follow Joyce on Facebook
1. A smile
From someone I love because it means they are happy and of course that makes me happy, on a strangers face because it immediately sparks a smile in return and resultant grounding in the present, or in an uncomfortable situation where it say’s “you are not alone”.
2. Sunrise
The idea that a new day full of possibility is dawning, unlike any other day, before, after, ever. And that I am catching it at its very beginning.
3. Coming Home
The feeling of coming back to somewhere I feel absolutely comfortable and “at home” whether it’s my apartment after a day at work or my country after a year abroad. Being on the road made me really value this idea of home and comfort and having a place to recharge to go out “into the world” again.
4. Wildlife
Knowing that these exotic, untamed creatures are still out there in the wild inspires me to dream and reminds me that all of the world is not so tame as what I see on a daily basis. It also reminds me of the importance of freedom and my favorite Tom Robbins quote which has resonated with my soul since it first jumped off the page – “Somewhere in the archives of crudest instinct is recorded the truth that it is better to be endangered and free than captive and comfortable.”
5. Small Comforts
My husband sleeping next to me, my cat crawling into my lap in the morning, a particularly comfy shirt or the perfect cup of warm delicious coffee on a cold day. All these things need to be savored and appreciated, no matter how busy I get because they ARE life. These things keep me grounded in what is real and what is important. Touching and feeling my life, not getting swept along and missing it.
52 Beautiful Things 