Wandering Abroad

May 2025

I’ve been busy wandering the United Kingdom the past few weeks and haven’t made time to blog. Planning this trip I anticipated having all kinds of extra time to sit at cafés, contemplate life, and write. In reality, however, it has been pretty hectic. My husband and I spent a few days seeing the famous sights in London, followed by days hanging out in seaside towns in Cornwall and countryside villages in the Cotswolds. Unfortunately, moving every few days to a new town is tiring. Luckily we have been able to incorporate some downtime spent at pet sits where we can snuggle with dogs and live more like a local.

I’m learning that I really enjoy sitting at a café with a cider or tea watching the people rush past with their busy lives, wondering where they are going or who they are on their way to see. It reminds me that we are all unique and wonderful and should celebrate our individuality rather than trying to fit the same mold of “acceptable” or “popular.”

Some of my favorite moments are when I stop for a chat with a local shop owner when I enquire about him speaking Welsh to his granddaughter or admire a man’s tired bulldogs as he walks along the promenade and connect with him about his recent trip to Greece or experience living in Edinburgh as a boy. These are the best memories that I will take with me.

I’ve realized how much I love being in and connecting to nature. As I sit here writing this in northern Scotland, the patio door is open and the cool morning breeze is wafting in as the dogs laze outdoors in the sunshine. Not something I can easily do in central Texas summer. I may have to be creative to find more time out in nature at home – like getting up early in the morning before the sun starts to heat the day, or taking a kayak to our local lake in the late evening to enjoy the sunset.

Well, rather than hold on to this to post to edit, rewrite, and allow my internal critic to doubt my writing and never post it, I am going to do it now.

Happy wandering!