I sent in my expedited passport renewal application today. It’s the first time I’ve ever renewed!
Really & truly.
I didn’t start traveling in earnest until I was 38. I kept waiting for a traveling companion that never arrived. I had this idea in my 20’s and 30’s that I needed someone to go with me on my adventures. So I waited. And waited. And waited.
But coordinating travel plans with friends or mates was more complicated than I imagined. So I headed out alone. I bought books on women traveling solo, read travel memoirs, studied maps, packed my bags, held my breath and dove in headfirst.
It was an unexpected bounty. My powers of observation felt sharper. My vision & hearing keener. I walked through a wonderland of strange new places. Loneliness visited occasionally, but lingered for shorter periods of time. In an atmosphere of internal quiet different parts of the self start to come forward out of the shadows. Solo travel always feels to me like a deep kind of listening to the world and to the self.
My sister and I travel together very harmoniously. I love our time together! Two very different experiences which both appeal to my multiple personalities.
Buoyed by my much-needed escape to Cambria, I’ve already made plans to head out again over Veteran’s Day weekend. I almost always head for the coast, but this time I’m going to a cabin tucked way off the beaten track, next to a roaring creek, in the middle of a forest. A big forest. Near an itty bitty town. Some hours north of LA.
My heart races to think of all of the new things I’ll be investigating…
and sharing.
~
For the last few years I’ve often been asked if I have an email subscription option for Dispatch From LA. I thought it was high time I got it together and figured out how to add that feature. So I did! It’s up at the top if you are so inclined.
I have a wonderful companion but he doesn’t like to travel a lot. I have traveled a lot in the States, Mexico and Canada by myself but never been to Europe, Asia, etc. which I want to do a lot. Maybe I need to follow your lead and just do it by myself. Thanks Mary Ann for changing my life in so many ways. I love dreaming and traveling with you via your blog and journals.
Thank goodness you came to your senses and started travelling! My excuse has been no time and no money. It’s time for me to stop making excuses and make plans instead!
Very courageous of you. Before children I used to just head out in my car – put 200,000 miles on a Jetta in 6 years. I think it is time to introduce my children to the concept of, “Pack your bags and get in the car. I’ll tell you where we’re going on the way there!”
I remember the first time I went to the movies by myself. I was surprised at how much I liked it. I have done limited travel alone, and think I prefer a companion…for part of it. I so applaud you for your perspective on all places well met, and your generosity in sharing it with all of us. Truly inspirational. You’ve opened up the world for many a reader, I’m sure.
More beautiful pages — love those full-size photos. Waiting for people to travel with never works; I always had fun traveling alone and ended up making friends along the way. You and your sister have the perfect travel arrangement. Also, just wondering if you are doing a December Daily type album? Ali Edwards gave you a nice mention in her Oct.31 post.
You are an inspiration. I’m having a stressful morning so I thought I’d peek into your blog and get lost in your images before my first class shows up for the day. It’s helping me not feel so frantic. Happy Friday!
Marissa
Have you ever been to Deetjens inn at Big Sur. One of my favorite trips ever included an overnight stay there, a delicious meal in their restaurant, a stop at Nepenthe for a snack, ocean gazing, and lovely ogling in the gift shop, and a lunch at Big Sur Inn, next to a river. One of my favorites.
Well, I’ve said before how much I admire your ability/gumption to travel alone and frequently. My passport – sob – expired without so much as 1 stamp/punch or soup stain.
But I have to tell you also that the spirit in which you blog about your life is both comforting and encouraging. Of course, most bloggers don’t relate every aspect of their day-to-day existence in their posts. I wonder at the Twitter crowd! But you seem to be comfortable and at peace with your life, and that sense of contentment and love of life, and your creative energy and sense of humor makes for me, at least, an inspiring, satisfying and happy place to dwell for a time.
Yes, I agree with other commenters, think about a book!
Just subscribed…I read you through google reader but would rather get your emails ;} It must be our military family traveling backgrounds that makes us want to constantly travel now that we are adults…I swear! The thrill of the adventure and the discovering of new places is my muse…and I’m so thankful for it because being fearless in life and travel is such a blessing. I need to get my passport updated next…thanks for the reminder. Have a lovely weekend, fondly, Roberta
you are my inspiration! some day i plan to travel…my excuse has been to wait til the kids grow up. but then i think, let’s just take em with us! 🙂
Showed my mum your blog, had her read a few key posts, and I believe I can talk her into a quick excursion over Veteran’s Day weekend, birthday be darn.
I don’t have the guts to travel alone, but I admire those who do. High five on that!
Roaring creeks and forests are totally my thing (I especially love them if they’re in Colorado where I grew up). Can’t wait to see your pix and read your thoughts on that upcoming trip.
Am up to my ears in beading projects this week, but am inspired by your journals and hope to do some art journaling again soon.
That is all. Peace out. 🙂
Didn’t travel till I was 40…had a travel friend for a couple of years…it was fun but she got married late in life and followed her passions elsewhere….couldn’t find anyone else to go with, and as they say, life is short, so off I went on my own….and even as brave as I consider myself, you truly inspire me…..one of my most treasured possesions is my old passport, returned by the gov with two holes punched in it….I didn’t think they still returned them when a passport was renewed ….so you can imagine my delight when on a blustery Saturday morning, a couple of days after I received my new passport, my old friend full of memories arrived back home.
You are an inspiration! I hope one of these days to have your gumption to take off. Enjoy your trip next weekend.
You go girl!! I really enjoy doing things on my own. Doing anything alone makes you reach and connect more with the people and the surroundings that you encounter. When are you coming to London? I’ve got such good suggestions for you!!
I admire your love of travel and the tenacity to do it alone. Travel while you are young…it seems like now that I’ve gotten older…there’s no place like home 🙂
Beautiful post, and beautiful journal pages. I saw the woman above who asked you for a book so we can spend more time pouring over your work…I concur!!
As a woman who has traveled alone for many years, all I can add is that your description is apt and poetic.
You get it so right every time Mary Ann. You never cease to amaze and please me. It’s like having a friend with benefits. You travel the world and I get to enjoy your experiences; through your eyes and your words. It’s such a delightful experience as shared by your many friends here. I know lots and lots of folks who travel including family and they talk about their trips but unlike you, there is no detail, there are no visual place holders that take me to the places they have spent time in. Sure they share their photos but mere photos don’t transport me like your posts here do. What you do here takes time, parts of your heart is here, tidbits and morsels that brings us along for the ride that you share over and over again. It’s a gift. Thank You!!!!!!!!!
I see our May S. is having a deep effect on you!!!
Maine is in your future.
I’m quite confortable with myself and enjoy being alone when walking or just sitting in the backyard or snuggled in the house. I am married so share my time with my hubby and grandkids. I have travled to classes where I was alone and enjoyed it, haven’t ventured on trips but someday who knows. Love your journals and your outlook on life, wish you were my next door neighbor. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Peggy
That’s it–one of these days I’m going to follow your lead and go solo!! Long weekend first–baby steps, you know!! And then, perhaps, Mexico!! I am at least finally making plans to return to Maine next fall with BFFs!! Thanks for blazing the trail for us!!
Mary Ann – you are a wonder. I love reading about your adventures. I travel with my sweetie and also solo and they are different experiences as you said. What I want from you is a big fat Mary Ann Moss BOOK filled with photo after photo – something I can sit and hold in my lap and look at over and over. I can’t be alone in wanting this. I bet all your other fans would like a book from you too. I want to look at and study your journal pages and travel photos…….any chance of this? Please?????
PS I am glad the online class doesn’t expire since I signed up back in March and haven’t even had a chance to look once yet–but I will!
The Budapest travel journal is beautiful. I have been savoring each and every taste of it. Thank you!
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog….
Took the Remains of the Day class awhile back, loved it..want to do Full Tilt someday (please keep it available). Your pics are splendid and I am glad you travel alone or not. I never go anywhere much so it is a pleasure to be taken along with you. Just wanted you to know someone (among many)just enjoys YOU!
Beautiful!!!
I love to travel alone, harder now that I’m married but I have had some awesome experiences…Really enjoying this journal, thanks for sharing your adventures! I live 15 minutes from the ocean and rarely go…you have motivated me to get there more often. I guess I am spoiled, knowing it is always there 🙂
Mary Ann, I am loving this journal! And I have a strange hankering for some strudel all of a sudden… xo K
MaryAnn, you’ve reminded me of the trips I’ve taken solo … 12 days in Paris was the best! It is so true that you “see” things differently when you are alone in a place where you don’t speak the language well. I also love traveling with my hubby because he and I enjoy the slower pace of “just being” in a place. I love reading your travel logs … taking us along on your travels is a great gift. Thank you. Jan. P.S. Teesha Moore has a blog entry showing how she used a passport to do visual journaling.
There is so very much to be said for learning to do things by yourself and learning to be alone and comfortable with your own self!! Truly wonderful and magical lessons that not many of us allow ourselves to learn. I am so glad that I had time to live by myself and travel alone before marriage and kids consumed my life!!!
you are the best! I love that you travel alone! I love doing so many things alone, and people think I’m nuts, but I understand you when you say it’s a completely different experience that way. I’d love to travel more period and when some $ comes my way I surely will be doing some solo trips! thanks for sharing..xo
Can’t wait to see where you are going. I miss the CA mountains, the moutains are far away here in West Texas, never new what we had til we moved away. Have a great time, can’t wait to see your pictures and guess where you are!
I can’t get enough of your journal pages, so keep ’em coming.
As for traveling alone, I love it and don’t want to go any other way. I think it makes the experience more intense somehow, you can really take it all in without being distracted. You can go where you want when you want without having to take anybody else into account. It’s a very liberating experience.
i really love your travel journal . i do it both ways ..travel alone and travel with friends and family .
When I was 16, I went on exchange, by myself, to live in Barcelona. I did not speak the language, but I learned quickly because I speak French. I’ve always been the type to dive head long into adventures. I think there’s something very powerful about discovering a new place on your own. It offers you the chance to reinvent yourself, to meet interesting people (which happens more when you’re unattached) and to figure out who you really are.
Good for you Mary Ann!
Love this journal, maybe too much.
Got my first passport when I was 21. Left for Europe (alone) for three months to ‘get it out of my system’. Came back three years later. Thanks for the reminder about traveling alone. Lately, I’ve been ‘waiting’ for someone to travel with. Waiting is not a good idea. hmmmmmm. Donna PS: I wonder how many passports I’ve had. Used to be they were good for ten years .. more recently only five and I’m not sure when that changed. If I got them all together, they would make an interesting ‘hand bound book’. (What a concept .. ha ha)
Are you perhaps going to wander near Three Rivers? My credit card finger is trying to complete a two day stay on expedia but the rest of my digits are desperate to stop it. I am sitting here with my fingers in knots, my right index finger buried beneath a scrum of flailing knuckles and nails…..to AGREE or NOT TO AGREE to all conditions and non-refundable BS…that is the question! What should I do???
solo makes it more adventurous because you get to do WHAT YOU want to do, WHEN YOU want to do it, WHERE you want to go, seeing WHO YOU want to see, without a bunch of WHy’s are we doing this. I hope ‘renewing’ only means you are adding pages to your existing passport!
I second what susan w said……….I look forward to every post and of course subscribed right away!! thank you. I love the Budapest journal and cannot wait to see the posts from your time in the mountains.
I love traveling with you ~ thanks for taking me along! xo
a deep kind of listening to the world
You use all of your senses when YOU listen. And you share what you take in. Thank you for that.
A big thank you.
i have traveled both with others and solo for many years now and have never regretted a single trip. 🙂 i’m on my third passport and love looking through all my stamps and visas. and like you, i enjoyed weekend trips here and there as well as voyages across the world.
Bravo!! For going on your own- I too was bitten by the travel bug…I had planned a trip back to Europe when I graduated college- I had done a year abroad during my junior year. I had planned to go with a group of friends after graduation, but we never got it together- a year later I took off on my own, scared and a bit excited! I had the time of my life!! I’m on my third passport….and my children are on their second!