my alter ego has set off in a ship across the sea to sweden. she’s taking the northpole route. meanwhile, the other mary ann moss is adding pockets to my stockholm travel journal.
and on a completely different note, today i stopped for a car sketch while i was running errands.
while i was in my car sketching away, i decided to get a new one of these little 3×5 moleskine watercolor journals to stash in my bag when i’m in sweden. i’m pretty sure i’ll want to stop periodically and draw the scene in which i find myself.
say for example ingrid & i are out on her boat and pirates come aboard. a sketchbook is very non-threatening. i can sketch our captors and turn the photographic likenesses into the police when we are rescued. that is if the pirates should get away in the ensuing scuffle. which they probably won’t after ingrid and i finish with them. but… say they do.
i’ll be prepared. if it comes to that.
a travel journal is a container for not just words & pictures, but important stuff too. notes, recipes, old photos, whatever i happen to see on the ground. i have found all those things and more in the past. once in lisbon i found a discarded wallet in a dark alley. there was nothing left of value, except of course for a few photos. i added them to my travel journal.
let’s take a look at that lisbon travel journal, shall we? i rustled it up after writing the above about the photos.
if you’re portugese pardon my ill-informed rant about your food. when i go to porto you can invite me over to your house and give me a lesson about portugese gastronomy. whadda ya say?
that’s all she wrote!
You are an inspiration for me to document my travels in a more thorough manner.
Greeting from Portugal. When you came to Portugal tell me because we will go eat and i show you the best food of the world. If you need something from Portugal to your jornal just say. Beijinhos
Thank you so much for the peek into your journals. I love all the details and notes. What a sweet found family you inherited. You do them honor by adding them in. Have a wonderful trip!!!
Ah, Lisboa! How I love it there! I’ve been a few times & can’t wait to go again. I also love Cascais! It’s easy to get to via train, right on tbe beach & affordable. Love, LOVE!
I shall look forward to seeing those sketches of the pirates. If there are any. I would prefer you and Ingrid not to have to deal with that sort of crisis but glad to know you will be prepared if need be. I now feel the urge to return to Lisbon and spend more time there!
Love your sketch of the houses from your car – you are good! And the peek back at the Lisbon journal. I love looking back at my travel journals, and they will be packed with all my other journals in duffel bags by the back door to grab in a flash as we prepare for wildfire season here (we’re in exceptional drought and live in the woods). Grab the pets and the journals – we can replace all the rest!
Mary Ann, your red stitches on journal pages and doily sure are purdy.
To me, the he best thing about keeping a travel journal, whether it is full of the trivia and ephemera you collect while traveling or is more like a conventional diary, are the stories recounting the disasters and mishaps and every day events of the trip. My niece and I occasionally re-read our travel journals aloud and invariably end up laughing our heads off at forgotten adventures we have had together. It is amazing how quickly the mind retrieves the memory IF you have taken the time to write it down or even jot a few notes about it.
I am pretty sure you derive the same joy and merriment when you re-visit your travel journals because of your pack rat tendencies…and I mean that in a good way….as I am of that inclination, too. Those post cards, receipts, ticket stubs and your words bring it all back in a flash!
Have fun in Sweden, MAM. I have a feeling that planning and plotting for this trip is half the fun! Anticipation….?
Mary Ann, I love love love looking through your old travel journals. So glad you keep them here on the blog for those who enjoy armchair travel.
I adored the retrospective and look back, and am excited for your up-coming jaunt to Sweden. You are such a fantastic globe trotter and you always share the bestest stories during and after…..I know you will come back with a chubby journal.
I love the glimpses into older journals; isn’t it amazing when you read them, you think (well, this happens to me anyway) “Wow, I’d totally forgotten about that happening! And if you hadn’t written down the funny annecdote about losing a shoe in a bog or something, it would be lost to history.
One shouldn’t forget slipping on a stone, or losing a shoe in a bog, to history. Can’t wait to start ‘virtual travelling’ with you, MAM.
To sister, I will watch over her. That’s why she needs to bring rubber-sole shoes. It’s not a walk in the park she will come to, she needs to adjust to the ground like a goat when moving around that island. But don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe!!! ?
You are so entertaining I can read your blog for days! And I love your sisters comment too! Once again, it bears repeating that you inspire me daily to try new things, to be happy, to keep smiling through it all, and to at least push forward in my attempt to get out the paint!
you must have forgotten about the strawberry, mozzarella, and pesto salad we had in lisbon. and what about that portuguesse french toast we had at cafe nicola. I hope you don’t fall on a train in Sweden like you did on the way from Belem to Lisbon. You know, when your hand landed between their legs and I laughed so hard I wet my pants? I better call Ingrid and let her know to keep an eye on you.