E2C_Travel
Not all travel is into the great unknown... some takes you 'home', to your people. I found my roots again after the pandemic with an aluminum love child named Bella and the 50 aunts and uncles who just can't seem to get enough of her. The Airstream community took me completely by surprise, but it's not the campers that create the connection -- it's the love of outdoors and nature, working hard to prepare an obscenely over-the-top family meal "just because", and genuine affinity for the stories that brought each of us here.
Any experience where you have an opportunity to learn the stories of others, try new foods, see how people live differently - each of those moments changes your life just a little. If you're lucky, your worldview becomes a patchwork of all those experiences. Mine has.
#mycuprunnethover
ABOUT ME
Part journal, part treasure map, part petri dish of thoughts about the future – this website is the synthesis of years of informal (and informed) study of the human condition… coupled with an unyielding need to explore every old tree trunk, breathe in as many back alley spice markets as I can find, admire the monarchs in every protected estuary along the coast, and climb the hillsides on gas-powered mules those few precious days the poppies raise their gorgeous orange faces to the sun. I'll do it all - every single mile - while my hands can still manage the camera.
The more time passes, the more I understand Thoreau's beloved Walden and his need to "live deep and suck out all the marrow of life." With Bella and an increasingly more amazing collection of people in my life... my physical footprint has been smaller these past few pandemic-impacted years, but my "heart-print" has never experienced more reach. To those who are with me, you are everything to me. To those who will join our treasure hunt, I promise we're going to see the world... and see it differently, #together.
E2C_Connection
So many amazing people come into my life and teach me unexpected things. They make my life fuller and more interesting in more ways than I imagined. These connections are what drive me - they’re my secret sauce, my signature strength. Every success in my life is, quite simply, based on my love of people and bringing people together to do wonderful things.
This summer I joined the Board of a publishing company that enables people to publish their personal stories online (here’s mine if you’re curious: Tonya's Cues & Views). Working with this commitment, I’m even more convinced of the importance of sharing our journey to connect with others. I see firsthand the difference connections make when people recognize how much we are alike… not different. With that as my goal, I look forward to sharing my journey and story - sharing my connections and creating new ones on the way. Exploring2Connect. Join me.#onwardandupward
An auto-rickshaw, to be more specific. I love these! It’s a small, efficient, open-air cab… and it’s cheap. I took a quick trip to the “stitching place” today and it cost me the equivalent of about thirty cents US. I’m…
Changes of plans often turn out for the best. Remember how I said yesterday that I was having a princess-moment? Well today, I was the princess! My planets were all aligned. (Where the heck’s that King?!) This morning I attended…
I’m petitioning the local government to change the name to My___sore, so we tourists can just fill it in. Myfeetsore (from walking barefoot through the palace), Myheadsore (from all the blaring horns), Mybacksore (from a fits&jerks drive from Bangalore)… The…
If you don’t remember this Peaches & Herb classic, then you’re too young to be reading this adult-only blog. (Just kidding, Jackson and John!) So I’m replacing “Nope, Nyet, Nada” with “Yes! Oui! Si-si! After my first week at the…
Luggage Update – Friday morning, India:Frustration, Amazement, but Still No Luggage Otherwise… one of the local managers showed me around last night to some touristy places here in Bangalore. We went to MG Road – that would be Mahatma Gandhi…
Dear Sweet Nephews,Jackson asked about the pool after I mentioned I was sitting near it while writing a blog posting on Wednesday morning. I have breakfast by the pool every morning, and it is quite pretty. There are beautiful blue…
Nope. Nada. Nyet. NO LUGGAGE. And it is technically Day 4, since I left the States on Sunday… and as of Wednesday night I’m still trying embrace this new minimalist approach. This calamity (and goodness knows I’m looking for that…
This may get long… I’m sittin’ by the pool at 4:30 a.m., drinking strong coffee (has a bit of a chickory taste to it, for those of you who have had that particular coffee in New Orleans), watching the groundskeepers…
Okay, guys…. it’s going to be office culture and random city traffic musings these first few days until I get out over the weekend and go see some pretty temples and such. Wanted to show you this… Here in the…
So in my attempt to immerse myself in Indian culture, I watched an Indian chick-flick on the nine-hour flight between London and Bangalore. Subtitles and all! It was funny how – halfway around the world – Bollywood and Hollywood themes…
