She made me wonder about a place called the Faraway, Nearby
I knew I’d write this post about Georgia O’Keeffe after leaving New Mexico. In it, I thought I’d say I figured her out while traveling through “her” New Mexico. But, after a month, she is still as elusive as a ghost.
Previously, the extent of what I knew about O’Keeffe hung above the stairs of the Modern Wing at the Chicago Art Institute. “Sky Above Clouds IV” is a massive cloudscape. It’s eight feet high and twenty-four feet wide. She created it as a part of her airline passenger series. Scenes she saw from the window of airplanes.
You shouldn’t attempt this hike if you aren’t physically fit, are afraid of heights, or don’t want to die like 13 others
I hiked Angel’s Landing which is the most of the most strenuous trail in Zion National Park in Utah after deciding not to, but accidentally stumbling upon it and thinking, “Oh hell, why not.” Which is how I do most things in life.
Angel’s Landing is only 5.4 miles long, but it has an elevation gain of 1,500 feet with long cliffside drop-offs. It is not for the faint of heart. I firmly decided I wouldn’t even try and skipped past it over several trips to the park.
However, a trail called “Rim Trail” looked like it led to the…
They “rewrote” it so poorly that it’s hilarious. I laughed aloud a few times. See mine above and theirs below. Enjoy
An awful thief of a website (who is known for stealing content) stole my blog post and “rewrote” it for their own website even using my images without permission.
Of course, I’m really pissed that people would so blatantly steal my work — I’d happily sell it to them (But actually not them — they suck). Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do when it happens. But there is a bright side. Their “rewriting” of my post is laughably horrible. I actually laughed, so I have them to thank for that. …
I didn’t always love traveling until I started finding pieces of myself in lands I’d never seen before
Traveling is the only way I know how to become who I am meant to be.
I haven’t always loved traveling. Growing up my family didn’t travel. I can count on one hand the number of times my mom went 50 miles further than the city she lived in her entire life.
My first travel experience happened against my will when I was 11 years old. My dad’s family was from Hungary, and he took my younger brother and me to meet them. As a child of my mom, to say that I didn’t want to go was an understatement.
…
I used to think I was an environmentally friendly person. Now, I realize I’m a total slacker.
I’ve long practiced “reduce, reuse, recycle” habits. I try not to use plastic if I can avoid it, conserve water and paper and electricity in dozen of ways. This is nothing compared to what Earthship dwellers are doing. These people and their houses are a showcase to next-level sustainable living enthusiasm. But they’re also probably a little “out there.”
What’s an Earthship?
In brief, an Earthship is a type of passive sustainable housing. They’re also called “solar earth shelters,” and they’re predominately made of natural and upcycled materials. They’re also creative art projects. Earthships can support life completely off the grid. …
A year ago, I met a woman who believed in aliens, and she passed some of that on to me.
As I drove up the hill in Roswell, New Mexico, its dirt was the color of red velvet cake and I marveled at that for awhile. When I looked up what I saw in front of me stopped me in my tracks.
It had been raining as I drove from Carlsbad to Roswell, an impressive feat for New Mexico, which had been desperate for water. The roof vent in my van ceiling was leaking. Despite more than a month on the road, it was the first rain I’d seen.
It was distracting. The leak, obviously, and the rain itself. As…
Travel. Outdoors. USA. Big Bend National Park.
You won’t find many other people, or amenities, or the bustle of life that we American’s are so accustomed
Big Bend National Park stands alone in a nation of parks. Its remote desolation makes it one of the least visited parks in the United States. That also makes it one of the rarest experiences you can have in nature — solitude, you, and the Earth.
If you’re lucky, you’ll see a red snake slither by, a roadrunner dash across your path, or a coyote prowl the landscape. Wild horses and free-roaming longhorn cattle might amble past.
You’ll find cactus blooms of many varieties bursting with color and other plants you’ve never seen before. Hawks circle overhead.
What you won’t…
Turns out Thoreau was much heartier than I gave him credit for. But I wonder if he’d have stayed? Would you?
I stayed in a one-room cabin in a lovely, wooded area in San Antonio for two weeks; then, the cankerworms chased me out. I was supposed to stay for the month. Looking back now, I wonder if I was too picky, sensitive, or ridiculous. Maybe the worms were worse in my mind than actuality?
Tell me what you think.
The Cabin
I’d been staying in a cabin for two weeks, and it was going perfectly. The cabin was lovely, the hosts, who live in a house on the property, were wonderful. Deer frolicked among the living Oak trees. There were four friendly…
It involves an egg and willing suspension of disbelief
On the way to the shaman, our truck squeezed deeper into the white-washed jungle down a twisting path I’d never be able to find again. The lightly used dirt roads were narrow and unmarked, but Joanne seemed to know her way; at least, I hoped she did.
The white, mildew-covered trees created a surreal otherworldly entrance to the place where the shaman lived. Where, unbeknownst to me, I’d come face to face with exactly the thing I’d been avoiding.
How I Got Here
I took the trip to Tulum, Mexico, to do yoga, relax in a hammock with green juice, and read paperback novels…
It didn’t feel limiting, it felt like freedom
If you had asked me 20 years how I’d feel sleeping in a van, I’d have dismissed you out of hand. Back then, I needed luxury. That meant lots of plush things—also, a margarita and a view.
Now though, my ideas about luxury and comfort are much different. “Things” no longer affect me the same way. Now, my luxury and comfort come from owning my life. It comes from freedom. (I’ll still take the margarita, thank you).
So, I bought a van, I’m earning money online, and I’m trying to see the United States.
The first leg of my journey…
Rene Cizio
Adventure, travel, wellness and the joy of satisfying curiosity one experience at a time. www.MiddleJourney.com
