Just like that 10 days are gone. I agreed to the 31 challenge and coaxed a blogging friend into the challenge and failed to remember that the condo where we were going for fall break didn't have internet. Also, you can not blog from your iPhone. I have been in a limbo for over a week. It is all good though. I did write while I was gone. That is what really matters. I thought about back posting but that seems silly to post 10 days of ramblings in one day so I will just continue from today.
Travel? What does NaNoWriMo and travel have to do with each other. I am a firm believer in being there experiences. Sit on the beach and listen, watch, and gather great material for writing. I happen to live in North Alabama but I was born and raised in the deeper south, Florida. Ahhh Florida. Why would anyone leave? I can list many reasons; traffic, traffic and more traffic. I have been spoiled by "small" town living. I will take less than 500,000 people to a billion any day. Okay not a billion but almost 3 million people in the Tampa Bay area. Home is Saint Petersburg, that little peninsula off of the Gulf of Mexico on the bigger peninsula of Florida. There is really no where to build. You don't have urban sprawl there is nowhere to go, but up. That alone is writing material. It also happens to be where we spent fall break.
This summer we went out west. We loaded the mini van with food, clothes and three kids and took of for the most amazing adventure ever. My son couldn't understand why I wanted him to see the Grand Canyon. He told me, "I know what it looks like mom." I told him, "no you don't". Pictures do not give the Grand Canyon justice. No picture ever will. You can not see in a picture the depth, the wind on your face, the sun beating down on you or the sounds of the canyon. Pictures give you some detail but the being there experience changes you. One of my kids said, "It looks like a painting." My son agreed once we got there that it was so much better in person.
While we were on our trip we drove though 16 states. They are all different and amazing. I learned a lot just being in the car for over 4,700 miles. For the first time saw "amber waves of grain" in Kansas. Oklahoma is windy and trees grow different. Southern Utah rocks, pun intended. Southern Colorado is not what I expected at all. The Great Sand Dunes was quite a sight from far and near. You have to see it to understand. I could show you pictures and tell you about it to give you some kind of idea but the being there with the sand hitting you and the cold water rushing over your feet is a being there experience. All these things help me write.
You don't have to go far to experience something. Sometimes it is getting up at 2 am to watch a meteor shower. Last year all it took was going out on my front porch in a freezing rain storm to just listen. I had never in my life heard or saw a frozen rainstorm. For some people this might happen all the time,for this southern girl I never had heard or seen one ever. I encourage you to take a minute and just listen and watch. Go somewhere you normally wouldn't go and watch and listen. Museum, coffee shops, shopping malls, festivals, fairs, art strolls, any experience gains you more writing material. Travel near or far you will learn things you didn't know before. Also, take a notebook. I used my notes app this past week. Jotted down a note about the lady doing yoga on the beach. She was smoking, drinking coffee and doing yoga. Kinda interesting to me and she might make an appearance in a book one day.
Travel? What does NaNoWriMo and travel have to do with each other. I am a firm believer in being there experiences. Sit on the beach and listen, watch, and gather great material for writing. I happen to live in North Alabama but I was born and raised in the deeper south, Florida. Ahhh Florida. Why would anyone leave? I can list many reasons; traffic, traffic and more traffic. I have been spoiled by "small" town living. I will take less than 500,000 people to a billion any day. Okay not a billion but almost 3 million people in the Tampa Bay area. Home is Saint Petersburg, that little peninsula off of the Gulf of Mexico on the bigger peninsula of Florida. There is really no where to build. You don't have urban sprawl there is nowhere to go, but up. That alone is writing material. It also happens to be where we spent fall break.
This summer we went out west. We loaded the mini van with food, clothes and three kids and took of for the most amazing adventure ever. My son couldn't understand why I wanted him to see the Grand Canyon. He told me, "I know what it looks like mom." I told him, "no you don't". Pictures do not give the Grand Canyon justice. No picture ever will. You can not see in a picture the depth, the wind on your face, the sun beating down on you or the sounds of the canyon. Pictures give you some detail but the being there experience changes you. One of my kids said, "It looks like a painting." My son agreed once we got there that it was so much better in person.
While we were on our trip we drove though 16 states. They are all different and amazing. I learned a lot just being in the car for over 4,700 miles. For the first time saw "amber waves of grain" in Kansas. Oklahoma is windy and trees grow different. Southern Utah rocks, pun intended. Southern Colorado is not what I expected at all. The Great Sand Dunes was quite a sight from far and near. You have to see it to understand. I could show you pictures and tell you about it to give you some kind of idea but the being there with the sand hitting you and the cold water rushing over your feet is a being there experience. All these things help me write.
You don't have to go far to experience something. Sometimes it is getting up at 2 am to watch a meteor shower. Last year all it took was going out on my front porch in a freezing rain storm to just listen. I had never in my life heard or saw a frozen rainstorm. For some people this might happen all the time,for this southern girl I never had heard or seen one ever. I encourage you to take a minute and just listen and watch. Go somewhere you normally wouldn't go and watch and listen. Museum, coffee shops, shopping malls, festivals, fairs, art strolls, any experience gains you more writing material. Travel near or far you will learn things you didn't know before. Also, take a notebook. I used my notes app this past week. Jotted down a note about the lady doing yoga on the beach. She was smoking, drinking coffee and doing yoga. Kinda interesting to me and she might make an appearance in a book one day.
Comments