For today I am going to stay in my little bubble. Sometimes it’s good to not think about terrorist attacks, or shootings at schools, or balanced election coverage and focus on managing your own emotions.
Lately I’ve been restless. Wanderlust has kicked in to high gear, like it does every 11 months or so and I’m ready for a new adventure. I first got addicted to travelling and exploring when we took a trip to Haida Gwaii when I was 11, but I think I’ve always been a bit of a wanderer, those mud puddles on the far side of the barn called to me as a kid!
Since then, I’ve been to Greece with a travel club, across Canada with my family, to India with a university group and to New Zealand as an exchange student.
I haven’t been overseas since New Zealand in 2014, graduating from university and getting a real job has impeded my ability to go wherever, whenever, so the last time I felt this way I up and moved. It’s kind of expected of young journalists to explore their career possibilities in different places.
However, this time I don’t want to move away and start all over again. I love my job, I have a bunch of cool projects on the go and I plan on taking full advantage of the beautiful summers here. So, I’m trying to figure out how to manage my inner wanderer without actually leaving.
It’s harder than it sounds when the cities of Europe and the beaches in Australia are calling to you.
So far, getting out on my bike almost every day and coming home to plant my nose firmly in a book has been working. Adventures and escape-ism right in my own back yard!
I’m also planning mini-vacations and day trips around the Island; thank goodness we live in such a beautiful place with so much to explore.
The problem is, at 8 o’clock at night when I haven’t planned anything and I suddenly need to get out of the house. It gets easier as the days get longer, my bike is my best friend, but for now I go see movies and make more of an effort to plan ahead.
My holiday to Ottawa at the end of the month can’t come fast enough. Hopefully I’ll feel settled afterwards, given past experience, though it’s more than likely I’ll be even more raring to go when I get back.
Tofino, Gold River, Nanaimo, Cortes, I’ll be coming for you.
I guess it is also a great time to get through that stack of unread books on my bedside table. And to try new things, like kayaking, that I have been meaning to try for a long time.
Adventure comes from all sorts of things, not just new places. Maybe I should write this on the chalkboard I have on the back of my door, just so I don’t forget.