What do I say? It has been an embarrassing amount of years now since last I posted anything to this blog. I know there were many who decided to still travel (and I have as well). There are many who have withdrawn from the world (I have not). There are many who are stuck in the middle unable to figure out where their wanderlust should take them next.

No matter how hard we fight sometimes to choose our next destination, it is simply too difficult to try and plan with any sincerity a vacation right now it would seem. In the last two years, I have had two major vacations cancelled on me: a trip to Africa and Europe and a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico.

While losing these trips was less than exciting, I found that it wasn’t about the money, the convenience, or even the time spent making changes to the plans; it was worse than that. It was the one thing that I have had to rely on over the course of the last thirty years of my life taken from me.

I am fortunate to have grown up the way that I did in the world that I did. I was able to make my own outside of this country to see others and learn of how well I had it. I have seen poverty, struggle, danger, beauty, adventure, hope, and kindness. Mine is a life truly blessed and I will never apologize for those blessings.

Losing the planned vacations took away the opportunity for me to enjoy those lessons again. Not simply to see how good I have it, but to remember what matters in life. Travel isn’t just about taking Instagram-worthy shots or saying you stood in the same place as someone famous. It isn’t always about finding yourself or learning new skills.

Travel is how we feed our souls. Travel allows us to take a step back and be truly quiet for a moment; to take in the new world around us and see it for what it is and not what it ought to be. We long to see the world as it is every day.

Staying in one place makes it easier to take for granted the beauty that surrounds. That being said, staying in the same place for the last two years has really helped hammer home the need to remember the beauty surrounding me.

Perhaps at the end of the day, the soul does not simply hunger for 2,000 year old ruins, but instead the lesson found in the stones. Perhaps those lessons live in the stillness of the waters that are seen outside my office window too.

This long letter waxing rhapsodic is simply to tell you, my beloved reader that I am still here in my own way. Perhaps I will be able to return to the exciting world of posting Instagram-worthy pictures soon, but until I can keep a reservation, you will have to make do with the memories I have and those travelers who are still out.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you and yours are happy and take a moment to appreciate something beautiful around you that you see everyday.

Thanks, yall!