There are times when life just gets too…noisy. Too many items on the to-do list, too much running in too many directions, too many distractions—you can’t even hear yourself think!
When that happens, it’s time to pack a bag and escape. Give yourself permission to quiet the noise, experience new surroundings, and let the essence of a place seep into your bones and soothe your racing heart.
Sometimes, you can actually go. Other times, you go via computer, and escape through the travels of others. Whichever describes you at the moment…come on. Let’s go. Escape. Explore. Renew.
If just hearing names like Rockefeller, Astor, Morgan, Vanderbilt and Macy make you long to travel backwards to a more elegant time, you’ll love Jekyll Island. This small island off the Georgia coast was once home of the famous “Millionaires Club” where some society’s wealthiest families spent their winter months. Back then, the Island was [...]
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As those who got battered by Hurricane Irene—or any other hurricane—can attest, having a safe zone in your home is absolutely necessary. We all need a place to hunker down and hide; a place we can climb into where we know we’ll be safe and protected. The knights of medieval times understood that concept very [...]
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As we approached the town of Heudin, Romania, we started seeing the oddest looking-buildings. Half-finished mansions dotted both sides of the two-lane highway, most looking like they were abandoned quite a few years before. The closer we got to Heudin, the more of them we saw. Oddly enough, they were generally similar in style. Made [...]
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I gasped when we rounded a bend in the highway and I caught my first glimpse of the sunflowers. Yes, sunflowers. Acres and acres of them lined both sides of the road in all their bright yellow glory. It made me laugh out loud. Up until that moment, I had no idea they were a crop [...]
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How can you feel like you’ve come home – in a place you’ve never been? I’m not sure, but after ten days in Denmark and Romania, that’s how it felt when we arrived in Holzhausen, Germany, home of the Wycliffe Center and about an hour outside Frankfurt. I felt like I’d been there before, many [...]
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Nobody told us where we were going, exactly. Our host simply waved us into his un-air-conditioned van and then shot out of Heudin like the tires were on fire. Grinning, he whipped around curves and bounced over ruts as though this was a roller coaster, not an aging van. My first glimpse of the tiny [...]
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In the middle of the busy port city of Arhus, Denmark, there is a quiet entrance to another world. Den Gamle By is a living history museum, showcasing the Denmark of Hans Christian Andersen’s day. I’ve been on a writing assignment here in Denmark, but this morning, my editor, Heather, and I took a brain [...]
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As a writer, settings play a huge part in my stories. I almost always start a novel by imagining a place—whether from real life or my imagination. When I’m location scouting, I think about the way a place feels, the unique flowers and smells, whether it’s noisy or soothing, quaint or sophisticated, shiny or well-worn. [...]
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