from Bob C. who has traversed the world for decades, including its far reaches…

I have always been restless out of a curiosity to travel great distances, meet the people there, experience things that are necessarily different from my own experiences at home. I tend to picture a clear-glass globe of the world, slowly papered over as I visit one country or another. “Wandering” has influenced my life, to put it mildly.

To wander is to move beyond yourself, to place yourself outside of your immediate safety zone, and ultimately to realize that you have become comfortable in that new place, with new knowledge and often new friendships that make you say,  Why didn’t I do this before?

The older I get, sometimes I do get lost when I wander, but it’s always worth the effort to get out there.”

from Tom M. who has traveled widely, and on the Santiago di Compostela pilgrimage walk…

“Years ago I saw a patch sewn onto a pannier of a touring bike with the quote ‘All who wander are not lost.’

 I was on a 6000-mile bike ride. It struck me as so true. Over the years my wandering, and the people I met doing so changed my perspective, gave me confidence, taught me how little I need.

So I still wander, seeking further knowledge, of people, arts history ~ and my own soul. My life is all the better because of the wandering I have done. 

*

from Alex S. about a dimension of his near two-year nomad-ing journey…

It took me about two months before I realized why was I riding all day? Where am I going? I have nowhere to go. I’m not on a timeline, I’m not on a budget. So where am I going? Everything in my life up to that point was either for time or money, or some combination of those things. So it was a recalibration. How do I move through the world when it's not a function of those two things?

*

from Robbin M. who had been on her own several-year-long walkabout…

“For me, wandering is a law of nature. We and the world are constantly foraging and pining for a unique sustenance. 

The state of being in wander fuels wonder. Seeing the wonder in a constant state of wandering is a glorious compliment to the way Nature postures with an incredible show called the seasons. 

Wandering challenges us to leave our intellect, and relax into being instead of doing. To explore the strange and unknown. To grasp the subtleties of the breathing Universe within and without our sense of self. 

Nature beckons to our wanderlust always.

*

If you know, or know of, such nomads, rovers, 

explorers, life voyagers. Ones we might all like to hear from. 

Send me a message. colin@thepoetisphere.com

Maybe we can add them to our circle

of intrepid correspondents. Or maybe you're

one yourself, on, or soon off on,

some interesting journey.

Meanwhile, enjoy our now-and-then sharings,

as they appear here. In word, voice, image.

And, wherever you are, consider your own voyages

of discovery. Small or large. Whether to a new

neighborhood, landscape or circle of people.

Or to an unfamiliar country or culture. 

Summoning, as you set out, 

an explorer’s deep curiosity.

Activating your outer and inner senses.

And enjoying all the spelunking.

Always good to get your sense of adventure wet.

Sonder

origin: unknown

definition from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

[Sonder is] the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.

Populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries, and inherited craziness.

An epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground.

With elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed.

In which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background,

as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.