Penny Thoughts

Hello and welcome to my collection of thoughts and wanderings! It is my hope to spend the next 10 years ( 1. or more and 2. God-willing) traveling and experiencing and being challenged by and learning from the world, and this is where I will share all of it. Providing pictures and my two cents on all manner of things is the plan and I welcome your thoughts, experiences and suggestions in return.

I feel like I’ve spent the last decade waiting…waiting for what, I don’t know. The pandemic exacerbated these feelings, as we all were waiting for the pandemic to be over. It’s still not over but the shut downs were ending and the world was returning, yet I still felt like I was waiting for something. Permission? From whom? For what? I don’t have the answer to that, I don’t know what was holding me up. Turning 50 seemed like a good time to reassess a lot of things. One of the first things to go was the idea that I needed permission to do anything, especially something that would bring me joy.

In 2021 I took myself to Savannah as a “happy birthday to me” trip, the start of my decade of new experiences. I was joined by a number of friends and it was a wonderful trip. An absolutely beautiful and walkable city, highly recommend if you have never been. If I had to pick my top three favorite things about Savannah, number one would probably be the squares. Like piazzas in Italy, the squares offer something different every couple of blocks: a history lesson, a place to sit and rest for a moment, a delightful and delicious chocolatier.

If #1 favorite thing is/are the squares/walking everywhere, then no.s 2 and 3 are the stories that go with every square, every monument, (seemingly) every house and bar/restaurant, and then the architecture of same. Everywhere you point your eyeballs something stunning will be waiting.

I made the mistake of flying out on Saturday morning, so I missed the market day that was set up in Forsyth Park, which was directly across the street from our AirBnB. Next visit to Savannah will be in the spring when the flowers are in full bloom and I’ll go home on Sunday instead.

There were a number of adventures and experiences in 2021, mostly good and some not so much. Most importantly, late January is coming soon which means a new birthday trip! For as much as last year’s trip was for my heart, this year’s trip is for my soul. I was reminded the other day of a post I made in 2012 (below). I am looking forward to following the arrow out west. Stay tuned for pics and thoughts along the way!