We've been asked this week what five things we absolutely, positively, cannot leave home without...interesting stuff -- because that list has changed so radically since I began travelling on my own and/or as wagonmaster of the expedition...formerly there would have been several dozen DIAPERS high up on the list! Not no more, however, hurray.
All right now. Some of these could be seasonal--i.e., when I go on retreat (always in the winter), I won't leave home without my wheat-bag ("Magic Bag" if that's how you know it).
But for summer-holidays travelling, and we'll assume it's by car... In my bright yellow travel knapsack I will have:
1. Maps and AAA tourbook of the area/s I'll be in. Also a Backroads Mapbook if applicable. That's just one thing because it's all navigational, right?
2. Camera and film...and binoculars (all optical, therefore = "one" also).
3. Bird books (also plant and animal books for the area -- if I have'em).
4. Journal and PENS and INK.
...and in my rations-box/cooler I will have:
5. instant coffee, tea bags, instant oatmeal, energy bars, mug/bowl/spoon/knife/can-opener (with a bottle opening feature).
A side note: when I went to Italy I did not take a camera at all...not wanting to see Italy through a viewfinder, and being uncertain of my ability to keep track of a camera anyhow(mind you I bought $120 worth of postcards).
Instead I took a little sketchbook and some pencils. Not because I can draw, but because I can't, and I know it, so I can skritch and scribble away in the sketch book without any expectation of achievement AT ALL. And now at home when I look at the results...although nobody else might have the faintest notion of what the original looked like...I'm right back where I was when I was not-drawing what's on the page.
Is that COMPLETELY strange?
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8 comments:
I love that you sketched on your trip to Italy--for yourself. AND I also appreciate you buying all those postcards.
I always buy about 50 when I go back to WA State every summer, sending them to the same people each year! It's almost time for that trip again, too.
Maybe strange, but quite wonderful. Back in the day (the Jane Austen day) that's what people did because there were no cameras. I'm glad there are cameras because the visual art gene skipped me, but I also think that if we didn't have them maybe we would all be taught to sketch. Good for you for not being perfectionist!
I love the sketching story. Maybe I should try that sometime. Except I love taking creative photos. And I can't draw (which was beside your point). Hmm.
oh, how wonderful to sketch pictures!
I know about the postcard thing.
I love to sketch. Also not so good at it....but what a great way to travel through Italy and remember it!
That's great - I've been trying to sketch my travels more too. Danny Gregory has some cool things to say about sketching your life - he's got a great website called Everyday Matters - it is really worth checking out. I'm a big fan of Dan Price's Moonlight Chronicles too.
Completely cool!
As one who thinks of herself as a person who "can't draw a straight line with a ruler" (a not-so-hearty THANK YOU to my stepmother!), I just LOVE your idea of sketching. I find that writing helps me remember things.... I'm sure DRAWING would etch a scene into my memory too!
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