Criss Cross Apple Sauce

Well…hellooooooooo, September!

I know there are those out there that will want to shoot me for this, but I am not sorry to see summer fading in the rearview mirror in the slightest. I’ve been over the heat of summer since sometime in early July, though I do, indeed, know better than to tell people that.

I’m the reason they put the pumpkins out for sale at the grocery store Labor Day weekend…you know I’ve already bought more than one (along with pumpkin spice scented candles and cloves to put in the apple cider I’ll now begin buying by the gallon…stop. judging.me.).

The rainy season has also begun here in Seattle, much to the lament of every person I talk to. But I love it. It just begs for a second pot of coffee and homemade baked goods and a lit candle and a long day of writing…what’s not to love?…

Turnaround Time

We arrived back in Seattle late last night.

What a trip.

In case you didn’t know this, driving the 3,000 miles from one corner of the country to the other when you have very little time to dally is…ummmmm…a lot. It’s a whole different ball game than having weeks to linger and explore and take your time.

The last week was a lot of 10-12 hour driving days, getting out of the truck just long enough to stretch for minute, gas up, pee, and get back on the road. Driving past mountains and rivers that called our name, meeting friends along the way for a quick lunch or a cup of coffee, and then moving quickly on…

Lifestyle, Road Trip, TravelCindy GiovagnoliAugust 14, 2019life, taking breaks, road trip, travel, cross country road tripComment

Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today we closed on our home in Maine, selling our beloved space and all it contained.

We left the dishes we received as wedding gifts a decade earlier stacked neatly in the cabinets. We left the dining room table we built with our own hands (and those of our sweet friend, Emy, who offered not only her hands to the job but also her laughter) one sunny weekend our first summer there. We left the bookcases from Ikea that took hours to assemble and us to the edge of our wits.

The teapot handpainted in the Polish style that I adored and used nearly every snowy afternoon during our long Maine winters. The chest of drawers that had traveled with my Navy family as part of my parents’ bedroom set when I was growing up and I’d refinished during finals week my second year of law school. The canvas print of one of my very first photographs of Maine, a sunrise at the Portland Head Light where any doubts I’d had about our move were swept away with the crashing waves on that rocky slice of coastline…

50 Years

We are on the road as I write, making our way east across the country once again.

This trip is fast-paced. We have a deadline to make.

Justin’s parents are celebrating 50 years of marriage this year and the party’s on Saturday. We can’t wait.

But even though we are racing past mountains and valleys and winding dirt roads we yearn to drive down, there is a sense of peace that settles into my heart when we have a long stretch of highway laid out in front us. The music is on, the land rushes by, and even in these circumstances, it feels as though adventure is just around the bend….

We Drove North

We drove north, looking for the quiet places in between.

We drove north, sometimes turned back by wildfire, or rockslide, or the suggestion from a roadside stranger of something not to be missed.

We drove north, unfurling that space within us that sometimes gets cramped, sometimes grows small under the pressures of paychecks and laundry and getting the dishes done….

Editorial, Lifestyle, Outdoor Adventure, Road Trip, TravelCindy GiovagnoliJanuary 30, 2019road trip, British Columbia, Yukon, Alaska, national parks, wilderness, campingComment

Landing

Have you ever come back from traveling somewhere and thought, “Was I really just in Bermuda/Nepal/ California/wherever or was it all just a glorious dream?”

It’s a feeling that has become so familiar to us over these last years of travel. Each time we settle into a new place, the last one feels like perhaps it was all just a lovely dream…

Editorial, Lifestyle, Outdoor Adventure, Road Trip, TravelCindy GiovagnoliJanuary 9, 2019travel, travel nursing, road trip, home, finding homeComment

Done + The Shitty First Draft

I’m writing this from a cheap hotel room in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. It’s -9 degrees fahrenheit outside, so we’ve been crossing our fingers and hoping for pet-friendly hotels open in mid-winter as we’ve criss-crossed rural Alaska, then the Yukon, and now British Columbia as we make our way south to Seattle, praying that we don’t end up huddled under sleeping bags in the back of the truck (just because you can doesn’t always mean you should)…

Summer Lore

So often, when we remember the magical moments of our childhoods, those memories are doused in golden summer light. Long days and sunburned noses and the smell of cut grass and hot asphalt and maybe the feel of popsicle melting down our hands. We remember heat shimmering off of cracked sidewalks and drinking tepid water from garden hoses and hair that felt crunchy with salt water.

The Sound of Freedom

“Hey Cindy! Dinner’s ready! Do you want to eat at the table or do you need to eat at your desk again?"

It was November of 2014 and I was a week out from shooting my last wedding of the season. It was the first year that my business broke six figures and everything was finally falling into place. Except that it wasn’t…

Shifting

We have landed, officially.

After a crappy hiccup last week that left us scrambling to find a place to live very last minute (it was a total mess, you guys, but all is well now), we got into a short-term rental on Saturday and Justin began his new contract here on Monday. I think it’s only been in the last 24 hours that I have been able to take a deep breath and look around me, begin to think past the immediate, to get some sense of our life here for the next three months…

Liminal Space

I arrived home late last night from a good long visit with a dear friend on the other side of the country. I like to pause occasionally and recall what a miracle it is that it is possible to wake up in coastal North Carolina and go to bed that same night in coastal California and that this kind of speedy travel across thousands of miles is considered routine at this point in human history. Miracle.

As I woke here in my own bed this morning, Kippee rocking a bit as Tess plodded over to drink water from her bowl, it came home to me that we are closing out our time in California…

Next Time

Editorial, Lifestyle, Outdoor Adventure, Road Trip, TravelCindy GiovagnoliJuly 11, 2018California, Sequoia National park, Kings Canyon National Park, travel, road trip, camper, travel trailer, Whitewater Retro camper, river, nomads, nomad lifeComment

Around The Bend

Some days the driving feels long. The highway stretches out before us and the view blurs as unspecified agriculture and isolated gas stations and the occasional state welcome sign fly past our windows.

These are good days for audiobooks and long conversations about crazy ideas and…

Authentic*

It’s Sunday morning as I write this. Justin left for work in the wee hours and I have been holed up in this bed ever since, reading and writing and generally avoiding the stack of work I planned last night for “tomorrow” (you know, when it seemed like “tomorrow” would magically have way more hours in it and I would, of course, have boundless energy and be magically able to do ALL THE THINGS)…

Adjustment Time

I am writing this morning from under my fluffy comforter, nestled into my bed, Tessie snoring beside me.

We arrived here in Saratoga on Saturday and have been running around doing the 647,000 things big and small required to settle into a new life…

Showing Up

Today has been one of those days where I sit down to write and then immediately have to pee/ get a drink of water/ check my email/ comment on Instagram/ go pee again (hydration, man!)/ eat a snack/ check the mail…I think you get the drift.

I was reminded recently of a quote by amazing painter Chuck Close:

“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.”

I love this, you guys.

Editorial, Lifestyle, Outdoor Adventure, Road Trip, TravelCindy GiovagnoliApril 11, 2018road trip, Nevada, Arizona, roadlife, work, travelComment

Reality Check

We returned last night from a long weekend in Joshua Tree National Park. While there, we were admiring the many different homes-on-wheels that people had crafted for themselves, spanning the spectrum from shiny new Airstreams being pulled by luxury brand SUVs to rusted out jalopies with the passenger seat removed to make room for its occupant’s sleeping pad and bag. There were Sprinters housing climbing guides and college kids packed into their parents’ minivans and retirees in 40-foot RVs. There were full-timers and weekend warriors and every build out you can imagine. It was inspiring to say the least.

It also started a conversation about the parts of road life that almost never make it to social media or blog posts. I actually don’t think it’s because everyone is attempting to cultivate a “highlights reel” of perfection. I think it can feel really wrong to “complain” about the hard parts of road life when so many of the people doing it won’t hesitate to tell you that they feel like it is a huge privilege to be able to choose to live like this. And that’s the catch, right? This life is a choice and it is often a lifestyle for which sacrifices were made in order to make happen. So complaining about some of the “hardships” (which for the most part are more often actually just inconveniences) can feel a little whiny and gross.

But we should share them...

Narrow

We drove late into the night, pushing across the Arizona border into Utah and imagining the wonders we passed in the dark. Time was growing short and the new contract’s start date meant we had fewer days than we’d planned to play in the in-between, fewer days to reacquaint ourselves with the western skies we’d been pining for these last months in New Hampshire. But we weren’t skipping Zion, by golly, even if it meant driving until late became early, and peering into blackness hoping for glimpses of the threatened desert landscapes we’d dreamed of immersing ourselves in for a few extra days....

Inspiration served up with a side of action, delivered right to your door.*

*by “door” I mean inbox…waaaaayyyy less creepy Than showing up at your house, right?

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