TOP 5 FRIDAY: The Travel Bug.

TOP 5 FRIDAY is when we each list five of our favorite things, depending on the topic. Feel free to join in via the comments or by posting on your own blog and linking back here. Play along. It’s Friday.

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Our first day in Portland was a huge fat success.

The weather is divine, the people are nice, and the food is just plain delicious.

I’m glad to be here.

But I loved what it took to get here too. See, I don’t have the travel bug. I am the travel bug.

I left Nashville around 6:30am on Thursday and flew to Portland via Denver.

I had a three hour layover in Denver where I sent approximately 150 emails [I wish I was kidding] and felt a bit like a psychopath because for about thirty minutes, every time I would send one, I would get two in my inbox. As my blood pressure rose and I felt like I was going to have a panic attack, I kept looking around, being like, “Does anybody else see how ridiculous this is?” But they didn’t. Because they were minding their own biz.

[To soothe your worries, I finally was victorious over the inboxes.]

I love to travel, which plays into my favor in my current season of life / place of employment [that being, anywhere that I get to go speak]. What do I love about traveling?

So kind of you to ask.

Here are my favorite things about traveling.

1. Soundtrack

Since we don’t have public transit in Nashville, I don’t get to pop my headphones in and ride around and take in the sights. Traveling via air or bus or train allows for that soundtrack feel. This leg I listened to a few rounds of The Lumineers [I went to their show this week so I’m a little obsessed], The Secret Sisters, and Sarah Jarosz. [I’m totes in a folk/bluegrass phase. Love me anyways.]

2. People Watching

This world is full of extremely weird people [myself included] and a lot of them like to pass through airports. So I like to watch those people, observe their lives, and wonder about their story. I’m not gonna pull a Don Miller here and talk about how everyone has a story and yadda yadda, I just like the idea that each person in that airport is on a journey, just like me, and for this one time we are passing through the same place.

3. Reading The Destination At Each Gate

I am a lunatic about this. I read the destination at every gate I pass and then scan the crowd to see if they look like they are prepared to go, say, to Paris via Minneapolis today [as I saw one flight doing from Denver yesterday]. It may be my only / most evident OCD tendency. I have to read.them.all.

4. Alone Time / Sky Time

Shocking absolutely no one, I don’t take a lot of alone time. If there is a friend that wants to hang out, I fit it in. I love my people. But when I’m trapped in the sky with no text messaging capabilities, I get quiet [rare] and reflective [kinda rare] and alone. I love a window seat- staring out at all that is going on and, in much the same way, wondering about humans from a zoomed out point of view. ‘That car is so tiny,’ I will think, ‘but those people are driving somewhere on purpose.’ And it freaks my freak every time.

5. New Places

I love seeing new cities. How houses are painted, how downtown blocks are laid out, how the locals talk, where the people purchase their chai lattes. Here’s the thing about going new places: you have a brand new experience and also get a few reminders of the best parts of home. I like that.

And so far, this Portland trip has lived up to all my favorite travel things! Looking forward to a fun weekend!

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YOUR TURN!

What’s your favorite thing(s) about traveling [plane, train, or automobile- I don’t care!]?

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Today is a great day to follow me on instagram/twitter. Lots of pics, I’m guessing, as I meet up with some fun Portland blog readers, climb a mountain, see a waterfall, etc.

 

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