Travel

Not much reading happened here but I did get to read a few paragraphs while the kids played in Central Park with their dad.  

Not a whole lot of running going on in the Runninghood world but there has been quite a bit of living going on.  Lots of seeing the world, tasting parts of life that I've never tasted before or that I'm seeing again much later in life, and seeing landmarks through the eyes of my children.  There's surely a side of me that is feeling like a kid again with child-like wonder as my family and I travel parts of our country that are mostly new to us as west coasters.  My heart and soul have been full of that feeling that comes to me during travel and I've been reminded again of just how much travel can change and grow us.  I've been reminded of how much it allows us to see our place in this world in such a different way.  As we walk the streets of Manhattan, I've thought much about my 2001 and 2009 travels to Thailand and how big the world felt.  But at the same time, it felt so much smaller in a way.  Traveling shows how much we really are all in this LIFE gig together as a human race.  We are all just LIVING.  We are all people in our own spot on this planet making our way through life.  We have our own paradise...our own slabs of wonder and magic.  We have our corners and hangouts that smell of HOME to us. What one thinks  as congested, polluted, and overwhelming, another might think of as rich, vibrant, and ALIVE.  Travel is so good for a perspective shift.  I love how it opens my mind and heart to so much.  It just stretches me!  I love this stretch! If I think of all the things I could spend my money on by choice and for pleasure, it would hands down be travel.  I'd rather wear all the outdated clothes around (or just the same workout clothes over and over again), carry around a totally NON-designer purse, live in a smaller house where my kids want to share a room, and still use a car that I bought a decade ago if it means that I have more opportunity for travel!

One of my biggest wishes is that these adventures are helping our kids gain an awareness and appreciation for the world.  I hope they will always live a wide-eyed, open to magic and wonder kind of life as they continue to grow and experience travel with  us. I hope they grow up to feel powerful in making change, caring for all life and seeing the world through a broader lense than just the bubble they live in. I know that part of the reason I'm so wide-eyed and hungry for travel and seeing the world is because I didn't get to do much of it before the age of 18.  This worked in my favor when it came time for me to leave for college...I've traveled much and often since then.  And with great appreciation and thirst.  I hope my kids will always have this as they grow up even though they will be given so much more opportunity for travel than I ever had.

My thoughts after yesterday's day in NYC:

Traveling with kids: AWESOME! But an incredible amount of work. I saw so many places that I would just like to do with my husband next time...benches to sit, corners to linger, rocks to write and read on, trees to daydream under, cafes to dine in, streets to stroll...but there was no sitting, lingering, strolling, daydreaming, leisurely reading and writing today...not with 3 kids in tow in NYC.

Despite the drop in running mileage, my Brooks Pure Flows have certainly racked up quite a few walking miles between Washington, D.C and NYC.  And I've promised them some beautiful trail running near a lake and a log cabin in New Hampshire to make up for all the pollution and population!

Miles of driving
read alouds in the car
family journals,
    capturing the parts we never want to forget
sunsets on the road
Virginia mountains silhouetted on the horizon
fields of fireflies
history around every corner
moments of solitude in the midst of being in a city thick with life in every corner
Long walks in Central Park
Swinging in the heart of NYC
Standing under Abe Lincoln,
       remembering
Running past war memorials, people snapping pictures, life rushing past,
     feeling gratitude and reverence
Promises of new adventures tomorrow,
     land we've never seen before,
     tastes we've never tasted
     and memories that are waiting to be made
Hoping that it is as much of a gift for our children as it is for us


Amanda