Wandering...

 I believe that wandering is creating an experience that goes beyond discovering. It is feeling connected to that certain place, person, food, thing, etc... 

 Before, I thought traveling consisted on the exclusive action of finding new places, seeing the unseen, and venturing yourself out in the out known. Sure, traveling does imply all of that, but I was missing something bigger, something more deep than just perceiving a beautiful landscape and taking as many pictures of it as possible. I was missing the bigger picture. 

E x p e r i e n c e s

Yes, every minute of our life is made of experiences; waking up in the morning and making breakfast, watching your favorite show, going to your regular yoga class, going to bed at night. All these are ordinary experiences if we see them as itinerary. Maybe we don't even realize what we are doing. Maybe it is just part of what we call 'living'. So, when you are out of your comfort zone, for example when you travel, you engage yourself in unordinary moments. These are the ones worth remembering.

My experience happened at Venice Beach. It was 6:30 pm. and my sister and I were walking down the shore of the ocean when we saw a group of people playing the hula hoop. Someone yelled at us to come join in that even our shy self's could not resist, so we did. Everyone looked so much happier here, and I thought to myself, "Well duh! Obviously, you are hula hooping at the beach!" This was the warm up for the next activity. What we were all waiting for... yoga time. 

It was one of those moments that had to be written about, never forgotten. It wasn't because it was such a challenging intense class; on the contrary, it was soft, it was warm, it was definitely blissful.

I had never felt like this before. All my senses were engaged. The sound of crashing waves, the feeling of cool wind throughout my body, the smell of  sunscreen and a hint of salt in my lips.  We took a moment to appreciate the setting of the sun, and I hadn't watched a sunset like that before. I was so into it, mesmerized till almost hypnotized. We then did some asanas (yoga postures) which dealt with grabbing the granite sand and feeling it let go, like an hourglass. Everything was so beautiful, the landscape but mostly the people. Beautiful not in appearance, but in the way that I felt so infected by the smile of each individual there. Not only that, but they treated us like we had been best friends with everyone since forever. You could see their good intentions. They transmitted pure bliss. This moment, this experience marked my trip, and probably my life. Making me want to cause that sensation to others. 

You feel alive. 

The trip consisted of California as our main and final destination but we had some stops along the way. Starting with the Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas for the 4th July making Independence Day somewhat magical with so many fireworks. After Vegas we headed over to California to the Sequoia National Park continuing with Big Sur. I encourage everyone to make a stop by the McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park because it is honestly the most beautiful and peaceful scenery I have ever witnessed. From there we embarked into the Pacific Coast Highway which is a pleasure to drive by. Finally, we ended in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. And I have to say that it seems worthless to go to LA and not stop here.

 

Just like Charles Bukowski said,
“some moments are nice, some are
nicer, some are even worth writing about." 

-DC