Have You Met Me?

If you’ve been around the blog for a while, you might have heard me talk about traveling before. I mean, what’s not to love when you’re introverted, aren’t a fan of traveling, and turn into more of a hermit as the years go by?

Not that I don’t like to see new places and enjoy new things. I’ve been to many beautiful places and there’s more I’d like to see.

It’s the whole traveling to get there that I don’t enjoy.
Share on X

The Ultimate Destination

Oh, that got your attention? I apologize, because there is none. I’m always ready to come home at the end of the trip, no matter how beautiful the place may be. Because it’s not the destination—or where I’m going— that makes the vacation fabulous to me, it’s what I’m doing. Here’s what I like to do…nothing.

Yep, you heard me right. I’ve talked about my quest for doing nothing before, and usually it remains elusive to me.

Although the hubs and I have found a place in Florida where there isn’t a whole lot to do but just “be” and that suits me just fine. The problem is, well, it’s Florida, and usually when we go it’s about a bajillion degrees. This pale, Irish gal doesn’t do well with the heat.

It’s a Blog Hop

I could go on about my fantasy of having nothing to do, nowhere to go unless I felt like it, and no clock to be a slave to, but I think you get the point.

Doing all that nothing is even better when it’s a beautiful place.

What’s Your Dream Vacation?

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate! I hope your holiday season is magical!

&nbsp

The post My Dream Vacation Isn’t About the Destination #MFRWauthor appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

Kind of like when I had an essay question in school. I’d babble on long enough in the hope that I’d eventually hit the point the teacher desired. I treated this week’s topic no differently.

Looking Through the Eye of an Introvert

This week’s #MFRW topic is The Most #Beautiful Place I’ve Been. That sounds easy enough, right? Wrong.
Share on X

If you read my post about places that I’d like to visit while battling with my hermit-like nature—and pretty much any of my posts—you may have already figured out how I like to digress.

But I restrained myself this time, otherwise you were going to get a post about how the most beautiful place is my bed at the end of a long day, or the beauty of a glorious day with nothing on the agenda but writing…

Get Out Much?

Despite all my whining and hermit-like tendencies, I have been to a
few beautiful places outside of my home, my state, and even my country. I know, shocking! But really, it’s true.

Even Hermits Appreciate the Beauty of the Islands

Despite being a pasty white Irish girl who burns like a speckled tomato after challenging the sun’s unforgiving rays by slathering on a sunblock of over a bajillion, the biggest floppy hat you’ve ever seen and an avoidance of most shark-infested water past my knees, I do like the beauty of the islands and have visited quite a few.

• 

  Aruba, Punta Cana, the Bahamas & Cancun are all gorgeous when you live in a state that hordes sunshine like a magic diet pill.
  

• Turks and Caicos was especially beautiful in how it boasted sand resembling gorgeous crystals, and an ocean as clear blue as the sky—that way I can see if

  

  any sharks or other hungry fish are heading my way.

I Don’t Have to Look Far For Beauty

If you’ve read many of my blog posts, or any of my books, you’ll already know how much I love the trees and the woods of my home state. 

When bicycling or riding as a backseat biker on the motorcycle, there is nothing that fills my heart more than imagining the stories that live within the woods. Its beauty is absolutely magical to me.

The peace that I find in the quiet away from civilization takes my breath away and inspires me to imagine stories filled with fantasy and the paranormal.

Looking for Actual Beautiful Places?

Looking for more beautiful places outside of my limited, introverted musings? Be sure to check out the other authors on the #MFRW Blog Hop as they share the most beautiful places they’ve been.

The post Beauty is in the Eye of the Introvert appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

Where’s My Portkey?

There are plenty of places I’d like to visit. That is, if they invented a tele-portal, or a portkey, or a floo network, like they have in Harry Potter. I don’t like packing and I don’t like traveling, much. I like the destination. It’s the whole traveling to get there thing.

Trouble is, as each year goes by, the amount of stuff I want to bring increases, while the size and weight of the suitcase I can take decreases. It’s true that I’ve been known to boast that I require only the essentials of Blistex, a scrunchie, an eye-lash curler, and water, but somehow, they seem to weigh much more than the 40 lb. requirement.

Traveling the Lovely, not-so-lonely Road to Hermit-dom

Then there’s the riding in an airplane thing with sinuses that can’t accept elevation which gets my ears snapping, crackling and popping more than the three dudes on the cereal box. Therefore, in my imagination, I magically arrive at the destination with all my stuff already there. There’s none of that what should I bring, or I forgot something.

More and more I find I like being home. I know where all my stuff is and you don’t have to deal with making sure your clothes match—or socialization. All these years I’ve made comments about my father’s habits, and here I am on the road to hermit-dom. I hadn’t realized that was an inherited trait.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go

But, back to the topic at hand, because there are many places I would love to see and experience. These aren’t in order of preference. Just in order of pretending to address the topic and then digressing off on my own weird road. I’m a writer. That’s what I do.

1. Ireland– Why? I’m a mostly Irish gal and a lover of potatoes and gorgeous countryside. Plus I wear a lot of green, even when it’s not March.
2. Italy– two words. Wine and pasta. Sure, there’s a lot more I’d like to see besides sitting in a little vineyard sipping a delicious red with my pasta and then curling up to take naps from carb overload. Don’t worry, I’ll fit it into my schedule.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Now I warned you. I’m going to digress a bit, because the next ones are not specific places. It’s obvious that I don’t do well with directions when it comes to writing. I tend to veer off on tangents and digress down delirious pathways.

3. Road Trip! Cross country USA- I’d love to have the time to see the states up close and personal. Time being the key word. When there aren’t work, and children, and money commitments. I’d love to find those hole-in-the-wall restaurants and secret spots that aren’t high on the radar as tourist destination spots. They make the best stories.
4. Quality Family Time – I’d like to go to a beautiful, quiet, beach destination with all my family. As the years go by, we all get busier with our own families and work. It would be nice to have loads of time to catch up while throwing back a fruity, frozen drink or two.
5. This isn’t a Specific Place. It’s a feeling. (I know, I pick odd times to be a rule breaker.) I don’t know where this place is until I get there. You know how you plan a nice, relaxing vacation and you get there and you end up rushing more than you do at home and your stress

   

   level is spiking from the plane ride and other surprises you hadn’t anticipated despite all your careful planning? Then, suddenly you can’t wait to get home to just…relax?

An ideal trip to me is one where there is no set schedule, no crowds, no rushing and you get that Zen feeling inside. 

Do You Have any Recommendations for Me for That Elusive Zen Place I’m Seeking?

Follow the #MFRW Blog Hop to Discover the Places the Authors Want to Visit…most likely they are better at following directions. 

The post Top 5 Places I’d Like to Visit Once I Stop Striving to be a Hermit appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.