7 Months of Leaving

At the start of the year, I had the idea to kill postcards and instead send a digital postcard from everywhere I left in 2016. The year is half over, and so it seems like a good time to reflect on this project.

It has bought me so much joy – I’ve struggled to find a way to share my adventures long form, travel blogging requires some kind of completeness and recommendation that I just can’t quite live up to. I can never curate my pictures. Uploading them all takes hours. This is a perfect compromise. No need for completeness. Just a snapshot. The kind of email I would send a friend, only a little more edited, a bit more context.

My friend Diana observes, “Gravity seeps into the things that stick around.” and at the half way point I look back on a collection of letters – 28 in total – and this project has been so much more than I imagined it would be, and I’m so excited to see how it progresses as the year goes on. It’s definitely helped me stay in touch with people, but it’s also become a record of how I spent this year, the things that were amazing, and the things that have been hard.

I also like the idea that this is an idea of nomadic life shared by a woman. There was an interesting article on the subtle sexism of minimalism recently (to be honest, not that subtle), which I appreciated. So much of what it means to have adventures has been defined by men, I’ve often felt there’s not a path to follow, that I have to carve out my own. It’s nice to be able to share what I’ve learned in a forum less inviting of judgement.

Anyway, if you want my musings on adventures, life and leaving, you can sign up at wherethehelliscate.com.