ISSN: 1839-2318
never stop exploring wild sister of the month are you a landlocked
adventure seeker?
November 2013
#29
wanderlust
1
What’s inside 3
Editor’s Note
5
Letter to the Editor
6
What You Thought Last Month
8
Contributors
4
Let us Know What You Think!
7
Never Stop Exploring
Cover image: Lori Portka http://loriportka.com
Magic Season
11
Small Town Girl
16
10
Affirmation of the Month
15
Travel the World with Your Yoga Mat
Wild Sister of the Month
18
21
How I Travelled to Find my Way Home
An excerpt from God, Sex, and Money
23
27
Are You a Landlocked Adventure Seeker?
Wanderlust— Part of My Story
29
32
There’s No Place Like Home
Creating a Lust for Life
36
39
Wonder Which Way You Might Wander?
42
Why we Wander: The Power fo Spirit in Place
6 Ways to Feed Your Spirit
46
Wandering Spirits
How to Sell Your Car and Go to South America
53
France and the Art of Finding Joy
60
48 57
The Way of the Wanderer
65
Contribute
Quotes of the Month
41
51
Latest on the Blog
63
Connect with us
67
62
November Love
editor’s note Dearest Sister, I feel as though I must warn you about this edition; it will make you want to sell all your belongings, book a ticket to some far away land, and fly away on a grand adventure. I’ve only been back in Australia for a short time after travelling all over Bali for three heavenly months, and I only just came back from holidaying in New Caledonia last month, and reading this has already re-ignited my own wanderlust.
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But even though now I know that even more travel awaits me in the future, I won’t let it stop me from thriving in this moment. I used to want to be anywhere other than where I was planted, and it left me chasing my tail all around the world. But I’ve learned that, while planning and dreaming of the future is always fun, it’s important to not let it ruin the here and now. Because it really is all we ever have. Here’s to the travellers, the gypsies, the nomads and the adventurers. Thank you for sharing your amazing stories in this edition. Wanderlusting, Jen
3 1. Chasing the sun in New Caledonia. 2. Relaxing by candlelight. 3. Finishing the Create Your eMag in 4 Weeks eCourse! 3
wildsisters
{october 2013}
Editor Assistant Editor
Creative Director Jen Saunders Wild Sister
Dani DiPirro Positively Present
Danielle Tate-Stratton danitatestratton
Writers
Jess Carlson
Cinda Stevens Lonsway
Ina Sahaja
Nikki Hassett
Shai Smith
Donna Morin
Anne-Sophie Reinhardt
Sonya Forrest
image: Bryan Wesel
Dani DiPirro
Karina Ladet
Paula Jones
Guest Writers Cassandra Key Emily Dawson
Robin Hallett
Jill Miller
Mary Bartnikowski Elizabeth Bradley
Want to join this amazning group of women by contributing to WILDsister? Click here to find out how. 4
Lisa Page
Letter
to The
Editor I want to know what you think of this edition! Has a story inspired you? Want to share your thoughts on this issue? Or you just want to say hi and be featured in the next edition? To share your feedback on this issue, email us with your name, city and country at yoursay@ wildsister.com. You can also connect with us at facebook.com/ wildsistermag or tweet us at @wildsistermag. To get exclusive updates from the editor, sign up to the Wild Sister newsletter here. For subscription options go to wildsister.com/ sisterhood. (Letters chosen for publication may be edited for length.)
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What you thought of last month’s Spirit edition @ @ @ @ @ @ Gaylin Laughlin @glaughlin “Spirit keeps our inner flame burning in the dark...” @wildsistermag http://www.wildsister.com #imawildsister
Briana Desmond @briedesmond Exploring Spirit with @wildsistermag http://tinyurl.com/b7426lo #imawildsister
Anne-Sophie @theannesophie You are more than a body. You are more than your achievements. @wildsistermag #imawildsister http://bit.ly/Odsr6h
Llinos @sweetslicelife @LynThurman enjoyed your @wildsistermag article
Gail Vogt @gvogt18 “Sometimes the lesson is to just accept something and let it go.” ~ @jessjcarlson via @wildsistermag http://tinyurl.com/lw7wbju #letgo
Suzanne Strickland @wabisabione Loving the latest edition of @wildsistermag http://tinyurl. com/b7426lo #imawildsister
Jenni Hulburt @Jenni_Hulburt Have you read this magazine yet? It will change your day http://wildsister.com/ latest-issue/ @wildsistermag 6
Shivani Cotter @shivanicotter Reading: Spirit edition of @wildsistermag http://tinyurl.com/b7426lo
let us know
what you think...
instantly
Take a photo of you reading this issue, post it on instagram + tag it with #wildsister. I’ll re-post it and give you a shout-out on our Facebook page!
Tweet it! Here are a few tweetables you can send out right now {I’ll re-tweet it!}: Exploring the world with @wildsistermag http://tinyurl. com/b7426lo #imawildsister {clicktotweetthis} Reading: Wanderlust edition of @wildsistermag http://tinyurl.com/b7426lo {clicktotweetthis} Loving the latest edition of @wildsistermag http:// tinyurl.com/b7426lo #imawildsister {clicktotweetthis}
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pg 18
NEVER
stop exploring
Why You Need a Vacation by Dani DiPirro
Travel
has never been a big passion of mine. I love exploring new places, but the effort, time, and money required to get to those places usually makes me shy away from booking a trip. That said, the benefits of travel are numerous and it’s something I know I want to spend more time doing. Lucky for me, I’m about to head out on a getaway of my own.
A vacation expands your mind.
As I prepare for my trip, I’ve been thinking a lot about travel and how beneficial it can be when it comes to living a more positive and present life. When we go to new places and explore new things, we’re given an opportunity to have a lot of positive experiences, experiences we’re often more present in due to the fact that they are novel and exciting.
A vacation tests your patience.
Travel can, at times, be stressful, but there are so many positive benefits we can reap if we pay attention to the power of being in a new place and doing new things. Some of the benefits of a vacation include: 8
When you find yourself in a new place, you start to see the world a bit differently. Your mind opens up to different types of people and experiences. You’re out of your element (which can be scary at times!), but you’re thinking differently and that tweak in your thinking can really help you see the world from a new point of view.
This might sound like a negative thing (and, in the moment, it might feel negative), but testing your patience is one of the ways a vacation can help you cope with life in a positive way. No trip is complete without something going wrong and the more you experience little adversities, the easier coping with difficulty becomes. A vacation breaks up your routine. No one loves a routine more than me, but even I can’t deny that there’s something
refreshing about breaking up your routine. Getting out of your normal groove spices up life and inspires you to venture out of your comfort zone. And the more you break from routine, the easier it gets! A vacation offers fresh inspiration. Nothing inspires quite like a new environment, and that’s just what a vacation offers. In a new place, your mind is opened to new things and the novelty of new experiences frequently provides new and inspiring ways of looking at the world. A simple change of scenery can work wonders on an uninspired mind! A vacation strengthens your relationships. You and your travelling companions are bound to encounter some bumps in the road, and these experiences will strengthen your bond with one another. And just the act of experiencing something new with someone apparently creates a stronger bond between people. A vacation improves your health. Studies have shown that there are many great health benefits to vacationing. A reduction in stress is, alone, a reason to take a vacation, but there are also quite a few other positive benefits to taking a vacation. Clearly, vacationing is good for your health—which is a great reason to book a trip!
there are so many positive benefits we can reap if we pay attention {clicktotweetthis}
A vacation encourages you to stay present. While experiencing new things, you’re often more in the moment than you would be when you’re doing the same thing over and over again. Exploring a new locale offers so many new things that you can’t help but be in the now (as long as you resolve not to check your phone constantly!). Clearly, there’s a lot to be gained from taking a vacation aside from the obvious get-away-from-the desk reason that motivates most people choose to travel. Even if you can’t get away for long or travel very far, it’s worth taking a few days for yourself every year, giving yourself a chance to reap the many benefits of travelling. A vacation might seem frivolous or unnecessary, but it’s actually very beneficial to your mental and physical health. So, go on, schedule that trip or request a day off. Life’s too short to ever stop exploring!
Dani DiPirro is the author of Stay Positive: Daily Reminders from Positively Present and Live Happily Ever After Now: A Guide + Workbook for Living in the Present Moment. She is also the founder of PositivelyPresent.com a site dedicated to helping people live positively in the present moment. To check out Dani’s latest book, and watch the Stay Positive video, visit StayPositive365.com. 9
Ws
affirmation
I follow my bliss
wherever it
leads me
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{clicktotweetthis}
Magic SEASON
By Cassandra Key
Here
I am, standing at what seems to be the edge of the earth, the Philippines, far far away from family and friends back home in Texas. Surrounded now by lush coconut mountains and salt air and mama ocean who holds me when I need to be rocked into peace. This is spring, summer, autumn, fall. The air is always the same, except for the occasional cool midnight rain. The windows are always open, welcoming in fresh daylight, afternoon breezes and the chimes that sing with them. Sometimes an open door is an invitation for a crab and always, always a gecko. 11
Some nights when I’m anxious I sneak downstairs and sit in the hardwood chair by the window. I listen to gentle waves and lull myself back to sleep. Some nights I walk onto the balcony when there’s no electricity just to see the stars painted in all their silver glory onto the pitch black universe. Everyday I look out the screen door to see the ocean and the fisherman, the islands drifting on clouds in the distance. This is my life now. So far from the desert and months without rain. So far from winter clouds and wildflowers, from any season except high season, when the tourists come back and shed their coats and boots,
and low season, when the tourists go with writing and swinging in hammocks, home and the sky opens and the rest of us swimming with tiny fish and collecting walk in the rain. seashells. Salt water is my medicine. I cycle with the tides and the moon’s creative I am privy to cacti, dead brown earth, days energy. My body is almost of harsh Texas sun and wildfires. I was always bare. a desert baby who always wanted to be a beach babe. For years I pretended the The earth continues to spin and the people cotton fields were calm seas and the oak back home move through their autumn, light trees were palm. I wore puka shells and pumpkin spice candles, watch leaves turn pinned pictures of surfers to my walls. I rode the color of sunset then fall. Here, the air is a longboard as if the streets were liquid blue still salty warm and I’m still in a bathing suit and practiced “toes on the nose.” The sea with my toes buried in beach pebbles. The beckoned my mermaid heart. only season here is the one I create. Then one day I wrote down my dream Ws of living by the beach, dancing under A season of happiness, love, magic. the stars, creating and loving and living something beautiful. I thought it came true when I moved to Florida and spent my 25th birthday listening to reggae music at a beach shack. But only one part of the dream had come true; there was no love and my days were still spent striving to live a life someone else had created. It took five years for the real dream to manifest. Five years of boring jobs and dead-end relationships and acquiring lots of stuff to fill the hole in my heart. Five years of growing and expanding and learning to love myself before I could love anyone else. Five years to realize the life I was creating was only what I had been told was available. But at the end of those five years I said enough is enough, quit my job, sold everything, including all my stilettos and pencil skirts, fancy nick-knacks and furniture, tea collections and artwork, and my love and I moved across the world. There is no more alarm, no more boss (except for me), no commute or rush-hour traffic, and no more days spent inside because it’s too hot or too cold. Now there are only a few pairs of flip flops, some sun dresses and sun block. Now I fill my days 12
Cassandra is an American ex-pat who lives in the Philippines and spends her days blogging, working on a novel, and beach bumming of course. You can find more of her writing at The Sacred Middle where she blogs about creating magic, happiness, and self-love. The Sacred Middle │ Facebook │ Twitter
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