WHEN WANDERERS CEASE TO ROAM
“When Wanderers Cease to Roam” by Vivian Swift is a sweet book, written by a once-upon-a-time world traveler who decides to “cease to roam” and enjoy her Long Island Sound village. Written in chapters by the months, Swift illustrates her words with watercolors of local landscapes and she documents lots of everyday, ordinary happenings in an ordinary neighborhood and she extols the joys of being a homebody.
It’s perhaps an odd book to read during my getting-ready-to-travel month, but it’s a great example of the power of tiny observations. Swift writes snippets of sentences for her daily reports, filled with sensory details about the natural world.
Reading this book reminded me of an observation practice I’ve done in the past, all about index cards and pockets and sentences… and that would be a great travel practice.
A POCKET PRACTICE
Carry an index card and a pencil in your pocket. Set your phone’s alarm to go off randomly — perhaps in an hour or three hours or six hours. When the alarm sounds, that’s your reminder to pause and pay attention.
Breathe in deeply. Listen. Look around. Take it all in — pay attention to smells, tastes, and touch, too.
Then write seven sensory things on your index card.
Optional: draw a sketch or do a quick watercolor on the back of the card. Date it, add the place, and file it.
What if you practiced this pocket practice for 30 days, for three months, for a lifetime?
About Bo Mackison
