Life Off the Beaten Path

After retiring as a professor, I chose to travel. I’ve travelled a lot throughout my life, and after 41 years of working, I finally wanted to saunter the globe! I decided to head east and continue venturing until I got tired or ran out of money (LOL).

Seriously though, life is about learning, challenging yourself, and stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s about trying something new, following your curiosity, and engaging with the world in unique ways. That is how you grow and find contentment, happiness, inner peace, joy, love, and how you learn to simply be.

This journey marks a new life chapter where I’m discovering more about myself without job titles, deadlines, tasks, or objectives. Just learning to be. My new ethos is passion, authenticity, laughter, and fun equals joy.

Now I’m in Asia, in Indonesia. Instead of taking the main roads filled with traffic, noise, shops, and crowds, I’ve discovered a back-alley route through town. It is peaceful. I come across friendly animals (I’ve been told there are snakes, but thankfully not poisonous), beautiful greenery, rice paddies, the occasional passerby, and a deep sense of serenity.

This allows for what the Japanese refer to as forest bathing, or shinrin yoku. It is a process of relaxation that involves being calm and quiet among the trees, observing nature around you, and breathing deeply. This simple practice can help both adults and children de-stress and boost health and well-being in a natural, and holistic way. It soothes the soul and creates space for connection with the inner self. Reflection becomes natural. Finding that inner peace, that sense of sanctity, is a meaningful step towards true sanity.

So take time to enjoy the sights along the back roads. Challenge yourself to do something different every now and then. Take a new route, try unfamiliar foods, meet someone new. Just do something fresh and observe how it feels and resonates with you.

Namaste! 🙏🏽🌺

Gail – the transglobal sauntering elder of excellence gypsy