Next week I’ll be celebrating one year since I left the U.S. to live nomadically around the world. In the beginning, I couldn’t fathom sustaining this lifestyle long-term. Now, I can’t imagine returning to the life I had before.
Meet Ed: Los Angeles Yogi
Meet Katrine: Copenhagen Yogi
Love Takes Many Shapes
Until last year, I believed my partner was the only person on the planet who would make me feel complete and that our love, the bedrock of my life, would always be consistently the same. Last May, everything I knew about love shifted when we decided to separate. After 11 years depending on the stability of this connection, I was devastated to imagine life without it. Now that I’ve settled into this once unimaginable world, I see that love can take many shapes and an old love can even transform into something else entirely.
How Pursuing Spanish is Giving Me Direction
It has now become clear to me that while my environment growing up in Texas first enabled me to learn Spanish, it has been my own deep driving desire that has pushed me to find more of it over the years. I elected to take Spanish in middle school, high school, and then college; I’ve taken many trips to use the language abroad and now I’ve chosen to spend this year immersed in it around the world. Since my affection for Spanish has been a constant throughout my life, I never really noticed how significant of a role it’s played. It was when I realized its importance that I decided to turn my curiosity into a priority. Now instead of it being an accessory to my life, pursuing Spanish is actually shaping my life.
The Petite Guide to Lisbon
I was struck by three observations when I took my first steps in Lisbon last September – the actual summer heat which I had forgotten existed while living in San Francisco, the gorgeous tiles covering the exteriors of homes as if the houses had been turned inside-out, and the sidewalks made of stones making it almost impossible to roll my suitcase on the sloping streets between the metro stop and my hotel.
Meet Tamara: Valencia Yogi
11 Ways to Say Yes in Spanish
My Nomadic Journey Actually Began 10 Years Ago
“Where are you from?” the waiter asked in Spanish. We were inside of a small cafe overlooking a quiet, sunny plaza in the village of Ciutadella de Menorca, the least developed of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain, where everyday life moves slowly and flying to Barcelona is a long trip for a local. I watched his look of curiosity turn to astonishment. “California is very, very far away,” he said uneasily as if I should be concerned, as if he was concerned for me. “Yes, yes, I know, it’s very far away,” I responded with ease.
I’ve become so familiar with navigating new places that it feels more natural than sitting still in the same place I already know. While California was my most recent home base, my “home” has been redefined over and over again. I’ve been practicing detachment from places for the past decade as I’ve packed, purged and reset each time I moved around the U.S. and the world. And now, for the first time in my life there isn’t one particular place that feels like home, not even San Francisco where my dearest friends and possessions live. Perhaps it is why, as I begin this new chapter of my life, I’ve chosen the most comfortable setting I know – being far, far away.
6 Ways to Practice a Language
Taking a class is the best way to learn a new language but once you get to a certain point, the only way to advance is to practice speaking. Everyday phrases are what make conversation sound natural and these are what you pick up in conversation, not in textbooks. My advice – ditch the Duolingo app and practice speaking with other humans because the only way to get better at speaking is to speak!