My high school English teacher always said a book’s setting-its time and place-should be treated like another character in the book. In our travels, I love settings that exude life. It’s why I’m equally happy at a bustling city street festival and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.

It took me a while to understand why I didn’t love New Smyrna Beach, FL. Why being in the area unsettled something inside me. Picture a region where it seems all the buildings were erected, coated in pastel pink paint, then left to bleach in the sun for a few decades. New Smyrna Beach feels tired.

I suppose that’s the appeal for some who have earned their repose and want to find rest that meets their needs. While it isn’t a setting where I thrive, the wonderful thing about fulltime travel is that each of us can understand ourselves better as our context changes. And even when we find ourselves in a place we don’t prefer [Read more…]