Notebooks and Scotch Tape, Now on the Blog

I bought so many notebooks as a university student studying landscape architecture (see lesson #86 on this comical list). Each bound set of blank pages served as a general catch-all for sketching quick ideas, taking inventory of possibilities, and capturing inspiring bits of life that otherwise tended to flutter away.

In the same spirit of gathering tidbits, I feel like sharing a few of the inspirations I’ve run across while browsing the web. A little hat-tip to the people and projects I’m enjoying these days.

And so, without further ado (*ahem. seems I can do Scattershot, but the I’m not so good at this Short & Sweet thing*), this new edition of Favorite Finds:

Seven Steps to Becoming a Spontaneous Traveler of the World – Maptia (“…a beautiful way to tell stories about places…on a mission to build the most inspirational map in the world.”) What can I say? The watercolor/notebook/map themes had me at hello. And #1 “Spin the Globe” takes me far, far back to childhood memories of watching Rex Harrison as Dr. Dolittle.

 >> @Maptia

Redefining Expectations – The Journey Itself. A blog by currently-traveling duo, and fellow Oregonians, Shawn and Carmel (side note — see Haystack Rock in the background? It’s the wonderful little things, like rocks in the ocean, that keep tethers strapped on between home and away). I appreciated the candor and honesty from their experience a month and a half into a grand trip:

He started, again… “I can’t tell if it’s just that we’re only 6 weeks in or…that we’re just not cut out for this.”

I had been thinking it all morning, but now faced with the words being spoken, I felt destroyed. If it’s just me thinking it, I can dismiss it as my own neuroses. If it’s him saying to me, well, that’s something all together different…
-Read more on the blog…

>> @journeyitself

Paris Summer Simple Joys – Expat Edna. She shares on life, writing, and letting go of catching up. (Themes we both hold in common these days…)

And what’s not to love about her Paris photo series that says: “…how about that time I discovered BJ Novak doing a reading at Shakespeare & Co?”

>> @ednacz

The Road Between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang – Wild Buttercup. Bonnie’s from New Zealand, and Josh is from California. Together, they’re off on adventures in Southeast Asia. Making my way through this post from the windy roads of Laos, my mind shot backwards to that day last autumn when Ted and I were on the very same route. Amazing how a few snapshots from another traveler can revive deep and poignant memories.

>> @bonniejoy89

5 Cosmopolitan Maps from Around the World – Creative Roots (“Representing Nations Through Art and Design”) I fell in love with the recently highlighted Aldo Crusher series. My two favorite maps: Cape Town and Buenos Aires.

>> @creativeroots

Winter Squash Butter & More – The Yellow House. Sarah, “a global public health professional” working in Washington DC, shares stories of cooking, food, culture, “rurality” (great word, no?), gardening, and whatever else strikes her fancy… This short post touches on the same overwhelming feeling I get some days with regard to themes of food culture and privilege brought to life by travel…but ultimately, she settles for a tip-of-the-iceberg note from Ghana and an affirmation that, “Real life is way better than the Internet.”

>> @casayellow

So, there you have it.

Favorite Finds.

Coming *sporadically* to a twoOregonians blog near you.

Seems like the end result might possibly be a little more streamlined than the giant Rubbermaid bin of design school notebooks in my parents’ upstairs storage room?

Honestly, even after paring down to travel the world, I couldn’t bear to part with all of them…I still flip through the faded pages from time to time, and I still buy more blank notebooks when I’m at the art supply store.

Forever a collector of life’s best tidbits, I suppose.

xx Bethany

Care to share which inspirations have struck your fancy lately?

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