On some days it is difficult to write. Not unlike today, a dark and chilly start is enough to quash my concentration and dampen my spirit. Yes, the extreme seasonal temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere still get to me, and on those days, I long to be teleported to Sydney for some summer sun. Or to a Caribbean beach. Or to Fiji for a swim in the crystal clear waters. Since teleportation is hardly possible at this point in time, what do I do?
Well, it isn’t magic but I look to travel quotes and destination photographs for inspiration.
I have been collecting quotes for some time. I love how they can set the tone of my day (at the very least, the morning) by imparting a bit of wisdom in as little as a sentence.
Same goes for a photograph. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a great image can hit me like a ray of sunshine and transport me to a different place with its visual beauty. I learn a little bit more about a part of the world that I may have never seen, known about, or paid attention to before.
It is my hope that a bunch of quotes and photos will inspire me right through New York’s temperamental Fall and Winter. Otherwise, I’ll just have to book a trip somewhere warm and exotic. Or relocate to warmer pastures.
Until then, here are some of my favourite travel quotes and photographs, shared by a number of talented artists in the blogoshere. If you have any favourites to share, please send them along.
*You can also see more imagery and quotes in the second part:
Bolt of Inspiration Series, Part Two.
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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” St Augustine
Australia - Sydney: home is where the heart is ~ All rights reserved by shaza85
“Half the fun of travel is the aesthetic of lostness.” Ray Bradbury
Africa - Etosha National Park, Okondeka Fountain ~ Louis © rights reserved
“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” Seneca
Iceland - Aurora Borealis ~ Photograph by James Appleton
“Legends say that the hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration… Like a hummingbird we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy in everyday…” Papyrus
California, Escondid0 - A hummingbird's delicate beauty ~ Photograph by Scott Randall
“The journey is my home.” Muriel Rukeyser
Egypt - The Great Sphinx ~ Photograph by Kaushik Sarkar
“A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” Moslih Eddin Saadi
Ethiopia - Bale Mountains ~ Mikael Lypinski Photography
“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.” Babs Hoffman
Manhattan - The view from the Brooklyn Bridge ~ Photograph by Marina Chetner
“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
South America ~ A llama watching over Maccu Picchu in Peru ~ © lwephoto.com
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust
Alaska - Polar Bears in Kaktovik ~ Photograph by Mario Davalos
“Life is short and the world is wide.” Simon Raven
Hawaii - Waikiki Dreaming ~ Photograph by Ana Fass
“I should like to spend the whole of my life traveling abroad, if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend afterwards at home.” William Hazlitt
India - Markets, Goa ~ Photograph by Anubhav Tiwari
“The rewards of the journey far outweigh the risk of leaving the harbor.” Unknown
Malta - The Azure Window in Gozo ~ Photograph by Ted Attard
“They change their climate, not their soul, who rush across the sea.” Horace
Photograph by Boza Ivanovic
