There is nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said about the glorious gifts of travel. I read and listen to people’s travel stories, discoveries, adventures and in a small way live vicariously through them all. The more I get to travel the more I am captivated by the lure and treasure of journeys.

Traveling for me has become an almost spiritual practice.

Last month we took our family on vacation to the Pacific northwest to visit Todd’s brother and family. On this trip several traveling gifts grew deeper roots and settled more permanently in my soul. Sitting on the deck of a cabin perched on the Quileute reservation, watching the cold Pacific surf pound the shore, these travel truths laid themselves out like keepsakes.

When I travel…

1. My eyes open to the realization that God really is alive and present in every corner of the world.
2.  I understand more fully the vast creativity of our Creator.
3.  Being out of my element, I am able to feel more dependent on God.
4.  I get a glimpse of the greater story going on in the world. A glimpse of an infinite glory reflected beyond my quiet corner of home.
5. I gain a clearer perspective, that the world does not revolve around me. And that is as healthy and refreshing gulp of air to breathe as ever was offered.
6. Forced out of daily routines and practices, my current obsessions and supports on which I too fully rely, are laid bare for reflection and abandonment.

Traveling awakens things inside that routine and sameness numbs.

Traveling flicks up the kickstand of your life and rolls you toward adventure.

Traveling nurtures and nourishes a curious spirit.

The gifts of traveling can found be received by all and with any budget. Not only reserved for the long vacation, a traveling heart can be applied to a long weekend jaunt or free afternoon spent exploring the spaces beyond backyard fences. Traveling is a mindset whose riches keep giving through memory and experiences, an investment that won’t ever be placed sadly on a garage sale table.

It’s summer. Take a trip somewhere. Treasures are waiting to be discovered!

*Here is a freebie for the end of this little ditty. If you have the been bitten by the traveling bug like I have, check out my online “friend” Tsh Oxenreider. She is an author and blogger that along with her hubs and 3 children are getting ready to travel the world for a year. Without coming home and one backpack per person. Hello. She just launched her new site that will document their travels at The Art of Simple Travel. Her first post is all about the trip she and her husband just took for a writers retreat to…Tuscany. I know, right? Her Instagram feed during that week made me cry.