Rambling Traveler

Friday, March 19, 2010

Compassion International

It began with a harmless post about Perfect Pot Roast on We Live Simply, one of the simple living blogs I like to read. That led to a post on The Pioneer Woman about another blogger in Kenya. That led to several amazing posts on This is Reverb about a trip with Compassion International. After reading the posts on This is Reverb, and also following Shaun Grove's posts about the trip, I thought a lot about sponsoring a child through Compassion.

Other things happening at the same time...

At our church, some of the recent sermons have been about taking chances and putting yourself out there, getting involved and most important, LOVING OTHERS. I couldn't help but think Compassion was a great way to put that into practice.

Then, while I was still considering sponsoring a child, I got an email from a family member, so excited, because she had just become a sponsor of a girl in Bolivia... through Compassion International. She was the first person I knew personally who was involved with Compassion. What are the chances all this would happen within the same 2 weeks?

Serendipity, fate, the hand of God? I couldn't ignore the signs, and made the decision to sponsor a 6 year old boy who lives in Kenya. If I'm very lucky, I might be able to travel to Africa some day and meet him. What else would a Rambling Traveler do?

Thank you to Ryan at This is Reverb for sharing the above photo from Africa.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Fall Colors in Minnesota

Early colors at Banning State Park

Monday, September 21, 2009

Banning State Park in Minnesota

The boys joined Doug and me on a hike at Banning State Park last weekend. We had a great time exploring the shoreline of the Kettle River, climbing all over the rocks and watching the water rush by over different rapids.

We also hiked the short self guided Quarry Loop Trail through the woods, past ruins from the old sandstone quarry that operated during the 19th century. There are many other trails in the park, including Wolf Creek Trail that leads you to Wolf Creek Falls.

The park is also popular for canoeing and kayaking. The Banning Rapids, including Blueberry Slide, Mother's Delight, Dragon's Tooth, Little Banning, and Hell's Gate, are some of the most challenging rapids in the state.

Just 1 1/2 hours from the Twin Cities, Banning State Park is a great day trip or weekend destination. Pack a picnic and enjoy the day, or reserve a campsite for a longer visit, you'll be glad you did.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Minimalism: Eliminating the Unnecessary

Photo by mandolin davis on Flickr

A ramble on Simple Living...

"... composition in art is always about what is necessary, and eliminating everything else. If it's not contributing to the composition, it's weakening it. So I just figured that the same thing goes for every work of art, and every life. If it's not contributing, it's weakening."

Jay Schafer, Tumbleweed Tiny Homes
2/23/09 interview on Constructing a Simpler Life blog

Leo Babauta echoes this thought in a recent post on Zen Habits, The Minimalist Principle: Omit Needless Things.

This can be applied to so many things in life: housing, food, clothing, transportation, household goods, toys, keepsakes, and commitments.

A nice goal might be to decide what is the least amount you need to be happy and declutter your life by eliminating the excess.

update: Leo has a new blog, mnmlist.com, that has more information on minimalist living.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A Few Hours in Amsterdam

An overnight plane delay gave us the opportunity to take a train into Amsterdam where we had fun walking around and seeing some of the sights. We also enjoyed a light dinner on a patio overlooking one of the canals. Entertainment was provided by the many boats cruising the canals. Boats filled with people, picnics, and on one, a piano.

One boat was pulled over by the police and people along the canal watched in amusement as the driver was given a breathalyzer test. Laughter followed when the driver passed the test and a roaring cheer came from the rest of his party. That night, Amsterdam moved up on my list of places to spend more time in.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Walking Dubrovnik's City Walls

View of Old Town Dubrovnik from a tower window

Red rooftops of Old Town Dubrovnik

A highlight of visiting Dubrovnik is walking along the city walls. Following advice from other travelers, we started our walk early in the day, before the crowds arrived. After passing through Pile Gate, we climbed the steps to a ticket window. The cost was 15 euros for two of us, and they did take euros in addition to the local currency, the kuna.

It was almost 9:30 in the morning, but there were very few people around. Less than one and a half hours later when we walked back down, there was a line of people waiting to climb up. The earlier time allowed us to enjoy the views without crowds, and we stopped often to take pictures of the red rooftops of Dubrovnik.