What Inspires You?

A friend of mine, Michelle Damiani, wrote a book called The Road Taken: How to Dream, Plan, and Live Your Family Adventure Abroad. Written after her family’s year in Spello, Italy, the book was born out of wanting to answer the endless questions of “how do you do something like that?” Michelle wrote her family’s story and also invited contributors to share their stories, answering questions about topics like homeschooling, homesickness, visas, culture shock, finances, and more.

Last night, she launched the book at a local independent bookstore in town. She hosted a reading and a discussion, and she invited any of her local contributors to join her as a part of the panel, for lack of a better word.

I sat up there with 3 other women as we each read sections from our words in the book. Each of our stories is completely different; each has the common thread of travel with our kids. As we answered questions from the audience after the reading, I realized that our stories don’t feel particularly adventurous or out of the ordinary to us - but wow do they ever feel that way to those who have not yet done it.

We all get inspiration for adventure from somewhere. Whether you’re sailing for a year with your family or taking off and moving to France or Italy or even to Minnesota or Maine for 3 months (or forever), something sparked the idea in you. Maybe it was a photo, or a movie. Maybe it was a book or a blog or a shared Facebook post or Instagram picture. Whatever the source, you were inspired (and I hope you’ll take action!)

I blog in part to document what we’re doing, for our own records and also to share it easily with our families.

I also blog in the hopes of inspiring others. Not because I think what we have done and are working towards doing again is anything super inspiring - but because I believe so strongly that life is more than Amazon purchases and trips to the grocery store.

That said, I’d really love to share things I’m going through that are meaningful to you. What helps? Is it dream-worthy photos from our past trips? Solid work photos that are our current reality? Answering questions you have? Let me know.

What is it that inspires you?