Today marks exactly 4 months that I’ve been a homeless, nomadic backpacker. I have been in England for 3 1/2 weeks. In this time, I have journaled every day, worked on bits of story, and before we got to England I published my newest rider in ‘The Empyrean Series’, ‘Inteneration‘.

This week, for the first time in over a month, I am staying somewhere longer than 3 nights.

This week, we are house and pet sitting for a lovely family who live in a village south of London. They have a sweet Dalmatian named Tommy who is keeping me entertained and is filling the void of sadness I am left with since leaving my dog, Katie, behind in the States. (I got to Skype with Katie yesterday and that was special, though it made me a bit sad.)

I finally have a bit of a break from the constant motion of travel. Here, we can put down our backpacks, eat regular (hot!) meals, wash our clothes, and shower. Tommy goes for a daily 3-mile walk, which feels like nothing, these days.

In the meantime, I have been diving into my creativity. Everything from drawing to writing, and crochet to painting, is happening this week. I am so excited to rest my feet and work my brain in a new way.

In this, I see the greenhouse effect.

I have been inputting all sorts of fascinating information. I have had wonderful, intelligent conversation with interesting people from all over the world. I have explored new cities and seen a lot of beautiful architecture and old buildings. I have tasted strange foods and pushed my body physically with all the walking and carrying the backpack (I’ve lost more than 10 pounds since we got to England!).
Every single experience has added to my wonder, to my growing inspiration.

Now, with a moment of stillness, I can see this creativity take root. I have the chance to see what new things I have waiting inside my mind and heart. It is so rewarding to create things so easily, without scrounging around for inspiration as I have done in the past; these days, it seems I have more inspiration that I have time to create.

I feel like I am building something more solid, now, where before I felt like I was just moving forward with a lot of hope and a little plan. I have a lot of things brewing that I am excited to share!