Tag: #travelinggrandma

My Side of the Mountain

Posted on September 11, 2025 by JANET L BARKER

“The Secret Garden” “Tom Sawyer” “A Present for the Princess” “My Side of the Mountain” Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty”, “Snow White”, “The Wizard of Oz” and Dad’s soothing, animated voice lulling me to sleep, assuring me that all is well in the world and that… Continue Reading “My Side of the Mountain”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #camping, #fall, #hiking, #Nature, #pleasureway, #retiredteacher, #solowomencamping, #travel, #travelinggrandma, #writing, @retirement, life, pacific-northwest, prairie-creek-state-and-national-park

Oh, the Places You’ll Go

Posted on May 23, 2025 by JANET L BARKER

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“Every time my surroundings change, I feel enormous sadness. It’s not greater when I leave a place tied to memories, grief or happiness. It’s the change itself that unsettles me, just as liquid in a jar turns cloudy when you shake it.” ~ Italo Svevo… Continue Reading “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”

Category: #central coastTags: #cambria, #centralcoast, #classof2025, #faith, #grace, #graduation, #hope, #mindset, #ohtheplacesyoullgo, #passages, #peace, #retirement, #sansimeonbeach, #travelinggrandma, #writerslife, #writing, @retirement, blog, life, love, mental-health

Simplicity vs. Elaboration

Posted on January 8, 2025 by JANET L BARKER

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I’m leaving. Again. I’m melancholy. Again. I don’t want to leave. Again. But I do. Again and again. Everywhere I leave I love. Same goes for the people I leave. Like my visit with Julie and Ken two days ago or my Littles in… Continue Reading “Simplicity vs. Elaboration”

Category: #beachcamping, #californiastateparks, #camping, #central coast, #centralcoast, #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #ilovecalifornia, #lifeizgood, #pismobeach, #pleasureway, #solowomencamping, #vanlife, #wintercampingalongthecoastTags: #camping, #campingfriends, #faith, #findinghope, #findinglove, #friendship, #godswhispers, #pismobeach, #pismobeachstatepark, #solocamping, #travelinggrandma, #trust, #vanlife, #writing, campingsolo, family, life, love, lovethyneighbor, mental-health, womencampingsolo

And so it begins …

Posted on August 8, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

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I’m here, by my lonesome, which isn’t so lonesome, in the shade beneath my awning, typing away, tummy filled with a healthy salad, a glass of Albarino half-sipped, sunscreen-slathered, listening to the crashing waves, sheltered in my cozy van, away from the summer tourists;… Continue Reading “And so it begins …”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #camping, #findingjoy, #findingpeace, #grandparents, #hope, #joy, #love, #loveeverymoment, #retiredteacher, #solowomentraveler, #travelinggrandma, #vanlife

The Seen and Unseen Explained

Posted on October 5, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Feeling at home when you’re not at home and you don’t have a home and you’re not sure you’re ever going to have a home “home”, at least for now and the unforeseen future, is, well, like a butterfly that glides from flower to… Continue Reading “The Seen and Unseen Explained”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #family, #halloweentown, #hope, #love, #oregon, #peace, #pleasureway, #sthelens, #sthelenslions, #travelinggrandma

A Very Bad Ode to the Oregon Coast

Posted on October 2, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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Wild and green, Weaving and rolling, Sheltered and exposed to the Pacific Ocean’s girth and temper, Dinosaurs and explorers, Con men and conservationists, Casinos, small towns, and a dwindling Native presence. A sorcery, a teacher, a non-judgmental priest listening to confession, Felled forests, tree… Continue Reading “A Very Bad Ode to the Oregon Coast”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #findingpeace, #jumpandtheparachutewillappear, #justdoit, #lifeizgood, #nosecondchances, #oregon, #oregoncoast, #pleasureway, #rain, #retiredteacher, #solotraveler, #travelinggrandma, #travelinggranny, @retirement

The Gift of Change

Posted on September 13, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

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My new, next life begins today. I’m sitting at the edge of San Simeon Creek alongside the best campsite I have ever had watching the ducks and native birds enjoy the early evening sun. I am in my happy place. Another happy place. I left Happy… Continue Reading “The Gift of Change”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, #teaching, @retirement, coastal camping, stepupandtakeactionTags: #breconwine, #California, #cambria, #centralcoast, #harvesthost, #hope, #lifeizgood, #myhappyplace, #newlife, #pasorobles, #portofinoapartments, #rvlifestyle, #sojourn, #travelinggrandma, #writing

The Gift

Posted on October 18, 2022 by JANET L BARKER

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Like opening the fridge door. Like popping a balloon full of amber confetti. Like being immersed in a painting by Claude Monet. Like being in a movie about a woman whose heart is finally open to a life she once only dreamed of. Cinnamon… Continue Reading “The Gift”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #beinthemoment, #bridgeport, #doesn'ttakemuchtobehappy, #easternsierras, #enjoyeverymoment, #eurovancamper, #fall, #fall2022, #fallinthesierras, #gratitude, #homemadeveggiechili, #hope, #love, #peace, #retirededucator, #retiredteacher, #tinycabins, #travelinggrandma, #twinlakes, #vanlife, #virginiacreeksettlement

Returning to The Center

Posted on December 17, 2021 by JANET L BARKER

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You know when you feel like crying but you don’t, you suck it up, you dab your eyes, distract yourself by talking to strangers like the man standing next to you in the TSA line at JFK flying home to Barbados for his father’s… Continue Reading “Returning to The Center”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #California, #change, #grandparenting, #grandparents, #hope, #JFK, #love, #loveeverymoment, #newyork, #passages, #retired, #retirement, #travelinggrandma