Where did May go??!

Wow.
It has been a LONG time since I last posted, aye?
Believe me; the gap in posting was not intentional! This past month has been insanely busy with life going full speed ahead!
As much as I have thought about posting, I haven't really had a whole lot of time to do that!

One of the things that has been PLEASANTLY taking up some of my time is working with first-third graders, teaching them to write letters! I adored it, and I wish the project lasted longer! After three weeks--meeting three times--the kids wrote a total of 42+26+12 letters; EIGHTY LETTERS!
I even received a couple myself!

So here I am. I have a smidge more time under my belt, so I thought that I might do a little mail post. What do you think? Well overdue?!
I'll get right on that! :)

Cheers;
Ms. Always Traveling

Hello Monday.

[I feel like this image perfectly articulates the mediocrity of early Monday mornings...]

Monday can be a tough day to start any week, but I feel that today was particularly hard. I have nothing to complain about by any means, but something about the combination of the early morning snowfall making outside a little bit darker, and the late night last night made this morning...not my favourite.

But the day was to come, and I got up, headed out, and now here I am again. Things were crazy during the day, no mail graced my mailbox, and yet--it's now about seven-thirty eastern standard time, and I'm feeling good. Good enough to write some letters.
Pen pals?

I hope that your day has been just as wonderfully busy and rewarding.

Send mail--
Ms. Always Traveling

Newness | 2013

Throughout the months of January and February, I was given some lovely new (antique) stamps from members of my family (thank you very much, loving family!) and my good pal Bill the Postman who works at my local post office.
Each one is gorgeous, and, since I was lucky enough to also receive a beautiful stamp holder (!!), I am able to keep all of the gorgeousness in one place.

 The stamp holder itself, a Standard, is gorgeous. Some of the stamp-holding prongs are bent out of shape, but I love it nonetheless. Nuances provide character, no?

Each of the stamps that situate themselves in the stamp holder--and there is a perfect amount of stamps (great thinking, lovely family!)--are gorgeous. Case in point, "Insured", a stamp from Bill at the post office.

The "Air Mail" stamp is another treat from Bill-y boy, while the "Past Due", a little unorthodox compared to the rest of the collection, was a family gift.

 

As you can see, the stamp is a self-inking press down stamp, and it has a gorgeous font PLUS a cute, little mini hand and lovely spiel: "This account has no doubt escaped your notice. Will you please favor us with a [illegible] by return mail and oblige?" Love it.

A more traditional stamp, this one has already been used on multiple occasions as the return label on my letters. Love it.

And two more beauties! The top one (complete with purple ink--oops!) was a gift from my family, and the bottom on a kind offering from Bill.

It makes me very happy to know that these stamps were once used by postal/office employees somewhere in the world back in the day. And it makes me even more happy to know that they are now safe in my collection.

Antiques, you make me happy.
~ Ms. Always Traveling

Outgoing One | February

Here are just some of the many outgoings I have created in these first two months of the New Year! I have to say, I am trying a bunch of new things! From washi-wonders to cartoon collections, to hand-drawn illustrations that encapsulate my feelings in the moment! I can't express enough my deep love of the wonderful handwritten note/letter/anything and everything.

A green+dots inspired letter for L., in the States.

Adorned with one of my favourite stamp collections EVER.

It's kinda crazy how the different washi expressions can all fit together. My aim for this letter was to make sure that the stamp and the other envelope decorations all matched nicely. (I think they did, don't you?)

A pink+beaches inspired letter for M., in the States.

A close-up in on the beachy couple!

A reminder of the nature of the envelope!

Adorned with one of my last Love stamps for the 2012 stamp program!

An "I-Miss-You" to my dear friend T., in Australia.

I've always acknowledged that international letters deserve excess stampage. Go big or go...bigger.

A spread-love inspired letter for penpal S., in the States.

We should all make sure we are always actively spreading the love.

And the perfect match to a LOVEly letter; A Love stamp!

And quite possibly my favourite outgoing so far this month, a hand-drawn envelope of a lighthouse. I love how the lighthouse turned out, plus the simplicity of the colours. When I drew it out, the envelope was not yet folded--so the water goes onto the back and turns into a paintdrip effect. Kinda spooky!

I LOVE how the lighthouse turned out!

And the stamp matches perfectly, don't you think? Got to love those stamps. So beautiful. "Earthscapes" -- I'll miss you stamps!!

I will post my incoming here soon, as well as more of my outgoing!
What do you think of these ones?
Send mail--spread love.
~ Ms. Always Traveling

A New Year Is Ahead Of Us All

Happy 2013 to all my lovely readers out there in the big, wide world!
I am about to post a big ole write-up of The First Mail of 2013, but first--

Allow me to share with you some wisdom.
It seems that almost every year, my wonderful Grandma has given me a motivational calendar. The last two years, it has been a tear-away calendar that stores the quotes of "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People." The year before that it was a calendar that was full of "Mightily Inspirational Quotes."
This year, it is a newly motivational, inspirational, fantastical calendar that celebrates a wonderful quote each day! Thus far, none of the quotes from the calendar have ever graced my mind before. I love that.

Whenever I find a particularly lovely quote, I'll be sure to share it with you. Here is today's:

The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past, he is a parent of the future.

~ HERBERT SPENCER 

 

Additionally, these next few months are going to be STELLAR busy. I am going to make a goal of writing two-three times per week. At this point, I can't guarantee any more than that. But I shall really try for twice a week, with three being a special treat!

With that said, onward and upward!

2013 is going to be incredible.

~ Ms. Always Traveling

Really...?

Last night I was watching telly when I was hit in the face with a whole bucket of sad.

I don't recall what I was watching, but a television commercial came on that about made me cry.
An advertisement for "some-website-where-you-can-print-off-stamps-online" (I'm ad-libbing--no pun intended--the schpeel) showed how various Americans find it "so easy" to print stamps off the internet for their "home or business" needs. Doesn't seem too saddening, right? If only used once in a while, I guess it could be beneficial.

But this was the ending line:
"Use *such-and-such-website*--and never go to the post office again."

...

Need I say anymore? What kind of ridiculousness are we up against, my fellow mail-lovers??
If you share my anger/sadness/confusion, stand up and go to the post office. Buy some postage stamps and prove to yet another postal employee that you support them in their endeavours to keep the postal service alive.

If I had a commercial that was PRO-postal (something which it seems crazy not to be), it's final line would be this:
"Buy postage stamps at the post office. And love it. Because they're postage stamps...from a post office."

You feelin' me on this one??

~ Ms. Always Traveling

Upon Reflection

If travelling shows us anything, it is that we are truly minute.
On the grand scale of things, our problems--past, present, future--remain as insignificant as which seat we are assigned on a flight. When travelling, one is exposed to things not of ones normality. They learn--hopefully--of how we, as humans, differ. How we are all of the same species and scientific classification, and yet remain so vastly, exceptionally, different.
Travelling reminds us of our many blessings. When walking through the streets of Italy--whether it was in Rome, Venice or Florence--I was reminded of my blessing to live and eat well, to have my health, to be supported by a loving family; especially when confronted with the many beggars--young and old, forceful, smiling, resilient, rude. I was reminded constantly of my blessing of being born into such a time period where I could appreciate the art, cultures, worlds, of our global past. My most constant reminder on the whole journey--and on all journeys I take--is simply that; that I am blessed to be able to travel at all.
I am thankful for that every day of my life.

The action of travelling cleanses. It inspires. It enriches. It enlightens.
If one enters a journey with the aim to lose a part of themselves, they often don't. Instead, the intention to do such a thing burdens a person the whole trip.
When travelling, we gain.
We gain insight, experiences, integrity, new values. We gain the knowledge that our perceptions of self are so much bigger than we ever thought.
We gain a whole new outlook, whether it last for the duration of the trip, for a month after the trip ceases, or for the rest of our lives.

When we travel, we carry. Luggage. Suitcases. Maps. Directions. Problems. We all carry burdens, and problems, and worries, and fears. Travelling is often regarded as an escape from such personal issues. Additionally, "escape" is often a word associated with a negative connotation. An escape from reality is different to an escape from stress is different to an escape from our own outlook. Instead, I like to refer to travelling as my endless opportunity. Whilst travelling these past months, I didn't just venture through the winding streets of Venice, or eat a picnic of gorgeous food beneath the Eiffel Tower, or fulfill my dream of swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. I saw suffering and pain, beauty and simplicity, excess and poverty. I was immersed in the lives of tens of thousands of people--if only for a fleeting second--and made ripple effects that even I was not conscious of.
This trip to Europe allowed me to appreciate the past in perfect correlation with the future. To stand on the same ground, sit in the same church pews, look at the same magnificent structures as millions of people before me reminded me of something spectacular--we're all dealing with something. It's how we choose to deal with that something that is an honest portrayal of our internal character and deepest conscience.

Travelling this summer brought me hope, and joy, and a whole lot of delicious food. And it also brought me immense happiness.
In memory of the past, appreciation of the present, and sheer wonder at the possibilities of the future. My future, the future of those I love, and the future of travel.
It makes me wonder how many other people are contemplating the same thing, considering I am one in 7,032,775,196. I'm only one speckle on this great big Earth, and only a teeny pinpoint in the vastness we call the Universe. Travelling makes me even more minute--chucks me into a huge sea of people and says, "Come find me now!"
But it also shows me how enormous, and enormously close, we all really are.

Cheers,
~ Ms. Always Traveling

That Which Caught My Eye

NUMERO UNO

NUMERO DOS

NUMERO TRES

Numero Uno:
This lovely hand was on a huge green door in a backstreet in San Sebastian, Spain.
I love the fact that the middle finger has a ring on it...and the delicateness of the ornate back part.

Numero Dos:
I love the sand at Getaria beach. The ripples and divets of the sand mirror the smooth movements of the water in a truly delicate way.

Numero Tres:
Outgoing letters. Love running out of envelopes and having to make do with various found paperwork!

~ Ms. Always Traveling

Spain//San Sebastian//22

Today's entry is being written from San Sebastian, Spain., where we have been located for the past five days. It's beautiful here.

Yesterday, we ended up making our way to the beach in Getaria, Spain. It was a twenty minute drive, one which allowed us views of pristine, green countryside and natural artifacts peppering the ocean road. The many houses and high-rises lining the scenic shoreline inspired nostalgia of my Australian childhood, and made me even more eager to dip my toes in the inviting, crystal-blue waters of the Atlantic.

We arrived at Getaria Beach at around three-thirty in the afternoon, after a lazy morning of scrambled eggs and Spanish bread. The beach itself was gorgeous; not too busy, with enough sand for everyone to be out of their neighbours earshot, with a vagabond couple camping between the alcoves of a bridge, with countless Spanish women sunbathing topless whilst balancing their babies on their bellies.

A single lifeguard watched over the sandy oasis, his eyes scanning the picturesque surroundings every few minutes. Between the silence of the beach, and the stillness of the water--bar three local boys, paddle boarding between the spaces left by vacant boats--made for the perfect, peaceful summer day. My hardest decision was whether to invest in a "clasico" ice cream, or a "nuevo" one (I chose the classic, for the record).
The stillness of such a day completely reminded me of why I love summer.

After spending four hours listening to the gentle surf, we meandered through the streets of the small town which happened to be inhabited by some kind of fete. Bars and cafes were bustling, and plenty of people surrounded the outside of a handball court as four young men slapped the ball back and fourth in unison with the cheers and hums erupting from the audience. It was an entirely different side to Getaria that was completely invisible from the seclusion of the beach.
But we loved it all the same.

For dinner (beginning at the relatively early time of 8.30pm), we ate at a locally renowned seafood restaurant that overlooked the fishing inlet of the bay. A Basque-country delicacy, turbot, was the order of the night. It was deliciously adorned with a gentle fried garlic and olive oil medley, and perfectly unfishy flavour sensation. It was a delicate white fish experience that I would definitely have again. However, before that deliciousness attacked our willing palettes, we were treated to another beast altogether. Ordered on the recommendation of our waitress (who afterwards confided in us that the dish was not, by any means, her favourite dish), we decided to try goose barnacles, referred to as "percebes" in Spain. They arrived looking awfully freaky, having been only boiled and not decorated with any amount of flavour, and since we had absolutely no clue how to begin to eat them, we were helped by an eager busboy who explained that, in order to avoid wearing the juices of the ocean, we needed to "open them" away from us.
So we did.
Well, after eating four percebes, I can comfortably say that I probably won't be doing it again! I'm very glad that I can add them to my list of "The Weirdest and Strangest Foods I've Ever Eaten" (which  comfortably includes the likes of chicken feet, jellyfish tentacles, and apripeaches), but the taste is something I am even more  glad to rid my mouth of! It was a mixture between seawater, that dirty sand that gets caught between the layers of one's sandwich at the beach, and the smell of dead sea creatures at the fish market, most likely because the prime purpose of the goose barnacle is to be a "filter-feeding crustacean that live[s] attached to hard surfaces of rocks and flotsam in the ocean intertidal zone." (Thanks, Wikipedia.)
An interesting experience indeed.

Like I said--the perfect, peaceful summer day!
Relaxation in a tasty little nutshell.

What have you been up to?
Send mail, travel a lot--
~ Ms. Always Traveling

Incoming

Today is Monday which, since it is the holidays (or, 'vacation) doesn't mean a whole lot to me other than that mail starts back up again! I love having no agenda and no concept of what day it is, but mail days keep me on track!

Today had some very lovely incoming!
International from my dear friend El. in Australia, that was adorned with a lovely drawing.

Other than that, nothing else! I look forward to checking my mail one last time tomorrow before I head to Europe!

Speaking of which, I can't wait! I look forward to posting on here about all that I see, experience, taste; I look forward to writing mail from across the globe and adorning envelopes with Parisian, Spanish, Italian decorations.
And the stamps.
I can't wait to use the stamps!

These are the stamps that the lovely B. bought me earlier in the year.

I am looking forward to using the stamps that the lovely B. bought me earlier this year, and buying new stamps in Spain and Italy! I can't wait! I wonder what it'll be like in France and Italy, where I can not speak the language, to converse my wants and requirements for my mailart pieces... Haha! We shall only see!

But until then! I shall write my final letters and check my mailbox one last time!

Penpals--please note that while I am away, I may not be able to write to you. However, when I return I shall be sure to send your replies instantly! I will still be writing on this blog with my adventures, hopefully extremely frequently, but my mail may be a little slow this next month. Please pardon that.

Last UNITED STATES post tomorrow!
Until then--
       ~ Ms. Always Traveling

Outgoing

Some outgoing mail to an outstanding woman--

 Made out of a NYC map...

 ...adorned with an Edith Piaf stamp...

...and a type-written address...


...to my wonderful Grandmother!

~ Ms. Always Traveling

Traveling with T. must come to a brief hiatus today, as he is heading home to Oz. But I view it as only a small pause, a break, in our travels, as one can never truly be finished with traveling, can they?

A photo from our adventure in Rockport, Mass. last night. His final New England lobster experience for a little while.

T., I miss you already!

~ Ms. Always Traveling

Summer Bucket List #103

Summer Bucket List #103
Read the other books I've been meaning to read.

I already previously posted about my wanting to finally get around to reading my aviation books, but this is another post about wanting to read the other books I've been meaning to read. There are quite a few.
The first is a book I have read possible four or five times already. I love it. By the ever-hilarious and extremely curious Bill Bryson (a man who I would invite to my "Top Ten People To Eat Dinner With" meal in an instant), In A Sunburned Country (otherwise known as Down Under depending on the publication house) reminds me of home every single time I read it. His style of writing captures the essense and truly embodies every character and location he writes about, in all of his books--of which I am a fan of each--which allows me to relive the experiences of Sydney, and the greater Great Brown Land, in such a wonderful way. I started it again this morning, after finding a hard-cover copy of it to add to my collection. Love it as much as ever, if not more considering that my dear Aussie Amigo shall be here in less than 72 hours!

The second and third I haven't begun yet, but they are:

• 1984 by George Orwell
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The fourth I have already started and, like In A Sunburned Country, I have already read it many, many times. By one of my other absolute favourite authors, Roald Dahl, The Great Automatic Grammatizator is another beautifully awesome book. A collection of 13 of his bizarre and truly tremendous stories, it provides me with an endless current of gorgeously strange stories. In true Dahl fashion.

The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth are more books along the similar trains of thought. Each of them promise to be fabulous.

• At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (yet again. You can never get enough. Truly.)
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (on a recommendation by the lovely B.)
• Babyhood by Paul Reiser
• Lunch In Paris by Elizabeth Bard

If I have time this summer, I intend to read all of these books. I can't wait.

Any suggestions for something else I should be reading? If it wasn't already obvious, I love travel and humour.

Read up, readers!
~ Ms. Always Traveling

T-Minus 5 Days

I can't believe that T. is going to be here in five days. It's incredible.
First stop; Boston. Second stop; Florida. Onwards and upwards from there.

Can't wait to see you, T.!
~ Ms. Always Traveling

Mail and Typewriters

I received two beautiful presents from my mother this week, both which I would like to share because they are so gorgeous.

First is a pendant of a beautiful typewriter. And -- the carriage moves.

The second is a United States Postal Service recognition pin, given to Postal employees who went above and beyond the call of duty. I love it.

Aren't they gorgeous?
Gracias, mi madre!

Go "beyond the call of duty"--send some mail.
                   ~ Ms. Always Traveling

Stamp Love

I received some stamps in the mail this week, inside envelopes from my penpals who know my love of "THE STAMP". I thought I'd share some of the ones that stuck out to me the most--

This Walt Disney one (USA) made my heart melt, quite simply because it tells of a time much before mine. The colours and decoration of the illustration-cartoon atop illustraion-portrait, and the intensity of those colours left me grinning all morning.

 I love moose(s). They, and giraffes, are my favourite animals. So this one from Poland had me smiling too.

Love the colouring and the hand-cancelling of "Oh ja!" from this stamp from the Netherlands.

I LOVE that this one has a small silver imprint in the top right hand corner. Simple, but effective.

Stamps--gotta love 'em!
          ~ Ms. Always Traveling