More or Less

Over the years as my husband, Dennis, and I have traveled, we have learned that less is more and have possibly taken it to more of an extreme than most would - as in, we have sold our house and sold or given away most of our stuff. Traveling full-time now, we travel with less than we used to - interesting since we are living out of our suitcases! We both have carry-on size backpacks, I have a carry-on size roller, and D has a slightly larger roller to check. I have a lunch size insulted bag with my medication and icepacks for keeping medication in proper range, and D has a small bag for our tech incidentals. We consider everything and I mean everything we carry. One thing may not seem like it matters, but if we kept too many one-more-things they would add up and then we would be lugging the one-more-things up and down hills and stairs, on to and off of trains, through narrow alleyways, and across busy intersections. It doesn’t take long to determine we must carry less, thus gaining more freedom to roll our stuff around from place to place.

Having been in Europe for nearly 3-months at this writing, we have determined we could have taken less and still have had what we needed. Making better choices and examining everything about our lives is ever-changing on a day-to-day basis. We are learning what is less and what is more as we continue to travel - and it's not all about how much we have packed into our suitcases, but that would be a post for another time. It’s learning to balance our needs versus our wants; and we are realizing how much more important our needs are. This whole adventure is a process, and balancing the more with the less will be an ongoing challenge. A challenge we think we are up for.

Michelle

Photo courtesy of DaMClarks

Let The Wieners Fly

A day in the lives of the DaMClark’s – intrepid travelers! On our first full day in Munich, Germany we decided to try something different and take an audio tour we each downloaded onto our phones. We like to get an idea of what our neighborhood and surroundings areas have to offer and usually take self-guided tours. We recently took an English language guided tour in Regensburg and that went well, so now for an audio tour.

We arrived at Marienplatz just prior to 12:00 p.m. to see the massive glockenspiel (clock that tells a story). It takes about 15-minutes for the chiming of the bells then the old carillons to chime in. Different levels of the clock have characters that spin around and move through telling the spiel. It was a great way to start our Munich stay. We then attached our personal headphones to our cell phones and began our audio tour. To begin with we enjoyed the history of this and that, but we had trouble following the audio walking directions from one site to the next, then I was having a lot of trouble as I hadn’t really considered what I would need to do with the audio, clicking it off and on, and how I dressed that day. It seemed I was always fussing with trying to pause and getting my phone in and out of my pocket. I realized how uncomfortable I was and figured out why it was bothering me so much. You see, normally when we head out for a day we don’t like to fuss a lot with our pockets and backpacks as that is a distraction to us and draws the attention of others who may decide all the distraction would make one of us an easy mark. Rather than ignoring my feelings, I announced we needed to go back home so I could dress more comfortably and use the proper headphones in order to pause without digging out my cell phone.

Forty-five minutes later we were back where we had turned around. Feeling more comfortable now, we walked through the Viktualienmarkt (vitals market), daily farmers market founded in the 1800s, and decided we should sit down and grab a meal prior to continuing with the audio tour. We sat outside in the sun at an outdoor cafe having the local specialty of weißwürst (white veal sausage), pretzel, and beer. When the waitress arrived she set a bowl with a plate-lid down in front of us, but in the process sloshed the hot liquid out of the bowl and onto my pants through the slats of the table. Not wanting to make a fuss I did my best to clean off the wurst of it – sorry about that but I couldn't resist. I lifted the lid on the bowl and there were four plump veal sausages swimming in what was left of the hot water liquid. I grabbed a sausage with a fork and plopped it down on my plate. We were told to slice it lengthwise and scrape the meat out of the casing, dip the meat in sweet hot mustard, and enjoy with the pretzel and beer. I couldn’t quite hold onto the sausage so I decided I would cut it in half before slicing lengthwise. As I did this half of my lovely veal sausage went flying. I ignored it completely as I knew others saw this and were probably thinking - Gut Got im himmel fliegel wursts! (Good God in the sky flying sausages), but I continued with what I was doing as if I planned it that way. The first thought going through my head was, oh well, it looked like more than I could eat anyway, but after my first bite I knew I was going to miss the other half sitting five feet away on the ground. Very seriously Dennis tenderly but gingerly commented that I really wasn’t having a very good day - I agreed wholeheartedly. I could have gotten a bit angry with the whole thing, perhaps out of embarrassment, but I decided it wouldn’t be worth it. I was just having one of those days that happen to me once in awhile, as if I'm off my game, and I knew I needed to pay more attention and just let the wieners fly.

After our meal we started up the audio tour again and saw some interesting places and learned more history. But then it kept guiding us back to big shopping corridors and the very busy Marienplatz. At one point it told us to look down the road to the old gate from when Munich was a walled city. We decided to take a look for ourselves (which was worth the walk and we couldn’t figure out why the audio tour hadn't taken us there) then we walked back up the shopping street. At the other end of the street I realized I had lost one of my gloves! Geesh, what a day. I calmly told D I wanted to retrace our steps and see if we could find it. Sure enough, there was my glove sitting outside a shop where we had stopped to look at a window display. Definitely an off day but I was just happy no dog had peed on the glove!

The audio tour continued to guide us through more shopping districts and when it guided us to a hotel Michael Jackson had stayed at, and note people continue to set up a memorial to him, that was about it for us. Dennis announced we were done with the audio tour. As we walked back home, we decided to end our day on a brighter note. So we stopped at a café near our home where we sat outside with heat lamps overhead, blankets on our laps, and enjoyed an ice cream and espresso for Dennis and a brownie and red wine for me. We watched the sky turn pink as the sun set, and we talked and laughed about our day – flying wieners and all.

I tell this rather detailed story to give you an idea of how we do things. We are trying different ways of traveling and finding what works and what doesn’t. While I was having my own issues with the day, D was patient and understanding. It’s one of those things we do best. When one is off the other works at achieving a better balance for both of us. It’s about acceptance and finding the best within ourselves on any given day. In the end we celebrated our day, and you won’t find us doing an audio tour again unless it's in a museum. We would rather pick up the tourist info maps and plot our own course even if we don’t see everything a tourist should see. Case in point, the following day to this story the DaMClark way will be posted soon at www.damclark.com - see you there.

Michelle

Photo courtesy of DaMClarks family album

Mindset Shift

I’ve been houseless since we sold our home in April of this year. For the first four months my husband, Dennis, and I traveled the Western United States. Now, we are traveling in Europe for approximately three months. While we mostly stay in Airbnb apartments equipped with kitchens and laundry facilities, we do occasionally stay in hotel/motels when we are traveling from place to place. All this traveling makes it difficult to have a routine, and I have always been a routine oriented person. I feel better when I am able to follow a routine, most people do. So how does a routine oriented person adjust to a constant change in routine?

In January I chose the word change as a central theme to remind me that change would be a distinct part of my life in the months, and perhaps years, ahead. This daily reminder inspires me to become more comfortable with change by learning to accept and adapt to whatever change comes my way. I think this reminder even sets up a mindset shift in how I look at and respond to change. Here are a few key points I focus on in an ever-changing environment:

Falling into a regular sleep pattern and getting a good eight hours is important for my overall health. But when my bed location is changing every few days it can be difficult to settle in and get the sleep I need. If I fall behind and am tired, then it's time for a nap, a sleep-in day, or a day at home - wherever home may be.

Exercising is not only good for my body but for my mind - and therefore, once again, my overall health. While I am walking five to 10 miles each day when not traveling from place to place, those traveling days plus the walking are wreaking havoc with my regular exercise routines. At this point I am doing what I can to hold onto my running and yoga when possible. But there again, sometimes it is more important to rest my body as all the walking at times takes its toll. I can feel the heaviness of my muscles and know they need a rest too - even if it means I may not get to my running or yoga.

Eating well and not overindulging in all the wonderful breads and sweet delicacies is important, too. I know it would not be in my best interest for many reasons, so it really doesn’t bother me to pass on them on a regular basis and enjoy them on occasion.

Focused breathing and meditating is something I start my day with and do for short moments throughout the day. I may be mentioning this point last, but it is what is most important as both focused breathing and meditating calm my mind and feed my spirit. I might even say the breathing and meditating prepares me to be more flexible in my mindset and allow for an automatic shift when necessary - as if I am tapping the shift-key on a keyboard.

Right now I feel as though I am in transition with all the changes. And while I am at peace with change, I am still adapting to it. Perhaps my old routines will be in a constant state of flux and I will fall back to them when we are in one place for more than a week at a time. Maybe all this change is transforming my old norm to a new norm. Whatever it may be, knowing a mindset shift is ultimately what will help me deal with ever-present change in my life, I will be able to be my best self in mind, body, and spirit. Isn’t that what helps us all whether traveling or just dealing with the day-to-day routine of normal in our lives? Now, where's that shift key?

It's been nearly two months since I have posted on this blog. I am working on balancing my writing here with my travel blog posting. With this post I am hoping you will be able to hear more from me now that I am finding my way with the travel blog. If you would like to follow my adventures on a more regular basis, please note the sidebar of this blog - you will find the travel blog and my Facebook and Instagram links. I encourage you to sign up so you won't miss a thing. As always, thanks for following It Is What It Is. 

Michelle

Shift key photo courtesy of C Slack

It Shouldn't Be This Difficult

"It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key."
Winston Churchill

Life being what it is these days, entwined in everything computerized like a Gordian knot, one would think life would be easier and less complicated. But that’s not the case. If you have ever tried to follow up on any kind of error in prescriptions, monthly bills, medical insurance, and on and on, more often than not you will find an endless maze of people trying but failing to understand your dilemma. It’s time consuming, a pain to deal with, and it shouldn’t be this difficult.

Whether it's a glitch in the computerized world or the goings-on in my world, I do find that I may complicate the Gordian knots in my life by inserting my frame of mind, and of course feelings. Patience and taking a step back from whatever the frustration helps me determine if I’ve made this personal on any given issue. The key is to listen more to what I am thinking and what someone else is saying because this helps me with most riddles, mysteries, or enigmas - even the computerized nightmares. While life shouldn’t be this difficult, I’m learning to take care of business by finding the keys that will unlock the Gordian knots in my life.

Michelle

Gordian knot photo courtesy of Jim Belk

Seeing Yourself in a Whole New Light

How you see yourself in your universe affects who you are and how you behave. As the sun, you are at your best. You shine bright and can be your best self. Consider the sunshine of your life as being the positive-filled life you are living. The people and behaviors in your life that help you shine your brightest are the planets orbiting around you. Seeing debris in your planetary system, that’s just the space junk you have gotten rid of, the people and behaviors who dim your shine. Don’t worry, if the junk appears closer than you would like, it will slowly move out of your universe-if you allow it. Oh, and that empty space between the planets is so important. Why, you ask? Because we all could use more space in our lives.

While this may sound silly or woo-woo and could get complicated trying to explain it in more detail, I’m going to skip the complicated part and just say this: I am the sun. I shine bright. At times I can be a planet, but it’s not in my best interest if I require someone to shine the light for me. See, simple, and not so silly or woo-woo.

Michelle

Solar System photo courtesy of Photo Editor