Blog #61. Room to Roam
- Jennifer Butz
- May 27
- 2 min read
I nearly always travel solo. And I’m good with that. Sure, there are moments when a travel buddy would come in handy—like when you need to dash to the bathroom but don’t want to lose your spot in line. (To the woman who held my place at the train station in Cordoba—you are my bathroom line angel.)
Most of my travel in recent decades has been work-related. Purpose-driven. Outcome-oriented. Squeezed into tightly packed 10- to 14-day windows. This 21-day adventure? It’s something different. And as a result, it’s teaching me things.
For starters, I am not a 24-hour, all-access kind of traveler. I don’t storm a city like a sightseeing general, armed with a museum pass and marching orders for the “must-sees”. I’m not trying to rack up experiences like reward points. No. I’m more of a “walk until something catches my eye” kind of traveler. A “one museum a day is plenty” sort. I love a hop-on/hop-off bus not for the efficiency, but for the chance to sit still and let the city rotate around me. I like to stay on for the entire loop first and then stay on for a second time to get to what interests me most.
My ideal day? See one beautiful thing in the morning. Wander a while and think about it. Enjoy an excellent, lingering lunch. Find a shady park bench or a mirador with a breeze. Take a nap. Rinse off the day. Meander into the evening light. Let it all settle in.
Even before travelling to Lisbon, I still hadn’t made a plan. I thought, maybe I’ll just walk up to the park and sit in the grass for a while. Let the city hum around me while I do… absolutely nothing productive.
Because here’s what I’m learning: Aging, like travel, doesn’t have to come with a checklist. It’s not about how much ground you cover. It’s about how deeply you inhabit the moments that arise. It’s about shifting from the To Do List to the To You List—choosing what nourishes, delights, and invites wonder. (Regular readers will remember Blog #42 and the To You List at the close of 2024.)
Wherever you are, whatever your pace—I hope there’s space for ruminations. Time for pauses. And plenty of walks that go nowhere in particular… except back to yourself.
Come wander with me at WonderCrone.com. We don’t follow the map. We follow the marvel.
P.S. While I was wandering through Portugal, this note arrived from my editor for my next book, Rebel Aging. Turns out, meandering with meaning isn’t just for travel—it’s the spirit of WonderCrone itself.
“I loved every page and every chapter. It’s an excellent combination of everything one would expect in a book such as this: eye-opening, motivational, heartfelt, fun, and practical. I feel sure it will help many people (WonderCrones like me and my friends, for sure).”
More soon…
I absolutely love this. It's very much in sync with where I am now -- we'd probably make good traveling companions! It's such a relief to shed the burden of ticking off monuments and museums, and just soak up the vibe on my own time. Thanks for the tip about how to do a city bus tour -- should have tried that here in Quebec City. Oh well. I am learning to journal again although I still miss sitting in cafes with a stack of postcards and aerograms to write... Thank you for this blog!!