last night my friend kim and i went to hear one of her favourite travel writers speak. she’d asked me to go weeks ago, and i’d dutifully written it into my diary, but not thought much about it. until last night. after having just written about how i wasn’t ready to settle down yet. how i missed having a goal to work towards.

kim loves travel writing and photography, and has her own interests in developing her talents. but she’s also been on a bit of a less-than-covert mission, since reading my travel blog from last year, to get me to take my writing more seriously. so i half-suspect there was something of an ulterior motive behind her invitation.

and i think i’d kind of blocked out my plans for the trans-african trip i’d talked about before. mostly because i still haven’t won j over with the idea, and partly because it’s yet another thing we’d have to save for. saving sucks.

but hearing someone give voice to how i feel when writing about places i’ve been, wanting to capture snapshots with words, trying to convey the experience in an intimate way for people who haven’t been… well, it got things stirring at the back of my mind. putting two and two together.

and though i’d started the day feeling desultory and aimless, when we left the store at the end of the evening, i had a shiny, new book on africa and the beginnings of a half-baked plan. it doesn’t sound like much, but it was just what i needed.

life is funny like that.

the cars – just what i needed

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