Wander & Wonder
Climate-friendly and slow travel, equitable access to outdoor recreation, and nature’s awesomeness
daily practice
When you go slow enough, you create things
Michael Yang experiences shinnage while traveling by motorcycle
Michael Yang weaves together his motorcycle adventures with his immigrant story and entrepreneurial adventures in Silicon Valley in his memoir, Coming Alive on the Ride: A Memoir of Motorcycle Travel, Self-Discovery, and Korean Heritage. I spoke with Michael to learn more about motorcycle touring and understand how this form of travel offers a unique slow travel experience.
Book review - SHE TRAVELS
A book of travel wisdom, She Travels seems meant for women who are ready for a change in their lives, especially when they may have been sidelining themselves for the needs of others. This book shows how travel to new places can catalyze personal growth as we lean on our inner resources and work with the difficulties we encounter.
As 2025 closes
As the year closes, I invite you to welcome life’s ripples wherever you are. We always hold a mix of feelings in our bodies at any given time, and imperfections make us human. Whether you end the year with reflection, creativity, down time, or setting goals for the year ahead, consider a pace with spaciousness, with pauses, with time outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch it set. Send love to the moon. Breathe deeply of the day and let it touch the bottom of your lungs.
Pascale Landriault - a soul-led solo traveler
Pascale is a digital nomad who has a soulful, spiritual approach to travel. She creates heart-opening experiences and soulful spaces for those ready to explore new paths, step into their truth, and transform through travel and conscious living. Her book, She Travels – Real Stories of Women Transformed Through Solo Travel, is a guide to inspire women to explore the world on their own and invite in the transformation that travel offers.
Carolyne Whelan - an adventuring writer with dysgraphia
Carolyne combines creativity as a writer with a love of outdoor adventuring and teaching. In addition to being a creative and slow traveler, Carolyne has neurological disabilities: dysgraphia, ADHD, and tinnitus. I wanted to understand better how their disabilities shaped their experience with the outdoors and learn more about what attendees of her fall retreat, Eso Terra, will be invited to explore.
Is it a walk or a hike?
Explore this meandering flowchart to discover if your latest adventure is a walk or a hike.
Spokes Fighting Strokes - Kristin Weiss and recumbent triking
Kristin Weiss is a bilateral stroke survivor. She and her partner, Brad, co-lead the Wisconsin Chapter of Spokes Fighting Strokes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting stroke survivors and other people who have difficulty with balance and coordination. Adaptive cycling, in the form of a recumbent trike and community, gives Kristin and others a way to enjoy the outdoors and support each other in their recovery.
Kelsey Long - Indigenous trail runner, mountain biker, and Rising Hearts athlete advocate
Kelsey Long is a Diné/Navajo trail runner, mountain biker, and community builder who lives in southeast Oklahoma on the Choctaw Nation Reservation. Kelsey is a co-founder of We Run Long, a community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) trail runners that seeks to expand BIPOC presence in the sport while honoring Indigenous lands and amplifying diversity at races and beyond.
You’re more capable than you know - Whitney Washington in South Korea
Whitney Washington is an adventure filmmaker who enjoys long-distance bike touring on paved trails. After completing a solo bike ride across America on the Great American Rail Trail in 2021, Whitney pedaled solo across South Korea along the 4 Rivers Trail in 2024.
She believes everyone has unique capabilities to be adventurers and hopes other people will set aside limiting narratives and explore what their bodies can do.
Heidi Across America, part 3(ish) - slow travel book tour
Themes from Heidi Across America carried through the second half of 2024 – the kindness of strangers, love for America, relating with generosity to the tender inner self, and connecting with people heart to heart. The year’s adventure was built around collaboration. From Washington state to Washington, DC and many points between!
10 tips to slow travel the U.S. by train
Slow travel invites an unhurried exploration of the world. Train travel offers “retreat in motion” where you can connect with personally nourishing and meaningful experiences. Riding Amtrak is beautifully suited to deliberate journeys in America, and whatever your traveling preference, every ride will deliver a memorable experience.
Slow travel sense - a smell of Ft. Worth, TX
Slow travel invites you to engage your senses and notice what you notice.
In a four video series, I take you on a visit to Fort Worth, TX where I used bike share for the first time as a transit option. I adventured along the Trinity River ... and noticed a distinct smell.
Heidi Across America - on the road
This installment of my slow travel update covers my book tour from mid-May 2024 through late July 2024. I visited states from Oregon and Washington to Iowa using various forms of transportation. It’s heavy on gratitude and the beauty of collaboration and synchronicity.
Heidi Across America - the tour begins
The Heidi Across America book tour begins! This update covers the first week of my tour in mid-May 2024, which involved a bike tour, train travel, and a gush of upcoming events, gratitude, and opportunities to share about my memoir.
Pre-publication slow travel
I’ve been wanting to write and publish a book for most of my life, and the accomplishment deserves multiple celebrations. Slow travel asks the traveler to pay attention to the moment and, often, experience the journey as the destination. With this in mind, I made a pre-publication visit to Oregon to see family and friends.
The beingness of slow travel
I’m not bothered about the many places in America I haven’t seen. But making the investment to travel to Europe meant time I spent not seeing sights felt wasted. A death doula’s wisdom turned that around for me.
Glimmers - slow travel nourishment
Nourishment comes in many forms. A croissant. Bread. Joys and delights. A blooming cactus. A heart-shaped puddle. A thoughtful partner. Attention to the moment.
Off-season slow travel to Ucluelet, BC
We encountered a couple who had stopped to photograph some tiny mushrooms. “It’s amazing what you can see when you slow down,” the woman said. Her comment reminded me to be deliberate and curious as we explored the area.
Embracing the magic of life - Whitney Washington
Whitney Washington is an adventure film maker, bike tourer, kind-hearted soul, and expert at conceiving big adventures. Her creative work is about seizing the moment of being alive, of discovering her capabilities, and inspiring others to lean into their fear and find their own story in the world.
A bike tour from Portland - slow travel
After Preserving the Historic Road International Conference, I pedaled from Portland toward Corvallis on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. The journey was an experiment in climate-friendly and slow travel.