A series of essays....
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| THE MISTY CLIFFS OF MOHER SHOT ON A WILD AND WINDY DAY FROM DOOLIN PIER |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
The scorched earth smell of peat fires burning seems to linger on, reluctant to leave, even after having returned from Ireland weeks ago. The raw, pungent perfume of gasoline fumes remains a pleasant memory as I picture my dad filling-up the tank of our powder-blue Chevrolet before leaving on a family excursion to grandma and grandpa’s farm on a Saturday morning or, to Chicago to spend the day at the Museum of Science and Industry.
Indelible marks leaving lasting impressions incapable of being removed through time, space, or memory.
Choosing these two examples, our most recent trip to Ireland and an example of other trips enjoyably recalled from my childhood, it’s easy to understand how these lingering memories represent many of the major reasons why we love to travel in the first place. As travelers, we bring home certain triggers that will serve to arouse feelings associated with a particular travel experience we, subconsciously, wish to remember. And, certain smells, sounds, and visuals can prompt happy times spent traveling with family and friends throughout the years.
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| DAN AND I ENJOYING DINNER WITH OUR FRIENDS, |
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| MICHAEL AND MARSHA AT THE LIME TREE IN THE TOWN OF KENMARE, IRELAND. |
Taking photos during a trip remains one of the most popular means of capturing digital highlights that will become my visual chronicle of events, a detailed recollection of a particular place or travel memory. Organizing these pictures in a Snapfish or Vistaprint photo book or, organizing them on an IOS Flash Drive will help preserve your visual memories for a very long time.
Sadly, I am one of those people who tends to leave my photos on my smartphone even when I see this unimaginable number steadily grow throughout the duration of many trips, special occasions, and ‘save photo’ options that often revolve around my grandchildren. And, I can totally justify my behavior! You see, I am constantly going back through them as I gather, sort, and select a few for each Blog post I write and, eventually, publish. They serve as my lifeline to Blog ideas, as well as illustrations for each post. I know, carrying my IOS Flash Drive would be as convenient and far more flexible. Baby steps...
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| A LANE POSSESSING INFINITE POSSIBILITIES! |
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| A COZY HAVEN FORSAKEN BY WEATHER AND TIME... |
I like to think of my stories as little vignettes representing my travels along with all of the entertaining and beautiful people and, happenstance that touch my life while moving about from one place to another. Naturally, the main goal of every travel blogger, I believe, is to capture a file folder of these brief evocative accounts or episodes that represent our time discovering other places and share all of these first-hand revelations with as many people as possible after returning home. So, traveling for me becomes deeper and much more multi-layered.
My photographs are my friends. Each one represents a child I have nurtured from its initial conception; set-up, arranged, brought forth from the light surrounding it, and positioned with care right before hitting the small, round button that pushes it out into the world for my perusal and final approval. This process brings me so much joy and delight and keeps me trying harder and harder to make the next photo that much better.
Taking some amazing shots of such beautiful places as the Wild Atlantic Way along Ireland’s hauntingly beautiful and rugged west coast, is easier to do than you might think. The light, colors, textures, and sheer beauty of this particular portion of Ireland astounds me more and more with every visit we make. I might be looking one way, taking a picture of a moss-covered stone wall, turn my head slightly and be able to capture a completely different shot filled with all of the glory that the first picture possessed but set in a new and unique composition.
I will forever attribute my love of Connemara, Galway, the Aran Islands, the village of Doolin, and the limestone moonscapes of the Burren to the magical feeling I feel inside whenever I am there.
I will forever attribute my love of Connemara, Galway, the Aran Islands, the village of Doolin, and the limestone moonscapes of the Burren to the magical feeling I feel inside whenever I am there.
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| OUR LOCAL PUB ACQUAINTANCES AT LEONARD'S GROCERY AND BAR--- LAHARDANE, COUNTY MAYO |
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| MARY, THE OWNER'S DAUGHTER, MADE THE BEST GIN & TONICS...! |
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| GROCERIES, BOOTS, AND SHOES ON ONE SIDE AND THE BAR ON THE OTHER.... |
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| ....WHO COULD WANT ANYTHING MORE? |
The ultimate goal of a travel blogger, what we mainly aspire to achieve, is to accurately record and present, to the best of our ability, a written account of what we have witnessed, discovered, enjoyed (sometimes, not enjoyed), and photographed. We do this for those who want to read about where we have traveled and for those who may desire to travel to these places themselves in the future. Keeping our story as honest, quirky, informative, and generally entertaining as possible is the goal we set out to achieve and is the main responsibility of every travel blogger.
I will mentally walk through each vignette, eyes closed, as I plan which story I will pull-out of my ‘travel file’ before committing it to words. Becoming familiar, once again, with the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and actions of each segment encourages me to carry-on and produce my opening sentence. Often, I base my choice of story on a particular picture I’ve taken and this offers me the opportunity to add more pictures, before publishing, that will coincide with and offer more visual awareness and credence to my words.
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| MET THIS SWEETHEART IN THE BURREN PERFUMERY TEA ROOM |
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| BURREN PERFUMERY HERB GARDEN |
I love my job! I enjoy making choices (almost never in chronological order), and by the time I walk away from my PC, several hours after publishing my story via social media, I feel proud of what I’ve done.
My Website (Moving On...2018), includes this note which sums-up how I approach sharing a variety of life’s stories with my readers:
“I am so happy to welcome in the new year, 2018!!! My Blog is changing-up a bit....mainly because I am evolving. Travel will always take precedence in my life and, my journeys will be shared with you. This 2018 version will offer a variety of new stories and personal ideas, as well. This is all about having fun and enjoying this Beautiful Journey called......Life!!!”
Call the story I am sending out into the ethos today self-promotion or a guide to travel blogging or both but, it is precisely because I enjoy what I do so much, that it would be impossible for me to not write about ‘life’s little vignettes’ that I live through and then, happily, share.
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| WALKING UP THE HILL IN OUR BACKYARD TO CATCH THE LIGHT OF THE SETTING SUN |
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| A GREY DAY IN GALWAY CITY... REFLECTING ON LIFE AS I SAT ON THE SHORES OF GALWAY BAY! |
Travel is a feeling we have in our hearts. It may be a two-week stay in Ireland or France, or, simply, a shopping excursion to the local grocery store. Each moment of our life draws from the next moment and creates our journey along the way. Please remember to fill your journey with Love and Respect for the places and people you meet along each winding road and I promise you will learn from and appreciate the true meaning of travel.
Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
Photo Copyright © 2018 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
