Human connection is a gift: a radiant sunrise, bringing warmth and light to the soul. But it's easy to neglect amid the messiness of life, the doom-scrolling, the polarizing politics, the rising costs, and melting ice caps. Yet, even brief encounters can deeply enhance well-being. To my delight, I've discovered a profound sense of connection and belonging through nurturing relationships, seeking bonds amid change, and cherishing shared experiences, even while living a transient lifestyle.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
Can you believe we're on the cusp of a new year? It has me dreaming about what's next and thinking about ways to enhance our explorations in 2024—individually and collectively. How, as travelers, can we be more present and appreciative of the people and wonders around us while embracing a form of travel focused on forming meaningful connections, discovering more about ourselves, and positively impacting the communities we visit? For those considering extended adventures in 2024, I wanted to share some tips for nurturing a genuine sense of home and belonging on the move.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
Thirty-seven days into self-isolation I asked my husband Hank, “Are you lonely?” Like much of the world’s population, we are physical-distancing and staying home to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Would this, I worried, lead to loneliness? And, in turn, to biological effects as deadly as the virus itself? Instead, isolation has brought clarity to something we'd innately suspected all along.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
It occurred to me recently that sometime in the uncertain future, life will be perceived through the filter of two lenses: All that came before the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, and that which follows. And, like so many of us, I wonder what a post-COVID-19 reality will look like and how we can find hope, amidst despair, in the capacity of our own hearts and choices.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
A new year is ripe with potential: 52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds to choose differently, to perceive differently, to BE different. And, whether it's optimistic or delusional, I enjoy the act of creating new year's resolutions.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
It’s a compelling question: If I only had a few weeks to live, where would I go?
Would I drop everything and head off on a thrilling round-the-world Bucket List adventure?
Would I would stay right where I am, in a temporary house in Mexico?
Would I return ‘home” to the landscape of my childhood?
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
It’s the first day of the new year and I’m spending it defining my intentions for living a better life, being a better person and traveling to greater creative expression in the new year.
Are you using the holiday to write the story of your new 365-day life chapter? Here are 20 of my favorite quotes to help inspire the journey.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
Who has time to think about the meaning of life, happiness, and fulfillment when iPads, Facebook, and jobs fill the days? These are big concepts. Deep questions. Topics that, for much of my life, I rarely contemplated. Like most people of the world, I was busy doing my best to hang on and enjoy the ride as life whizzed by.
The miracle is that despite a formidable capacity for denial and significant gaps in knowledge of myself and the world around me, important questions still accumulated: Who am I? Where do I find meaning? What is my purpose?
Now, with streaks of gray in my blonde hair and fifty years on this planet, these are questions I’m finally getting around to asking. The answers are not what I expected.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
It was a golden November afternoon. I strolled across the bustling Mexican plaza in the Jalisco village where my husband Hank and I live part-time. Photogenic scenes were everywhere.
It was fiesta time and I immersed myself in the jubilant celebrations and felt the strength of community in the vibrant Mexican village. Absent, however, was an urge to photograph. The goodwill that surrounded me felt too precious for a bystander’s camera.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
Much of my work is spent traveling with people on vacation, and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it is that travelers love to talk— talk, talk, talk.
It’s natural, of course, this inclination to verbalize the wonder and awe of being somewhere foreign, experiencing exciting adventures, and meeting new and interesting people.
I wonder, though, how much potential joy, insight, and observation is lost amid the cacophony of the nonstop chatter.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)
Sure, I’ve done some brave things in my life. But this might be the boldest yet. At age 49, I am learning self-acceptance.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)I opened my email this morning in Mexico to a blog article written by a self-described ‘award-winning’ travel writer whining about how ‘good writing’ was largely absent in travel blogs.
Next, I read a piece by a personal finance writer challenging professional travel bloggers to publish their financials and provide ‘real numbers’ for how they budget for their future, because at a certain point “they’ll have to resume a ‘normal’ life, right?.”
I’d bristled reading both and my prickly reactions prompted me to stop and think about why.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. After 15 years as an independent content creator for travel and tourism, she has been enjoying extended stays abroad for the past decade, the inspiration behind her travel memoir, "I Could Live Here" (November 2023)