Slow Moments: Week One.

“It doesn’t come naturally…to enjoy just being somewhere, rather than rushing from somewhere, to somewhere.”

― Alexandra Potter

After a string of false forecasts – predictions of snow and winter storms always coming to nothing – our local weathermen finally got it right this week:

Tuesday evening brought a blizzard-like snowfall that swiftly turned our world white.

The flakes were big and distinct at first, and we flipped on the floodlights above our backyard so we could watch them fall. Then they seemed to grow smaller, into the kind of flakes that promise to stick and stay around for a while. Several times that night, I would lean against a window and watch the snow come down, mesmerized by its dizzy descent from the sky. Is there anything more beautiful in the world?

Yesterday was my last full day in Virginia before taking off to the West Coast. Even though I spent much of it racing around with an unfinished to-do list, I managed to sneak out of the house just before dinner, determined to feel the snow crunch beneath my boots at least once during the day. The low-hanging sun cast long blue shadows across the yard, now a blank slate beneath the covering of snow. Each blade of grass that poked through cast its own tiny shadow, and each granule of ice gleamed a different color in the light. Red-breasted robins danced between the branches.

And as I stood there in our front yard, the bitter cold seeping in through my jeans and boots and the fur-fringed hood of my coat, I thought about the spectrum of slow moments you’ve been sending my way this week – from sunset drives in Australia to a dog sanctuary in Mexico to pheasant shoots in England.

On the surface, they couldn’t be more different. But at their core, I’d like to think there’s a powerful truth connecting them: that slowing down has little to do with what speed we’re moving at, and more to do with how we’re moving – with eyes open and our minds present, holding onto the belief that there is no place as important as where we are right now.

Yesterday, in the midst of projects and travel plans, I breathed in the biting air one last time and then walked inside.

Slow moment in Australia: Christin

After waiting tables in a busy beachside cafe in Sydney, I took off on 20,000 km road trip, always along the coast, all the way around Down Under. As much as I loved the crowds and their energy in the cities, there was nothing more relaxing than driving for hours and hours towards the horizon without any sign of human civilization – nothing but the road, the wind in my hair, the sun on my face and the view of the vast Australian outback.

I took the second photo in a small place called Wye River on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. For me it expresses a feeling of absolute tranquility and peacefulness – the flow of the water towards the ocean, the color of the sky right before sunset and the person in the background walking barefoot over the sand, seemingly having all the time of the world to take his dog for a walk on the beach.

Slow moment in England: Stuart

My slow moment was at a pheasant shoot in the country just north of Brighton, just after sunrise on the South Downs. I’m a member of a syndicate shoot and on the days I don’t take the gun I take my camera down. I’ve always been interested in capturing moments where people are still and reflective, there’s a certain honesty in it.

Slow moment in Mexico: Sarah

Squirming, warm, furry bodies attempting to climb up my legs to deliver an abundance of wet doggie kisses have become my favorite slow down moments here in Puerto Vallarta.

When I embarked on this new life of travel one of the hardest things for me was saying goodbye to my beloved dog Roxy. Through the rollercoaster that had been my life for the past few years she had been my one constant and had provided me with unconditional love, a feeling of peace, hope and even joy when moments before I had felt none. I desperately wanted to bring her with me on this journey but she is not a good traveler and I knew she would be much happier staying behind where she felt comfortable.

Much has changed since those tumultuous days and I am in a very happy place in my life, finally living as I feel I was intended to. I am traveling with a great partner and we are working at establishing new businesses that will allow us to continue our dream of slow travel around the world. We are currently in Mexico where we can enjoy our time off work laying on the beach, hiking through the jungle and playing in the ocean however as many of you may relate to we do less of that than you would think as starting a new business takes a lot of time.

We both very much believe in living a balanced life and enjoying the moment so we have made a conscious effort to include enough downtime in our schedule. One day per week is adventure day where we take a day trip to somewhere new. Sunday is fun day where we go to the beach or the pool and just relax and one afternoon each week we go to the SPCA-PV dog sanctuary.

At first I was nervous about going and seeing all of the poor lost doggie souls. I knew there was a huge amount of dogs in Puerto Vallarta that had been beaten, cruelly abused or simply abandoned and left to fend for themselves or die. I had expected to find a lot of traumatized, cowering little bodies afraid of their own shadow and I was determined to go and work through my heartache in order to give those dogs some moments of love. Within minutes of arriving I realized how wrong I’d been. Yes there were some very sad and scared faces that weren’t yet ready to trust a stranger but they were actually very few. The majority of the dogs jumped up to greet me with tail wags and kisses and made it very clear that they were ready to forgive the past and live fully in this moment which offered an opportunity to love and be loved. By the time I left on that first day I was completely in love with the sanctuary, the people and of course the dogs.

So this weekly visit to the dog sanctuary has become my favorite slow down moment. Even surpassing lying in a hammock on the beach while watching the sunset, listening to the ocean and drinking out of a fresh coconut. I leave all work, conversation, and thoughts behind as I spend a couple of hours cuddling, playing, kissing, laughing and sometimes crying a little and I leave with a huge grin on my face feeling at peace and full of hope and ready to take on whatever the world throws at me. It does feel good to give these dogs some extra love and attention while they’re waiting for their new homes but in reality they give me just as much, if not more, in return.

Sarah is currently based in Puerto Vallarta and blogs at: www.livedreamdiscover.com

Slow moment in Australia: Jan

Taking time to go boating. It does take time. Cameras, fishing lines, sunscreen, hats, long sleeve cotton shirts, lots of cold water and enough food to last the day – check. Dry running the boat motor to make sure all is well, packing the required safety equipment, driving 12 km to the boat ramp, remembering to collect Budget Son along the way – check. Pre-dawn departures are not on my list of favorite things, but finally the boat is on the water. Just in time for the sun to make a spectacular arrival beneath the clouds. Taking time to go boating does have its rewards.

Jan Robinson lives in Townsville, Australia, and blogs at: www.budgettraveltalk.com

Thank you to everyone who submitted Slow Moments this week – if you’d like to send one in for next week’s round-up, please do so by email to [email protected]. I can’t wait to see them!