If you have followed A Full Life long or are one of my social media friends, you know our family loves adventures. The middle of July, Paul, Jayme, and I found ourselves on the road to places still yet undiscovered, at least by us. After a year and a half of fostering our little June Bug and homeschooling our granddaughter, Hero, our little family of three set out to see something new, regroup, and make some memories.
We headed north
We chose the UP in Michigan as our destination, packed up the car, and set out. There were no other firm plans apart from staying in a cottage for the middle of our time away. “Let’s see what that is” was our approach to traveling on this trip. We decided to investigate anything that piqued our interest. It turned out to be so much fun. We drove less traveled roads, hiked to waterfalls, strolled along the shores of lakes as big as oceans, visited old friends, ate good food, poked around places of history, saw miles and miles of wildflowers, and were surprised by a few forest critters.
without a plan
One of our fun finds was the town of Schell City, Missouri, population 249. You can see why the name caught our attention. I just happened across while looking at a road atlas. (Yes, they still make them.) We pulled off the main highway and made our way across the backroads to the town that boasted our family name just for fun.
The town itself had a few houses, old and new, no businesses to speak of, and a small park. We stopped to give our little gal a break from the car. The play equipment hailed for the days of my childhood, probably older, but Jayme didn’t care a bit. She was glad for the opportunity to play. Paul and I ended up reminiscing about our childhoods. Our stop in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere provided a chance to slow down our thoughts, enjoy the moment, and learn something new about each other.
and enjoyed every minute.
Now, I know Schell City isn’t really on anyone else’s bucket list of ‘must-see places,’ but I would like to encourage you to engage in a little Unscheduled Wandering of your own. It has helped us be more relaxed and open to new ideas and destinations. It also has enabled us to set aside expectations and feel more satisfied. It left us with little or no regrets about how we spent our time. We had no plan except to enjoy what came our way, and we did just that. Isn’t that what all great trips are all about? Go ahead. Try it. You won’t be sorry and perhaps you might just find a little happiness along the way.
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Wanderlust (n.) : a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.