A room with a view

Perast, Montenegro

Okay, I know it. I’m an unabashed Wanderlust-afflicted-dreamer. I can’t help it.

When I travel, I always find myself wondering what it would be like to live in the place I’m visiting. I enthuse about charming little cottages, ivy-covered buildings, white-washed homes along the sea.

Mostly, I seek out – in the tradition of E.M. Forster – a room with a view.

As my fantasy takes shape in my mind and I have moved into my little cottage with its breathtaking window onto the world that surrounds it for an indeterminate number of days, weeks, months, I always see myself sitting at that window and writing.

Tunis, Tunisia

My full-time job is not writing – at least, not creatively – and when I am on holiday I am generally doing very little of it, but that’s what I’m always dreaming of.

The ability to pack up and return to that same destination to spend my days writing and my late afternoons exploring my new world sitting out and watching the world pass by on its little square to soak in the local colors and sounds, exploring its twisting alleyways, shopping in its outdoor markets, diving into the waves of its clear blue waters.

Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta

In this parallel writer’s life, I always return to my little abode in the evening to review my work and write some more. In these fantasies there is always silence, blessed silence.

Real life is never like that. I do sometimes write on weekend-getaways from our little house in the mountains of Abruzzo, where I do enjoy the lovely views as I write… alongside the melodious sounds of my children’s yells.

Gordes, France

 

But, like many working moms always fighting to carve out family time in their busy schedules, holidays are sacred. It’s the precious time we have together as a family, free from interruptions. My laptop generally stays home.

Along the Albanian-Montenegrin border

 

 

But a girl can dream. One day I’ll be off to write from my little room with a view. And in the meantime, I’m gathering lots of ideas of just where that might be…

9 Comments

  1. Chantel Rhondeau on March 6, 2012 at 6:05 pm

    Great post, Kimberly! Paints such a picture and makes me long for a place like that, too. Love the pictures!

    • kimberlysullivan on March 7, 2012 at 8:04 am

      Thanks, Chantel! They’re all such fantastic places to be inspired and, of course, writers are such ideal daydreamers…

  2. zannyro on March 7, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    Oh! New dreams to dream..Thank you!

    • kimberlysullivan on March 7, 2012 at 5:30 pm

      Dreaming and travelling go hand in hand, don’t they? One of the reasons it’s so addictive…

  3. Malou on March 8, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Great post, Kimberly! These are still all dream places for me. 😉

    • kimberlysullivan on March 9, 2012 at 8:13 am

      Half the fun, isn’t it, Malou? I love hearing tips from others’ travel to get ideas for my own. And you’re preparing me well for my next trip to Holland! Have a great weekend…

  4. whats your typing speed? on March 12, 2012 at 4:48 am

    Nothing better than a quiet night and a Jane Austen novel

  5. […] deserves its reputation and joins the long list of destinations where I would love to have my room with a view , albeit in the off-season before the well-heeled tourist masses descend on this picture-perfect […]

  6. […] already written about how I sometimes dream, when I travel, of a room with a view  where I can take a little writing […]

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