Bold Spirit Blog

Learn more about our new summer tour to Crater Lake National Park just outside Bend, Oregon. This is an all-women, small-group trip. Everything is taken care of for you. Come explore Oregon with us this July!

Looking for a gift for the women in your life with serious wanderlust? We have ideas for you.

When I first went to Costa Rica, I spent a lot of time crying. I do less of that now when I visit.

What’s it really like to travel to Spain during the pandemic? We share the details on what you need to know.

I’ve had the sad honor of scattering two sets of ashes this year. One was a family friend who left us too soon, leaving us broken-hearted and stunned by how unfair life can be. And then my sweet old dog slipped away from me in June, finally succumbing to cancer.

The whole point of the long Spanish lunch is to spend the entire day with family or friends. To be so engrossed in one another, in the food, in the wine, and in relaxing, that you can’t think about work or whatever other stressors you have going on in your life. Years later, I see the wisdom in this Spanish tradition, and I hope you will, too.

There is something about Orcas that speaks to me. It’s the madrone trees—yes—and the quality of the light. It’s the many hikes and lakes on what is really a small swath of land—just 57.3 square miles. It’s even the journey. It takes a certain amount of determination, between the ferry and the drive, to get to Orcas. Those who put in the effort are rewarded with the secluded coves of Obstruction Pass State Park and the sweeping Salish Sea views from Turtleback Mountain.

It’s important for me to balance out my media intake, action, and worrying with some self-care, and it occurred to me that you may feel the same way. Here are some resources for mitigating stress, an emotion so many of us are enveloped in right now.

Seattle’s natural areas are vast and gorgeous. An urban explorer could spend many weekends walking in the woods and along the water and never leave the Seattle-metro area. Here are a few parks in or near the Emerald City to visit for the first time or discover again.

My old dog knows that a walk—such a simple thing—is a gift. A chance to smell the moss growing on the nurse log. An opportunity to stroll along the Puget Sound and dip a toe into that cool, clear saltwater. She hears the spring birds. She senses the rabbits and lets them nibble in peace.