Travel Archives - Jill Gottenstrater

Episode 4: Tips for Successful Travel with Art – Mobilize Your Creativity

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Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here

It’s vacation season for a lot of us, so in Episode 4, we offer tips for maintaining artistic connection throughout our travels.

Whether venturing by road, rail, or sky, there are practical steps we overlook in preparation for mobilizing our creativity. A bird-watcher would be certain to pack their binoculars before heading to Mexico to witness the migration of a rarely sighted species. We should be no less committed to our interests. If art truly is nourishment for our souls, it would be neglectful to leave the vital ingredients of our sustenance behind at home.

Travel offers unique opportunities to sample new flavors, glimpse a sunset from a fresh angle and elevation, and discover floral fragrances unavailable at home. As artists, these experiences come to life in our works. With the right tools and intention, we can capture these elusive highlights, artfully arranging pieces of our unique perspectives. And, remembering to pack a creative awareness along with other essentials ensures a deeper, more meaningful journey. It’s a win-win!

So, join us in this week’s episode as Mama Judy and I chat about our own traveling-with-art experiences, as well as sharing insight from other travelers.

Listen now!

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts
Click here to listen on Spotify
Click here to listen on Google Podcasts
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Click here to listen on iHeart Radio

Watch on our YouTube channel.

Mentioned during the podcast:

Click here to see Mama Judy’s studio in her Airbnb condo where she’ll be staying for two months.

June 28, 2023/0 Comments/by Jill Gottenstrater

Blog, Inspiration, Mindset, Purpose

Now Is The Time To Get Out And Make Memories

Think back over your lifetime and recall your most delightful memories. The ones that make you smile, laugh, give your heart an extra jump, or just sigh a breath of peace thinking about it.

Some of us will immediately jump back to childhood memories, others will recall times in their 20s–young and free, while others may need only look back a month or two to a trip taken to celebrate a wedding anniversary. Depending on your personality, your favorite memories may involve daredevil type activities that provide adrenaline surges that will last for days, or for some, like me, the memory need only feature a beach, walking shoes, delicious food, and a good book.

Now I’m a huge believer in making sweet memories in your everyday life, from enjoying the beauty of your surroundings, to special moments with a loved one, to using your special dishes to serve yourself breakfast each morning, but I’m talking about getting out and making memories. Memories that take a little work to plan and even pay for…the BIG memories.

Maybe it’s a trip to a faraway tropical place, a cross-country trip, stopping to visit all of the National Forests, travelling abroad, visits to historical sites, hikes that take you through multiple states, and so on.

I think we should place a little more effort into making big memories, before our opportunities slip away.

None of us are guaranteed another day here on this earth, so what are we waiting for?

Let’s all plan our next BIG adventure!

Of course, it’s wise to be smart about this. I’m not proposing we all quit our jobs and go travel across Europe for the next six months, relying on the kindness of others to feed and house us.

Start the planning process now. Even if you’re planning for something five years down the road (I hope you and I don’t have to wait that long), start dreaming now. In case you missed it, check out my post about how half the fun of an event is the anticipation of it.

Here’s our mantra:

No more excuses.
Dream BIG.
Make a plan.
Go and do.
Repeat.

So, what do you think? What trip or epic experience is running through your mind right now?

May 28, 2016/0 Comments/by Jill Gottenstrater

Blog, Inspiration, Personal Development

Taking Time to Develop My Passion in San Diego

If you’ve read my blog before, you know I am a big believer in self-care and personal development. As you can see from my note above, I traveled to San Diego, California this week to do a little of both: attending a one-day conference and visiting with family. I won’t be writing a typical blog post this week, but wanted to share some photos with you for fun.

If you’ve never been to San Diego, you must! It’s a beautiful area. I’m going to share a few photos below of the first 36 hours of my visit.

I should have known something was going on when my luggage was held up in security. They spend a good two minutes eye-balling my bag under the x-ray machine.
I’m guessing this stash below was the reason why. My husband snuck in these tasty goodies to surprise me on my trip. Yep, he’s a keeper!

The weather in San Diego is typically clear skies and sunny with an average temperature of 70 degrees. Not too shabby! It has been a little overcast and in the mid-60’s on my visit thus far. Great walking weather!

I’m staying in the La Jolla area and there are lots of surfers, and as you can see from the photo below, scuba divers too, that frequent this beach.

Beach art!

I could watch sandpipers all day. They walk super fast and stick their long beaks in the sand to pull out insects and other small organisms to eat. Check out his reflection.

This seagull had a cool personality. He was strutting around like he owned the place.

Surf rescue gulls!

These beautiful trees, at a park along the beach, are works of art!

These flowers along the beach path that smell like heaven! Not sure of the name but I had my nose buried in these every chance I got.

Leaving the beach area now and strolling through some neighborhoods close by…

I have some horticulture, landscape design friends who laugh at me because instead of identifying plants/trees by their real names, I just name them for how they look. I have named this tree a “painted bottlebrush”. Please chime in down in the comment section if you know the true name.

Bird of Paradise!

Amazing succulent garden in someone’s front yard.

These beautiful gated entryways to homes are typical in this area.

I feel sorry for these people. Just look at what they have to look at every day!

Rusty pelican guarding this home’s front entrance.

After enjoying a long walk, I headed off to my conference.

This was my view at the conference. That’s Chris Ducker and Pat Flynn up front. The day was AWESOME! I met so many smart, kind and generous people with hearts for making a difference online. I’ll tell you more about it in the future.

I’m here for a few more days to spend time with some of my West Coast family. Look forward to meeting you back here next Saturday!

Jill xx

April 25, 2015/6 Comments/by Jill Gottenstrater

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