A Search for Solid Ground

Looking for love and home on a volcano

Happy Friday, writer friends! Today I’m sharing a little bonus essay. Surprise! I wrote this ten years ago, back when I had recently moved to Portland, Oregon and was trying to decide if I would make it my home for awhile. Having spent the last decade doing just that—and then moving away—it’s strange and sweet to look back on this time in my life when everything felt so unsteady. I never would have guessed, standing at the edge of a volcano’s smoking mouth, that I would one day run the circumference of that same volcano with my husband and daughter waiting for me at the finish line.

I’m keeping this one behind a paywall, because I want to share a little something special with those of you who support this work financially. But I appreciate anyone who is here and reading, and if you’re not a paid subscriber at this time, I’ll be back in your inbox with a free-for-everyone Q&A with the 2024 British Guild of Travel Writers’ Travel Writer of the Year, Kassondra Kloos, on Wednesday! It was a really fun conversation about getting creative with your pitches, writing about your hometown, and balancing travel with work. I’m excited to share it with you all.

Enjoy your weekend! Stay inspired!

Britany