Vagabond:
1 : moving from place to place without a fixed home : wandering
2 a : of, relating to, or characteristic of a wanderer
b : leading an unsettled, irresponsible, or disreputable life
I like to think that my wanderlust is firmly rooted in the first two definitions of the word vagabond, but it would be hard to argue that I don’t have at least a few elements of the third, punctuating my life. I am endlessly restless and relentlessly curious; always seeking new ways of learning about and from the world around me. Whether rambling around far away places, or investigating new corners of my home in the Pacific Northwest, I am always happiest while wandering.
This blog is a collect of stories, essays, photographs, and poems about my own journey of embodied inquiry as I try to understand what it means to be a human in this wild, wondrous world. I hope that this blog inspires readers to start their own version of vagabonding and in the process uncovering the lost art of learning about the world by moving through it in slow, embodied, and meaningful ways.
~The Perpetual Vagabond
(AKA Lauriel-Arwen)
The Perpetual Vagabond 
Lauriel, I love your blog……….vagabond, you sound a little like us.
This is what we said we could do the rest of our lives, live as vagabonds.
The dream, ahhhhhhhh, again you hit a nerve. We are “old people,”
and we are now trying to figure it all out. The kids have grown and
gone and now what? We too need a new dream, we need the spark
of excitement, adventure, reason and change. We demand more.
I do pray we find it. We have learned that “less is more.” Time is precious.
Money is the root of all evil and happyness is the ultimate gift.
Happy trails and we hope we meet again. Hugs, Marie and Lux
Hi Marie and Lux! I love this blog and I’m happy to meet you from reading it! I would love to connect. My blog is found at http://www.artteachtravel.com and I’m an “old person” too who is about to make a big change in my life. Please feel free to contact me and I look forward to discussing further.
I’m glad I’m not alone. Roots are not compatible with wings.
Came across your blog when looking up travel stuff and love your photos. I totally understand how you feel. I left my easy, comfy life in California for adventures abroad. Currently teaching English in South Korea and don’t see myself settling down any time soon either. I know what you mean about societal pressure, but leaving and moving away was the best thing I did. I love photo and traveling too so I’ll be following your blog. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Casey! I’ve just found this blog and I am interested in finding other teachers who are teaching abroad. My blog is found at http://www.artteachtravel.com . I look forward to connecting with you!
Hi Lauriel. Congratulations on being Fresh Pressed! Looking at your posts I see we have a lot in common. Our site has many contributors, some more frequent than others, but the main focus is Community, Collaboration and Conservation around the world. We are based in Kerala, a state in southern India and we began the site last year with a group of our interns from Amherst and Cornell University. We ourselves have lived in many places of the world so can relate to your peripatetic lifestyle. Come to India and see what we’re up to! (Amie Inman)
Hello there, just wanted to say I really enjoy your work. It is nice to find people who I can relate to in the most specific and often times hard-to-find way. Keep up the good work!
Hi PV,
Love your photography. The Portland in Spring series and the Japan one, and the Occupy Portland one. They take me back. I live in Cambridge, MA now, but once I went to school in Portland and protested war there (an earlier war—The Civil War, as I remember). Thanks for visiting my site.
–David
I can totally relate. Love your blog. Keep it up!
Hello! I’ve stumbled across your blog and love it! I have been a middle and high school art teacher for 11 years and will be leaving my school, my home and my country in one year to begin teaching overseas. I badly want to connect to other teachers who are living abroad! My blog can be found at http://www.artteachtravel.com and I invite you to look it over. I hope we can be an inspiration to each other.
Hi, I am planning to walk the Camino, your first post was beautiful, but that appears to be your last post….
please if you can tell me more…..
Hello! I am still on the Camino! I will be posting more soon as well as some stories and tips once I am done, so keep checking back :-). When do you go?
Hi, can I just say I identify with how you feel, I’ve been trying to convince myself into various roles in my life and feel the same restlessness to not conform and to go with my gut instinct. Can’t wait to look at your photos – I love photography and art 🙂
Vagabond is one of my favorite words 🙂
Lovely blog!!!
Thank you! It’s one of line too 🙂
*mine
I can definitely relate to the questions and doubts assailing you, although you seem to be quite well set in your ideas, which is a step ahead of me. I can only hope you’ll succeed in vagabonding perpetually, photojournalism is certainly a worthy ambition.
Grateful to make your acquaintance!
Vagabonds unite!
Email me if you want to chat with a fellow nomad!
– Dene
Hello Lauriel
Congrats for the lovely blog.
When are you coming to visit Portugal?
My name is nelson and I travel and food enthusiast based in Lisbon as well as manage boutique hotels.
I would love to assist you in featuring some amazing portuguese locations/culture/food in your blog.
you can reach me at nelson.carvalheiro@gmail.com
Looking forward to hear from you
Nelson
Hi Nelson,
Thank you! Not sure when I will make it to Portugal…but when I do, I will let you know!
Wow, I can relate! Thanks for the inspiring words. Cheers to taking the road less graveled 😉
i have nominated you for the best blogger of the year 2012 award! hope that’s ok. here the info you need: http://chefmimiblog.com/2012/12/08/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/
I love your blog and would like to nominate you for my Lifetime’s Exploration Award if you would like to accept all the details are here: http://sarahryan85.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/a-whole-new-year-ahead/
All the best for 2013!
I really enjoyed looking through your blog. I particularly like the photos of the protests. Great work.
Have just discovered your blog and glad I did 🙂 I don’t fit either! I have done a lot of ‘life jumping’ in the past. Currently living in Turkey and married to a native so I guess my wings are clipped now!
Looking forward to reading more of you 🙂
I like how our names are almost similar 🙂
Perhaps an Anchor would help my fellow Vagabond. Cheers.
Very nice photos, they make you smile especially the one with the cow and the full moon! cheers
Lauriel, I enjoy following your blog and love your photos! I just wanted to let you know that I have nominated you for a Liebster Award. Here is the link with more info: http://adventuresoflamari.com/2014/05/08/moving-to-germany-t-23-days-liebster-award/
I immediately feel that I can relate to you. I call myself a gypsy. I have moved (almost) more times than I can count. Upon retiring, my partner and I had concerns about living in one place for a long period of time. We mix it up with travel for half the year, so we feel we have the best of both worlds (or, the best of this one, big, glorious world).
Absolutely stunning photography! It is a joy to look around your blog.
Thank you for your thoughts and kind words!
Hey now! I’m a poet, now in Seattle, who has been using your ’15 or thereabouts photo of a new tree growing out of an old one as inspiration for a new book, APRIL ON OLYMPIA. A small press is now publishing that collection and I would very much like to use it on the cover with your permission. No one has a budget for cover art, but I’ll try hard to get you compensated. In the least, copies of the book. Thank you for the inspiration.
Hello! Thank you so much for reaching out. I would be honored to have my photo on the cover of your book. Olympia and poetry hold special parts of my heart and I’m glad to know my photography has provided some inspiration! Please let me know how to proceed.