Greetings from Arcadia,
Hi. I’m Sarah, and I’m an introvert. And as an introvert, I’m not practiced at talking about myself. So, while I expect most of you who found your way to my little corner of the internet already know me, you may not have heard the story of how I found my way to this place.
Growing up, I read as many books as I could, and was drawn to the ones that described faraway places and the people who explored them. And as a lifelong horse lover, I spent most of my free time when I was a kid riding and working outdoors with animals. I grew up and life took over, as it often does (the horse loving bug was never cured though). So, I married a fantastic man, got a couple dogs, moved to the Arcadia neighborhood in a really cool city called Kalamazoo, Michigan, and settled into a job that was challenging but not my passion. We made great friends and had a pretty charmed life here, and I was very happy, for the most part.
During this time, we also went on a couple amazing vacations that did little to quench my thirst for the world, and left me with serious post-travel melancholy. A week here or there didn’t seem nearly enough to dive into the places we went, and I felt more alive for the few days we were traveling than I’d felt in months at my desk job. So in late 2016, I had the proverbial Light Bulb Moment. I’m not sure why this hadn’t occurred to me before, but I realized that I could spend the rest of my life pining for the freedom to travel, or I could take life by the reins and make it happen. So, I did.
It took a while of scheming and fretting before I came to my husband with a plan: to quit my job, leave home, and take a year off to travel to far flung places around the world. His typical, loquacious response was, “Oh yeah, you should definitely do that.” I picked the right guy. So, I saved up and now I’m living the dream. And I found a way to connect the two things that I love – travel and riding. In addition to visiting incredible places around the world, I plan to get off the beaten path by trekking on horseback to some remote locations.
These letters are a way to stay connected with the people I’m leaving behind, a way to try to show them the little pieces of the world I get to discover. They’re also a way to make this about more than a sightseeing trip from Point A to Point B. This time is a gift. I want to reflect more deeply on the experiences I’m lucky enough to have over the course of this journey.
Thank you for taking the time to see the world through my eyes. I’m glad I could share Arcadia with you, and I hope you enjoy the ride.
Yours very truly,
Sarah