My first full day at the International Hostel of Santa Fe. Because I’m choosing to be gentle with myself while I acclimate to the altitude, I’ve stayed close to home other than about a mile walk earlier to check out a consignment shop and have lunch.

Other than that,

• I have read. I found a copy in the lending library of Sarah Ban Breathnach’s “Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity.” It’s aprapo as I stay in a place  where abundance, as traditionally described, isn’t seen. Yet there is incredible abundance here.
• I have napped to the gentle sound of someone playing a saxophone. 
• I have connected and shared stories. I spent a good part of the afternoon talking with the owner of the hostel. He shared his interesting tale and a wealth of history about hostels and youth hostels both. I learned from the Canadian fellow that there are mini trains people buy and use to travel by rail! I’m curious to research this later. 
• I have learned a lot about my eating habits. The pantry items are donated and I’ve learned to cook a creative dinner with few options. Ive also learned the excitement that comes when told that tomorrow we get the best donations, so we will eat well. 
• I have heard my thoughts as there isn’t a tv here. 

Part of me wants to rush through this part of my trip and get to Monday with a week at a nice hotel, the numerous appointments scheduled to get the new magazine going: spas and colleges and events and so much more. A huge contrast from where I am now.

Instead, I will enjoy this time of insight, illumination, and quiet because as Ken Budd wrote in the Voluntourist, “…when you’re trying to figure out your life, severity is more illuminating than comfort…”

And it’s always more memorable.