San Juan Islands by Air

San Juan Islands by Ferry

San Juan Islands by Foot

When I was flying over the San Juan Islands I had no clue I would walk through a sculpture garden with a dragonfly in flight.  From the air I grasped the big picture of the islands but had no conception of the details hiding beneath the tree canopies.  And on land I discovered  some intricate details of the San Juans but missed the big picture of the layout of the islands.  If I had been dropped off in the the sculpture garden with a blindfold on I wouldn’t even have known I was on an island.

One of the things I love about travel is that it provides a different perspective.  But at the same time you can gain a different perspective of your own neighborhood just by looking at it in a different way.  Maybe by taking a different mode of transport – walking instead of driving or taking the bus.  Or maybe just by talking to the guy on the street that you pass everyday.

At one time in my life I aspired to see the San Juan Islands.  But now that I have seen the San Juan Islands by air, ferry, and foot,  I aspire to look at the familiar places in my life from the multiple perspectives I take when traveling.  By looking at the familiar from multiple perspectives new worlds open up and the disparate becomes connected.

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. -- Les Brown

I used to be afraid to fly.  I’m not sure why — maybe the lack of control and the thought of crashing to a fiery death.  Regardless, the more I made myself fly the easier it became.  The past couple weeks I even voluntarily flew in a small twin engine plane.  A huge step for someone who was once afraid to fly.

If I wouldn’t have overcome my fear of flying I would have missed out on the beauty of flying over the mountains

and along the mountainous river valley

to watch the sunset.

And I would have never followed a boat in the Puget Sound

and experienced the mountainous beauty of the San Juan Islands by air.

Instead I would be sitting at home looking at someone else’s cool flying photos because I was too afraid to get up there and take my own.

Many of the best things I have done in life are things that I was initially afraid to do.  Sometimes you need to walk directly towards your fears.  And fly into the unknown.