Today someone made a comment to me about taking care of everyone except me.
I guess.
I close my eyes and think of walking on the beach alone. The cold water, the long stretch of beach all to myself. Not the warm beaches to the south but the cold windy beaches of Northern California that call me.
Before school starts I will go. I won’t be alone. The kids will come with me. Maybe friends too. Maybe the husband. Even the dog or a brother or two. It will be a party.
Before I was married I used to travel a lot alone. Sometimes others would question that and be puzzled but I was never bothered by it. If I wanted to go somewhere I’d go.
I tell my kids “you’re your own best traveling companion and sometime your only traveling companion. You have to get along with yourself if you want to have a good trip.” I haven’t always been my own best travel companion but at least I’ve gone places despite the miserable company. Sometimes it has led me to a place where I was good company with myself.
In the triple digit summer heat I seek the cool dark places of both body and spirit. I haven’t had time to have that luxury, not much.
Then again, I spend time above ground in public places laughing with my kids, or making them laugh.
The only time I even stop to think about “alone time” is when I sit down to write, and when I’m writing this blog.
My other writing time is filled with characters that have nothing to do with me. They have much more exciting lives than I do. Well almost. They aren’t Vampires. I mean, you can’t top that.
My brother Andrew once told me, “For such solitary creatures we spend an extraordinary amount of time seeking out the company of others.”
Even a cold touch of a Vampire brings comfort. A flash of smile and a reflection off of eyes in the dark and the faint sound of a laugh in the quiet of the night brings joy.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
Vampire Maman 
I agree with you, J. For a time in my life I was my best travelling companion. It, most times, seems to bring an inner peace. Like you, I tended to gravitate toward quiet, calm places, the mountains, the woods, the beach. Places that humanity hadn’t invaded in vast numbers. I guess I’m not a vampire because I really don’t like it cold (hot’s my scene). Guess I’m just a free, wandering spirit who drifts from one lifetime to the next. Well, this is really more than I intended to say and I’m really rambling again….. Hugs !
I’ve been on my own vacation for a week, not alone but I spent a lot of alone time with no internet or cell phone and read four books while I soaked in the riverfront scenery from camp. I traveled in my mind to other worlds through the writings of others. Nice to start catching up with you again, Juliette!