“Beauty is everywhere. It is not that she is lacking to our eye, but our eyes that fail to perceive her.” ~ Auguste Rodin

Hello! We are Bitsy & Dave, and we are on a continuing adventure, to taste and feel some of the world’s infinite beauty, wisdom, and mystery.

You can go directly to the BLOG, for stories and photos, or just continue here.

There are several purposes for this website/blog.

To begin with, I want to tell the stories of our travel adventures. It’s fun to write, and we also want to make it possible for friends and family to know what we are up to. I like to write less in a reporting sort of way, and more about how a place touched me, inspired me, drew me into its presence.

In the Fall of 2016, we set off for a year of travel through Europe. Returning home to California in Fall of 2017, we shifted gears, and settled in for the adventure of staying in one place for nearly a year. That’s been it’s own mixed journey. I had not driven a car for a year, and now I am back driving through the town I’ve known for over 40 years! One thing we noticed that we’d missed while traveling was the acts of being “productive”, so we have both embraced work again. We have much gratitude for the rewarding careers we both have, and the opportunities that come with income. We have a good life “at home” in California; one that allows us to be creative homebodies and surround ourselves with artistic environment, often inspired by things we’ve seen on our travels. But the wild blue yonder continues to call, and in July 2018 we lifted our wings and flew off again for more travel. Back to Europe, specifically Ireland, Norway, and areas of France we’d not yet visited. That trip was for about 3 months, with more stories !

I am actually not sure why I love to travel so much. Perhaps it’s just simple curiosity about other cultures, my European roots, the hints and clues of an ancient story. There is so much to see and learn about. Yet one of my observations while traveling is that I often feel too much like a VOYEUR.  Just a TOURIST.  Looking, looking, and loving what I see; but I have asked myself, how I can have a more deeply connected experience in these lovely places?  One answer is that I can pencil sketch and paint some of the beauty I see. To stop myself and sit and observe, and connect deeply with a place. To see the unique light and shadow, and the colors of a place on this earth I may have never been before. So far, along with pencil sketches, I have managed to capture the scenes that I love, the fleeting moments of perfect light or construct, with photos. I carry a small camera with me always!

Another and a very special way to connect more deeply with a place, Is having the privilege of caring for someone’s home while they are traveling.  And so, one purpose of this site is that we may have a virtual calling card. We would like to be accepted for house-sits that we apply for in mainland Europe, Great Britain or Ireland during the times that we are there. And those people will of course want to know more about who we are, and what we are capable of! So if I may say now, we are open to connecting with you, and we do love a few cats, dogs, chickens, and responsibilities. Please contact us if we seem to be people who you would like to have care for your beloved home while you are on your own adventures!  Perhaps our travels will mesh in a mutually productive and inspiring way with yours !

Love, from Bitsy and Dave, with Wings Lifted!  Bon-Voyage!