Fluff - Do you have a “happy place”.?

I have a couple.  One is our camp on a pond in the north east kingdom of VT.  I love it there and truly is. A special and happy place for me.  Some place on the ocean is also right up there.

My happy place is in my class B camper van.....It doesn't matter where it is, just being in it brings me joy. My 9 year old grandson was looking around it yesterday and made the comment about how cool it is and that's there's so many interesting things in it he didn't want to get out to which I agreed!

I have a few:

Paddling my kayak - so peaceful

Photographing birds and wildlife - I can do it all day for days

Whale watching - I could go every day all summer - I am going whale watching for 2 weeks in July/August

Nova Scotia (I was born there) and any place in the Atlantic provinces

Travelling - Right now my sister and I have a trip planned to Iceland and Denmark

The beach, or body of water is top for me. I do love a good view of snowy mountains, too.

Honestly, I can say just hanging out with my DH and/or my friends. They make me happy.

A friend from high school and his husband retired and moved to Malaga. He LOVES it there. They get up in the morning and walk. And eat really good meals. 

DH and I are looking at Portugal as a place to retire, maybe split the year between here and there? We are going to Europe for two weeks this fall as a test run. 

I've been thinking about this. I think I have a couple that are places I "go" to regularly. One is where I am at this current moment. It's this crappy old brown leather recliner upstairs in my scrap attic. The recliner is so comfortable. It no longer reclines, but it still looks decent enough for up here, and I love to sit across the arms with my legs hanging over one end. I have spent probably thousands of hours in this thing and it's where I did most of the work for my undergrad and grad degrees. It's probably my go-to place to hang out on the internet also, though not lately.

But it's more than that--it's the space up here. The light is just pure magic, always has been. And all of my paper crafty things, which I still really dig, are up here. It's all of that. There's a full bath up here and a little mini fridge and mini kitchen, and even a bedroom. The chair is the main thing I think of, but it's the whole area. Everything got sort of upended over the holidays and my chair was shoved out of its normal spot and I couldn't sit in it. I really missed it. I've been avoiding up here for a long time because it's a huge mess and my life has changed so much, but things in my work life are settling down and I am ready to dive back in up here.

Another happy place, and this sounds so dumb, is my office at work. I really love my job, and I feathered my office nest with art and my things, lots of stationery, pillows, a plant and good lighting. There's a burgundy-ish accent wall that is perfect for me and I just love it there. My boss replaced the crappy Golden Girls vertical blinds that used to be in my office late last year with normal mini blinds and it has really just capped it off for me.

I told you it was dumb. I really am happy and feel very privileged to be at work, though.

However, I am on the third day of four days off and I am just as happy to be up here in my real happy place.

For vacation happly place spots, I would have to say somewhere in the Cotswolds ranks right up there....

While I can feel myself having a visceral response to being on the beach (Edisto Island is my current fav), I am now more like a turtle in that I can carry my ‘happy place’ with me. I’ve done conscious work to make it more a state of mind than a place. I often think “how happy I am in this moment” as I go through my day. I’ve learned to even appreciate walking my dog in the cold or the rain. Old me wouldn’t have felt that way!

It doesn't need to be a specific place. I just love being in the trees and hearing the birds. Sunlight and people I love close by make it all good.

This weekend we went to photograph the sandhill cranes. They say 23,000 of them pass through this place in 6 weeks. They were beautiful to watch, but thousands of them make the weirdest prehistoric noises that can be a little much.

Fingers crossed. My job this summer is to research expat procedures for various places.

Our cabin on a lake. And like many others, anywhere on or near water. We went to Little Torch Key Florida last month. Veteran's Memorial Beach and Bahia Honda park both have great beaches.

I’m one of the few people who doesn’t care about being near water. Give me green rolling hills. I have several happy places. The barn where I board my horse. The gym. My home, specifically but not limited to my bed. The public library. I love my stamping room but it makes me anxious.

The beach & ocean where I can float...I love floating! I like floating in a pool too but am drawn to the ocean. We have a family condo in Orange Beach, AL and go there a few times a year. I also love traveling to a beach. My favorites have been Bermuda, Haiti and St. Maarten.

In my home, it is my craft room I love being in there and getting crafty!

My grandmother's house in Wellesley, MA. I so wanted to go to that college!!! The whole town was magical for me. And Hampton Beach, NH where we would go for 2 weeks every summer. 

Now I am happy at ANY beach with a kindle in hand!!!!

A few of them have made their way to my area, 40 miles NW of the Twin Cities.