Maya Angelou said, “Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation which is not nurturing to the whole woman.”
In August of 2010, award-winning travel writer Ingrid Hart set off on a one-year journey of California. She sold her home in Sacramento, packed up the long familiar tools of her trade — a laptop, cellphone (with a headset), a Canon camera — along with clothes and shoes to dig into the roots of each experience. She picked 12 cities to live in, each for a month — Tahoe City, Yountville, Bishop, San Francisco, Carmel, Palm Springs, San Diego, Venice, Mariposa, Arcata, Cedarville and Ojai. She navigated the stars through her Lexus coupe. She had three unshakable goals — to be gone for a year, to write a book about her expedition, and to take it all in deeply and spiritually and perhaps let go of that which needed to go.
Her book, “My Year In California ~ a journey toward midlife renewal,” was published in September of 2013. It is, “a full-color book with a pictorial essay featuring over 90 photographs and a personal travelogue. It is about adventure, freedom and liberation. It’s about challenge, struggle, conflict and the longing for transformation.” It is the recipient of the 2014 Eureka! Travel Writing Award and the 2013 Silver Award — North American Travel Journalists Association.
Hart, who became a resident of Moss Beach in March, is originally from Southern California’s Orange County. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Humboldt State University. Her work as a travel writer has taken her to Europe, Mexico, Canada and many other destinations. Her specialty is California. She has written for numerous magazines which include: Travelworld, Mexico Traveler, Canoe & Kayak, Sierra Fine Living, Surfer and Baja Traveler. She has also written for a variety of journals including the Sacramento Business Journal and Holistic Happenings. She is also the mother of two, Haley, 24, a Berkeley resident and a graduate of UC Berkeley, and Jordan, 23, a Davis resident and a graduate of UC Davis. Both of her children encouraged her journey.
Hart writes on her website, “If you want something to change, make a new choice.”
“After Haley and Jordan left for college, I was left with an empty nest,” Hart said. “I wanted to move but didn’t know where. No place within California really resonated with me. Haley said I needed to try the sampler plate before I ordered the entrée. That’s when I decided to live in one California city per month for a year. It took me one full year to execute the plan. I had the support of a business coach who helped me process the adventure.”
Her choices of cities were guided by grape harvests, fall colors, history, her alma mater, remoteness, the closeness of an old friend, heat in winter and more. But all her choices recognized that she is a “bluebird.”
“I like to follow the sun when the temperature and season is optimum,” Hart said, “Tahoe in summer, not winter, Palm Springs in winter, not summer.”
Hart explained the difference between a midlife crisis and midlife renewal.
“A midlife crisis is when you feel stuck, frustrated and churn with emotional turmoil,” Hart said. “Midlife renewal is a time in life when you realize that you can change the direction of your life and reinvent yourself. My book is about the journey or passageway between a midlife crisis and midlife renewal.”
On her website, Hart generously offers some of the photographs and notes from her book. The author/photographer offered a few samplings of what is in the book but not on the website: “the world’s oldest living tree, 4,600-years-old, set against the backdrop of the Milky Way near Bishop in the Eastern Sierra, the fairytale cottage called Hansel, built in 1925 in Carmel, the actor Martin Sheen in Napa Valley and an aerial dancer dangling 20 feet above the ground between two Sugar Pine trees in Lake Tahoe.”
The book’s photographs focus mostly on the people of California.
“I included historical and current pictures of various California Indian tribes, and local people from each community,” Hart said. “Each photo has a short, 100-word description that captures the essence of California culture.”
It took Hart two years to write the book. She lived in the East Bay during that time. She also went to grad school and earned a master’s degree in culture and spirituality from Holy Names University, Oakland.
“I moved back to my hometown and lived there for six months to be closer to my mom and two brothers,” Hart said. “But I missed living close to my children.” She additionally had a client in San Mateo. Her move to Moss Beach couldn’t have been more perfect.
“I pinch myself that I live in such a pristine, glorious place right next to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve,” Hart said. “It’s all right here, the ocean, bluffs, whales, pelicans and sea lions. Moss Beach is ridiculously beautiful.”
Hart is currently working from home as a social media strategist for a travel app that’s nearly ready to launch.
“My life is much more fulfilling now than when I left Sacramento,” Hart noted. “The truth is that I was so much older when I left on the journey. I’m much younger now.”
Hart said she learned a great deal during her “year” in California.
“I learned if you want something to change, make a new choice,” Hart said. “Always say ‘yes’ to every opportunity. Release attachment to outcome and there is only one time and it is now.”
She hopes her book will inspire others to step outside of their comfort zone and go on their own journey toward renewal.
Hart’s book is available on her website, http://myyearincalifornia.com/web/, and will soon be available in local bookstores.
Jean Bartlett can be reached at editor@jeansmagazines.org.