Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it?
Jet Pack Prompt 12/6/25

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of life,” (Thomas Jefferson)

In making my choice of Paris, France as my favorite place to visit, I think of those momentary shifts in my mindset from spending time immersed in the present moment on those short term stopovers spent there. Most often these personal transformations have taken place along self guided walking experiences to and from planned tourist site visits. Feeling more energized then, my attention shifts in surprisingly new directions.. Three examples described below stand out vividly to my mind.

With my first illustration, I reflect back to those leisurely times when I’ve strolled along the picturesque Seine River during day or night. In those moments, I often envisioned myself as an inspiring landscape artist who so keenly captured detailed impressions of extraordinary details in my painting efforts then.

Consider as well the strong emotion I felt absorbing the natural beauty on spectacular display at Luxembourg Gardens in spring or fall. For these relaxing respites from the more hectic surroundings of the park’s urban surroundings often opened my mind to an ecologist frame of mind committed to preserving the landscape of public open space for all to enjoy.

Presenting my last example, I turn to those dark days of rampant Jewish anti- Semitism that existed during Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II. For on past walks along the Marais district in Paris, I’d deeply empathized with the Jewish people as their visionary advocate who’d overcome such historic pain to restore their cultural and religious identity in this region.

Thus I’ve set a personal goal for Ruth and me to again visit Paris in 2026 on an extended stay. For make no mistake about it. I’m seriously overdue!

When life gets boring, what can you do to change this perspective?

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes including you.”(Anne Lamott)

Have you given much thought lately about how to deal with those idle times in travel when you just feel really bored? What are you usually doing for example during those potentially long wait times at the gate when your flight takeoff’s been noticeably delayed? Or what about those seemingly endless sea days on cruises when there’s nothing but ocean to surround your view? Furthermore, does your attention span drift off in dullness as you sit in a car as a driver or passenger too long each day on road trips?

Maybe it’s time then to “shake matters up” a bit during such frustrating slowdowns and get more creative to productively pass the time. For in fact, a recent poll by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that engaging in more feel-good vibes of creative action can directly improve your physical and mental health at anytime.

No, that does not mean you should just text away or chatter with your friends on social media when you’re feeling bored. But what you choose to do creatively as I’ve often found fun to do makes for a more positive handling of these tediously challenging, travel moments.

1. Listen and sing along to the lyrics of some of your favorite radio and streaming enabled songs.

2. Act like a kid again and create simple mind games with words and/or numbers.

3. Draw, doodle or brainstorm in writing about a topic you love.

4. Create something real with your hands like a blossoming paper flower, funky neck pendant or a colorful holiday ornament from scratch.

5. Use silence to inspire short spurts of meditation, visualization, or chanting to quiet your mind chatter.

6. Dial up your favorite podcast to arouse a cathartic release of a laugh, or cry.

7. Playfully interact with animals feeling how they view the present moment.

8. Utilize special effect tools  on your I-Phone Camera to make your photos more visually appealing. 

In my lengthy history of travel, I’ve often found there’s oftentimes nothing to do but wait in potential boredom for a transportation or booking task to proceed. Yet I’ve usually created beforehand a positive mindset strategy to think and act creatively for experiencing these slowdown waiting experiences as the present moment calls. Observe then the creative potential in the following photo set taken from our recent travels.