Erika Johnson
Wanderlust.
Since my story began in the early 1980’s of North central Montana, I’ve been wandering like the southern Chinook winds that blew through town. When the opportunities arose, I road-tripped through the United States and toured western Europe by train. I walked among ancient Mayan ruins and consorted with limbo dancers in the Bahamas. I lived simply outside a National Park for a summer. Eventually, my hunger for new places and new faces landed me in Honolulu, Hawai’i, a place I felt I could really discover more about myself without the crutch of anyone I knew around to rely on. Everyone that loved me was 3,000 miles away. So I tried sushi and Thai food. I surfed. I started teaching myself guitar. I jumped off cliffs into sparkling fresh-water pools and marveled at waterfalls. I learned to dance Latin-style. I played underwater hockey and the Honolulu single scene. I discovered how single-minded people could be. I was turned on to printmaking and photography. I had my moped stolen. I switched majors. In my search to find my personal niche, I studied sociology and religion alike. I fell asleep, rolled up burrito-style on a beach, to a barrage of falling stars. I broke my heart and learned how to love again. I went all out for Halloween. I bicycled through monsoon strength downpours. I lived on granola bars and cans of guava juice for months at a time. I found work in my field. I learned stained glass and interned with amazing gallery design and administration personnel. I started teaching my craft. I made a website and discovered how satisfying boiled soy beans and a beer can be at the end of a long day of laboring. In the end, I know how much I value my family and the handful of good friends I’ve had the good fortune to keep throughout my wanderlust stargazing. I know that happiness, comfort in my own skin, is not reliant on a physical location or the accessibility of events or people. I know who I am. I wander, because I need something to look forward to. Life moves on; I just want to move with it.