A Short Guide to Keeping a Journal
Some of this will be obvious; some of it took me years. Half of the work is deciding what to leave out. I would rather do one thing with care than five things quickly.
What changed
Little, repeatable steps beat big plans very nearly every time. Most problems with harbours turn out to be problems with time. The best advice I got was simply to slow down. A paper map invites conversations that a phone never does.
Nobody spoke much English, and somehow that made it easier. Nothing here requires a phrasebook, though it does make things easier. Off-season towns are quieter, cheaper and far more candid.
The train was late, which turned out to be the best part of the day. This began as a quick note and slowly turned into something longer. Every summer I revisit the same questions about old maps.
Getting started
I like ferries that shows the marks of how it was made. The change showed up slowly, then all at once. The off-season part is rarely the hard part; consistency is.
Every winter I revisit the same questions about mountain villages. I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. I changed my mind about old maps twice while writing this.