What does your dream look like?

Olympic National Park, Washington by Frank Pali

Living a passionate life. That’s the goal. Sure, it takes focus and some sacrifice but the outcomes are unique and highly inspiring. Few people illustrated that more than writer and outdoorsman Jim Harrison. We highly recommend you do yourself the favor of reading the interview with him included below.

All of this month’s AllSwell Reads have a specific brand of passion running through them. Whether that means a pared down lifestyle on the road (trading stability for freedom) or creating a massive sculpture garden amidst a thriving jungle, they all start with a dream.

Which begs the question, what does your dream look like? Not sure? Start writing. Drawing. It’ll emerge. Know what it is but having trouble getting there? Same advice. Put pen to paper to create a vision and a plan.

 

#Vanlife, New Yorker

When did living in one’s vehicle become an aspirational lifestyle? Yes, it’s a thing. Full on. If you have any experience with Instagram, you know travel is an important part of the platform. People post the adventurous aspects of their lives with envy inducing captions, weaving their pared down existence into a digital moment. One facet of the movement (pun intended) is #vanlife - an ode to the simplicity of the open road. The New Yorker dives into its history and cultural significance in this comprehensive read. Click on, wanderers.

 


This Skyscraper Concept Would Heal Icebergs and Eat Carbon Dioxide,
Creators

This environmental architecture concept goes way beyond a living roof and some solar panels. The submission for eVolo’s annual Skyscraper Competition is a kick-ass climate fighting machine, able to cool Antarctic ocean water, scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generate electricity with saltwater and wind turbines. How does it work? Click on to find out.

 


Great Gardens: Las Pozas,
Nowness

When is a jungle also a garden? Enter Las Pozas and find out. Edward James’s 80 acre subtropical retreat deep in the rainforested mountains of San Luis Potosi, Mexico is nothing short of magical. There is a beautiful tension between its sculptures and the incredible flora, waterfalls and pools of the region. Take a peek into Las Pozas in this Nowness produced flick.

 

Travel Trend Report, Adobe

For their latest travel trends brief Adobe asked our founder Laura Rubin about the best ways to inspire environmental action via travel imagery without overwhelming your audience. Check out her thoughts on the subject, some gorgeous snaps from our time in Tahiti and their take on make-you-smarter stuff like emerging millennial travel habits, above.

Train Lust? Is That A Thing? We Guess So, BBC

There’s something nostalgic and a bit romantic about train travel and the Japanese have taken it to the next level (as they do). Check out the incredible craftsmanship of this luxury train and count us in. Climb aboard at the link above. 

 

Literary Crush Alert, The Paris Review

The Paris Review and the late writer Jim Harrison both have secure spots on the list of things I admire and adore. Here’s an interview with one in the other from the vault. It’s refreshingly long format, conducted over 5 days. Slow down, read and enjoy. You’ll be rewarded with gems like this: “In a life properly lived, you’re a river. You touch things lightly or deeply; you move along because life herself moves, and you can’t stop it; you can’t figure out a banal game plan applicable to all situations; you just have to go with the ‘beingness’ of life…”

Put your passion to paper with an allswell notebook...

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