Let's Begin

Hello! I am Sensorial Wanderer. Obviously, that's not my real name, but it is very much who I am. These are the two most fundamental elements of who I am. I am neurodivergent, so my everyday life is heavily influenced by my sensory experiences. There's debate out there about how many senses humans have. It goes well beyond the 5 obvious ones I was taught in school. Most people have some awareness of the feel, sight, smell, sound, and even taste of their environments. The neurodivergent brain interprets these inputs differently than the neurotypical brain, and it frequently becomes overwhelming. But what about this debate on how many senses there are? Well, there are 2 or 3 that are commonly discussed that I'm going to include here. Because beyond that, I will get overwhelmed. And while this blog is to explore my sensory experiences, it's not about how many senses there are. But I digress. These additional senses are vestibular, proprioception, and interoception. Vestibular refers to balance. Proprioception refers to the awareness of one's body in space. Finally, interoception is the awareness of one's internal organs and body processes. The variation in how my brain interprets all of these inputs affects how I function and experience the world.

Okay, that explains the Sensorial part. What about Wanderer? This other fundamental element of my personality and life is my passion for experiencing as much of the world, or Earth, as possible. Traveling is my greatest passion in life. What is it about traveling that draws me? First and foremost, nature. Natural landforms in all their glory and splendor. The geology and geomorphology unique to each location lures me. I've studied these topics in college. Studying them is, to my mind, approximately 33% of the story. Seeing real-life examples is the ultimate goal. Someone who hasn't studied the sciences can still fully appreciate the beauty and wonder of rivers, oceans, beaches, volcanoes, and canyons. To me, it's the marriage of the sciences I've learned with the first-hand experiences of seeing them in person. It fulfills me. It brings satisfaction, contentment, and peace to my mind, body, and soul.

Next, my other interests of culture and language. The same principle guides me. I love to learn about all the cultures out there in the world. I love learning about languages and linguistics. I'm an aspiring polyglot. (I'm currently seriously studying Spanish. moderately studying German, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese, and dabbling in Russian and Swahili.) One can always learn so much more about a culture by being immersed in it. I want to understand people and their interactions with each other. By no means do I limit my acquisition of cultural knowledge to the cultures of modern society. I have a fascination of ancient cultures, too. To name a few, including some of my favorites and recent topics of study, the Mayan, Incan, Greek, Mongolian, and Egyptian civilizations. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. Something I will discuss in another post soon is when I had the opportunity to explore Mayan ruins in Belize a few years ago, which was #2 on my bucket list at the time. (I hope to explore other Mayan sites in the future.)

There's a big world out there. I crave to see it all. How nature and people interact through the ages. The effects we all have on each other. How landforms influence culture and society, and how people, in turn, affect those same landforms which give them life. The symbiotic relationships between land, water, plants, animals, and humans.

And now, I long to understand how my unique challenges and talents affect my understanding and experiences of the world. So here we are. Welcome to my adventure!

0.0 mile marker of Old 7 Mile Bridge, Florida Keys

Photo credit: Sensorial Wanderer, June 2023