Go ahead, stand somewhere you're uncomfortable once in a while. It can be terrifying, freeing, and there's always the off chance you might see something a little differently.
Edging as close as I dared to the brink of the Cliffs of Moher was an interesting experience; I'm not terribly afraid of heights, and the sheer scale of everything in the area made it very difficult to take any of it seriously. You know that niggling feeling you get, when you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong in a movie scene, until you eventually realize that the backdrop is a very clever painting? If it weren't for the blazing light streaking around the pockets of clouds, I don't think my brain would have ever moved past that conclusion. Just one long watercolour skyline, artful oil-painted bluffs, and a fall that surely had a big blue crash pad just out of shot. Weird and wonderful to think that something can be so very large and awe-inspiring, that your intelligence actually stops functioning properly and grasps at any explanation other than what you are looking at is completely real.
These pictures don't show that dizzying scope — just the burgeoning inferno sky that provided me with enough mental ground not to topple, confounded and unaware, off the cliffs. I stood on a small outcropping of rock for these shots, after climbing over a retaining wall. This is not recommended of course, but when it comes to travel, you may be picking up the feeling of do as I say and not as I do from my posts, and you'd be about right.
In the evening, everyone leaves. You can walk right by the admission fee gates, up to the edge of the world; no one is there to block your view, and no one will disturb you as you listen to the wind and the waves and watch the sky burn quietly.
Off season and off peak time is the best way to travel, and moments like this are exactly why. I've seen photos of O'Brien's Tower and the Cliffs of Moher in the day, and let me tell you a not-very-secret secret... I like them better like this. There are absolutely times and places where mingling in crowds is the best way to experience culture and enhance your adventures, but sometimes, you just want to sit and hang your feet from a precipice while pondering being minuscule in the face of the majesty of the planet all by yourself.
Come take a deep breath, and stand with me for a second.
Here's a photosphere that shows a view of where I climbed down the rock face. You can just see the beginning of the stone ledge as you pan away from the tower. Speaking of faces, if you keep spinning all the way around, you'll see the random gentleman I found on Google taking the shot; he has his best selfie duck lips on for the occasion. Little bit of a bonus for you — I'm good like that.
As always, be safe and be smart, but be curious and be humbled. We tend to open ourselves as the world opens to us, but usually, it's not the world that makes the first move. Try the things that scare you, but don't feel like a failure when you don't. It's always, always in the journey.
I'm going to try to post more, I promise. I have loved each and every one of the personal messages I've received, encouraging me to share more photos. This too is a work in progress, but we're going to get there. <3
All of these photos, stories, and words are my own original work, inspired by travels all over this pretty blue marble of ours. I hope you like them. 🌶️
Hi, I'm Crimmi. I help run a top 30 Steemit witness, along with my project partner @followbtcnews. Feel free to reach out to us on Steemit Chat or Discord at any time! If we haven't earned your vote yet, please take some time to look at our tools and our work — place a vote for followbtcnews if you feel we're doing a good job.
!steemitworldmap 52.971615 lat -9.430503 long Sunset at the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland D3SCR