"Take a leap. You are a star; the universe will catch you and place you in the sky where you shine the brightest." - Savannah Wishart
As a photographer and writer, our Luminary Savannah Wishart has combined her love for the arts with a passion for yoga and adventure. Currently traveling the world, she enlightens us all on what being a nomad has done for her on a spiritual level.
2012 was my last year at university and my third year doing CrossFit. In February, I did something to my back (I still don't know what that something was, but it was temporary) and decided it was time to try something less intense. Enter yoga! Candlelit vinyasa flows captured my heart.
From then on, I practiced yoga while I tried working with yogis all over. Eventually I stopped striving to photograph others with the realization that my practice was beautiful enough that I could be my own model - this revelation erased limits and transformed how I saw myself. Imperfections and all, I could be a "model," too.
bout yourself? I am totally, unconditionally in love with my sense of adventure and my desire to always search for more to satiate my childlike curiosity. I strive to make that search a positive one - not coming from a place where something feels like it's missing - but coming from a place of never ending growth and expansion. I love my fearlessness when it comes to traveling and exploring the world on my own. There are, of course, other areas of my life where fear creeps in. But I'm grateful that travel is not one of them.
I say unconditional, but we all have those dark days - some more than others. I travel because when I stay in one place for too long, the sparkle fades from my eyes and I stop being curious. So, I pack my bags and go - off to uncover that curiosity that fuels my passion, and to fall in love with myself all over again.
Maybe that's what makes it so special - when I forget how to love myself in the darkness, I always get to experience the butterflies of falling in love. Over and over and over again. The key is to limit the darkness so that you don't lose sight of the burning fire.
What I love, too, is that I have a pure, and very raw, heart of only the best intentions. This has been a hard one to love because when I run my own business and put too much heart into it, I open my energies and become vulnerable to the wrong people. But this has shown me how good my heart really is, when there are so many hearts that have been tainted by greed and pain.
Alaska. Across the U.S. Australia. Canada. England. France. Germany. Italy. Morocco. Netherlands. Portugal. South Africa. Spain. Sweden. Switzerland.
It's so hard to choose a favourite because each place offers something completely different. I loved Australia for the pure nature and so much land untouched by the modern human. The purpose of the trip makes a big difference too. I went to Australia with my family when I was 16 to meet who I thought would be the love of my life (we'd been talking online for a couple of years). Needless to say, I learnt a lot and it had nothing to do with the country.
Experiencing Morocco (alone as a blond) was the most difficult trip of my life, but it opened my eyes to gender equality on a broader level.
I knew from the moment I booked my trip to South Africa that it would blow everywhere else out of the water. I've only been here for two days (volunteering my photography and marketing services to a vegan training centre), and I've seen monkeys jumping through the trees, giraffes grazing, and an endless abundance of healing nature.
Next up will be Serbia, and everywhere in Africa and India.
Ever since I was born. Literally. I was born in a little town in northern California, but that was only my home for the first couple of months of my life. My parents picked up seasonal jobs working for the National Park Service, so we moved around fairly regularly. I spent 5 years (7 - 12 years old) in a house in the mountains, and then 4 years (13 - 17) in the suburbs of Denver, closer to my high school.
Five years is the longest I've lived anywhere, and I can't imagine living somewhere for five years ever again! School tied me down to Santa Barbara for 3 years, but I sped up my already accelerated bachelors program to graduate 2 months ahead of schedule. And I created my own class so that I could backpack around Europe for 2 months and get credit for it.
Then came my dream of leaving the U.S. and never coming back. I made my way to England, took off on a road trip with a stranger across Europe, parted ways after a week at the southern tip of Germany, made my way down through Switzerland and Italy.. and then spent 2 months volunteering at a detox yoga retreat in Portugal.
From there I made my way to London, almost went back to the U.S. (is there anything more miserable than a London winter?). But I met an amazing guy, so I found a way to stay and woo his heart. That was nine beautiful months of going after what I wanted and getting it. I was shooting for my dream client in London, photographed my first cookbook with Paleo Magazine, was so in love, and I was living abroad. Anything and everything was possible.
Even though we've been in the U.S. for two years, we have never committed to living in one place. My dream ever since I can remember was to leave the U.S. after coming back. 2015 was a difficult year when I faced the disappointment of that broken promise, so I packed my bags and headed to find a new home in Sweden.
Sweden is perfect, despite freezing dark winters - because flights are incredibly cheap all over Africa and India. I will always be a nomad, so I know that Sweden is just another step on my way to uncovering what I really want to do and where I truly want to be. I have built my business around being able to live independent of location, so I can go wherever my heartstrings tug.
Follow your heart. Dream big. Make goals to reach those dreams. Travel often. And magic. That's the key ingredient that binds all the other things together, after all. That's all I need in my life, and I love waking up thinking how awesome my life really is! How's that for a reason to wake up in the morning?!
Knowing that something I do will make a positive difference in someone's life. Something I write or say or do has the power to inspire someone to follow their dreams or see the world in different light. Even if I don't put those words out into the world immediately, waiting to click publish, I can feel the momentum build up into what I know will be a creative storm, ravishing the world with inspiration - as soon as it's released.
Travel, travel, travel. I can't recommend it enough, and there are affordable ways to make it happen. (Feel free to email me if you want some trip planning help - I love to help people find ways to make their dreams come true!)
I struggle with depression somewhat regularly. In the darkest moments, I have inflicted physical pain as a way to try to have control over the pain I feel.
Travel is the one thing that I know will cure me. Wherever I go, I have to take care of myself. I have to wake up in the morning and drag myself to the store so that I can eat. No one else will do it for me. Slowly but surely, it rebuilds my confidence and reminds me of my strengths.
Depending on how you travel (volunteer, for example), there is the opportunity to try new things and discover what you're best at - what can you give to people that they need? It gives you the support of a positive community that benefits from your help, but also has the patience and flexibility to learn as you go (rather than having paying clients who expect a specific end result).
My inner fire is helping someone's dream come true. Connecting all of the bullet points between where you are (point A) to where you want to be (point Z). So often, we think of getting from point A to B, but there are so many small details that require our focus in between. It's not something to be overwhelmed over... more than that, it brings ease to the process because you don't become frustrated when the path from A to B is more complicated than you thought.
I have to say the Deer Love leggings 'cause I love animal spirits.
Savannah Wishart,
Owner | Primal Revolutions
