“Traveling. How do you do it?”

Do you just appear into nowhere or do you have something specific to travel? That is, do you have a specific ritual that helps when traveling or just materialize wherever?

Lemme get the required cliché done and out of the way. “It depends.” There, now that I’ve thrown that card in the pile, I can seriously answer your question.

If I’m starting with Willful Intent to travel, yes, I do have a few sets of habits/rituals to get me from this world to over There. Grounding for travel is different than grounding to center. The former is packing my backpack, while the latter is dropping unnecessary stuff. Depending on where I want to appear over There, there may be place-specific chant, a series of physical movements, or just putting my head down like I’m about to take a nap. Most of the time, I have no music playing to help me along. If my surroundings are particularly bright, I’ll cover my eyes. The purpose of the cantrips is to willfully disassociate myself from Here.

If I know a place well enough over There, I can jump from this world to that world without intermediate stops. (Unless I’m interrupted mid-travel. Amazing how much can happen in “five hot seconds”.) My usual landing points are my lair (in debate whose lair that is, mine or Snake’s), the World Tree, or a private space that I’d rather not talk about. At one time, I used to be able to jump directly to the Svartalf’s chambers, but after I was given my current cave, I lost that ability. From those three points, I can venture out to where my final destination is in the Dreaming. Sometimes I can walk/fly/port on my own, such as to Ravenwoman’s Boneyard. Sometimes I need help to navigate difficult areas, like Stormhoof bringing me through the Forest of Shadows.

Most of my sleeping dreams are Unintentional Travel. No matter how hard I try to tie my ass down in the bed, to make sure I don’t go a-stepping, I wind up going over There anyway. I’ll close my eyes, feel hypnagogia start to set in, then a rush of sudden movement. I’ll open my eyes and I’m standing on a cliff, or I’m walking through the salt flats, or I’m sitting at a dining table. I’m anywhere but in my bed. I’ll be at the mercy of the dream then, not always able to use my “Oh Shit” cantrips that would forcibly bring me back to Here like it would in a Willful Travel. Lucidity is no guarantee of dream-control.

When I do use music to assist with traveling, it is with a firm intent in mind. Certain albums I have listened to until I’ve memorized every note, beat, and chord. The music helps keep me focused on the task as well as providing a timer. As the album ends, it recalls me back to Here. That’s the plan anyway.

And we all know what happens to plans, don’t we.

If you have more questions, or if I’m unclear (If? HA!), please ask.