I've always been a summer girl.
Give me long days, hot weather, a plane ticket and somewhere I've never been (or Italy) again and again and again—and I'm happy.
Summer has always felt like permission to loosen my grip a little.
To travel. To rest. To look around. To collect ideas without needing to know what they'll become yet.
This summer looked a little different.
My full-time job as a wedding photographer kept me incredibly busy, but it also took me to some pretty incredible places. Ireland. Italy. Florida. California. Atlanta. The Jersey Shore. And plenty of places in between.
I met people. Ate incredible food. Walked unfamiliar streets. Sat outside late into the evening. Noticed colors and textures and signs and outfits and tiny details that I probably couldn't describe now but somehow stored away in my brain.
Everywhere I went, I felt like I was quietly adding things to an imaginary dream board.
A color combination here.
A feeling there.
Maybe an idea for a future shoot.
Maybe the beginning of a spring/summer BOLT collection.
That's the thing I love most about travel. You don't always know what you're looking for until months later when you're creating something and realize exactly where the idea came from.
And somewhere in the middle of all that traveling, I also stopped wearing my Garmin.
Initially, this was less of a profound life decision and more because I lost the charger.
But eventually, it became intentional.
Work was busy. Life was busy. And for once, I didn't want running to be another thing I needed to measure.
No pace.
No mileage goal.
No checking Strava afterward to see what everyone else was doing.
No little screen telling me whether today's run was productive.
I ran when I wanted to run.
I rested when I wanted to rest.
And I remembered something incredibly simple:
I really, really love running.
Not because I'm training for something.
Not because I'm trying to hit a certain pace.
Not because Garmin tells me my VO2 max increased by one point.
I love the actual act of it.
I love that I can lace up my shoes in a place I've never been and suddenly understand it differently.
I love running past beaches and through tiny towns. I love turning down a road because it looks interesting. I love the strange intimacy of seeing somewhere early in the morning before everyone else wakes up.
I love the freedom of it.
Freedom to explore.
Freedom to think.
Freedom to feel.
And sometimes I think the best thing we can do for something we love is stop trying to optimize it.
Let it be fun again.
Summer reminded me that rest isn't the opposite of progress. Sometimes stepping away gives you room to notice things you were moving too quickly to see.
By the time summer started winding down, I didn't feel behind.
I felt full.
Full of ideas. Full of places and people and colors and memories. Full of excitement about running again. Full of inspiration for whatever Bolt becomes next.
And ready for fall training.
So this is my official endorsement of the Garminless Summer.
Lose the charger if you have to.
Take the trip.
Run because you feel like it.
Look around.
You never know what you'll bring home with you.