Holly Starley's Rolling Desk

Home
Notes
Chat
BYOE
From the Road
Foibles and All
Meet People
Join In
Archive
About

By Van, Foot, or Bike. Stories on Roaming (+ Travel Tips)

A Pig in the Woods and Other Outcomes
“A hog?” He was incredulous. “What’s a pig doin’ in the woods?” I laughed. “A hawk,” I said, like it rhymed with lock. “You know.” I held out my arms…
 • 
Holly Starley
17
A Door by Any Other Color
High on the faraway pinions tickling my nostrils, I barely even felt the jolt of contact. So, when I turned to youthful eyes watery with remorse, I…
 • 
Holly Starley
31
Of Bears and Ants
“Her head”—Jill made a wide oh with her arms—“fit like this.” She breathed as if to fill her nostrils with the musk of fur and sighed like a purr. I…
 • 
Holly Starley
13
Looking for Love in All the Places
A lake called Ghost, a watching hawk, and tiny frogs formed from soil and bark are pieces of the setting for the drafting of a letter. The draftee, a…
 • 
Holly Starley
31
Mike D and the Exquisite Jade Lincoln
For two hundred days, I wore a turtle’s shell on my back. I walked, and I rode, and I walked some more. I slept in hostel bunk beds, in fields, and on…
 • 
Holly Starley
15
Baltimore Blue
I’m sure I envisioned a table, steaming blue crab piled high. New friends, eyes and lips glistening with candlelight, melted butter, and story. I’m…
 • 
Holly Starley
33
One Man's Repot Lot
I’ve just turned the kettle on for tea when a knock sounds on the van’s side barn doors. I tense for an unpleasant exchange. The pandemic has changed…
 • 
Holly Starley
28
5x5. Leather for Rubber: Megan Okkerse on walking the Camino de Santiago and me on rolling in vanlife
Walking the Way has been on my (extensive) “someday” list ever since I learned of the Camino de Santiago in 2013 (when I edited The De-Caff Camino, a…
 • 
Holly Starley
31
No Room in the Forest
“Do you carry a gun?” Bemusement becomes concern on his leathery face. I quip something like, “So far, no one’s had to find out.” It’s not the first…
 • 
Holly Starley
19
Suddenly, Not Alone
Pinpricks plunge through my limbs. Whoosh, whoosh, the aria of my blood’s current: Someone else. Close. Probing.
 • 
Holly Starley
21
Meet Ruby van Jangles and Me and Introduce Yourself
Hi there! Come in, come in. You’re welcome here. I hope you'll find the Rolling Desk like being lonesome in a crowded space only to find deep connection…
 • 
Holly Starley
79
Witness to the Next Shooting (Only a Matter of Time)
The blast was loud—like a firecracker when you’re sleeping, like glass shattering when you’re home alone. And and and still, it had that expected…
 • 
Holly Starley
30
© 2024 Holly Starley
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture