Thoughts

Welcome to my adventures. Happy reading!

The Day the Travel Stopped

With the COVID-19 virus sweeping the globe, and the edict from my employer that all company-related travel is postponed until 4/30/2020… this effectively put a hold on my May vacation plans. If my work was back online May 1st, I could not in good conscience go on vacation May 7-16. That would not be good for my career, and that has to come first.

Having just come back from vacation on March 12th, I thought it would be a good idea to postpone the next trip to a later date – like August. But, that timing didn’t work with other work priorities. So, it was looking more likely to just cancel the trip for now. With everything planned out to the T, it was heartbreaking to cancel each hotel reservation. I will wait to see if United will extend their cancellation policy (it is, as of right now, only through 4/30.) I assume it will be extended so I can at least use my ticket for a future date.

As I canceled each hotel the sadness set in: when will this get back to ‘normal’? Is there a new normal? What about my other trip in September/October? My dog trips? My (gasp) airline and hotel statuses? Granted people are dying so I should not be worried about trivial matters like these. Trips are easily canceled, for the most part. Statuses will likely be extended since this is so far-reaching. But people’s lives is something we cannot get back.

Not sure when I will get on a plane in the future — as the cancellations of all things March and April continue, I know this will trickle into May cancellations as well. For now, I will stay home, work from home, and enjoy the company of my 4 wonderful dogs who are undoubtedly grateful for their extended time with me. Stay safe everyone.

A Chance Meeting

Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time. And, today was no exception. Some people make the world worth it just by being in it. And, today I got to know one of those people.

A chance meeting in the lobby of the Omni set off a fun evening with friends old and new. Connections are vital to my spirit, and this was renewing.

Work hard, play hard is my motto and I’m so lucky to have great friends in this industry who follow that same motto. Cheers to business and many more connections.

Thoughts on Your Journey

Today, after a wonderful day on the field with my dogs, someone said they were “jealous” of all my travel and the life that I’ve created for myself. I paused for a moment before responding because it certainly isn’t anything to be jealous of, in my opinion. I’m chronicling this in my blog to not only to share my adventures, but to open your eyes that you can do whatever you want to do. Sure, if you want to travel I have some tips. More than that I want you to live your life the way you want to – and if I inspire that, great! Or if you want to laugh at these misadventures, that’s great too.

Now, how did I respond to this person? Well, I smiled and said “you can do whatever you want with your life, so if you want to travel then do that.” This person said they “couldn’t” for a variety of reasons (read: excuses.) I nodded sympathetically, and did not counter their assertions. You see, whatever we believe is true for us. They don’t think they can travel, then they are right. They choose their reality. So do I. And, most importantly, so do you. Choose wisely.

A matter of focus

Here it is, the end of 2015, and I have not made any progress towards by #60by50 goal (60 unique countries by the time I’m 50 years old.)

But, I did reach my goal of visiting all 50 States! Yay!

While I have significant progress towards the #60by50, I missed an entire year of international traveling. So, I have to buckle down and focus on making a dent in some international destinations for 2016. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. I have started my vision board list with this goal: visit 3 countries that I have not been to in 2016. That is the GOAL. I will not miss on this. Utter commitment.

Where do I start? I have my list of all the places I want to see, ranked in order. But now what?

Here’s what I did:

Subscribe to e-newsletters/email lists:

– TravelZoo – offers weekly Top 20 travel deals

ProTip: Do Not subscribe to too many – you will be overwhelmed with information and cannot make a choice. Notice, I only listed one – the one I subscribed to – choose wisely. Most of these are FREE – some have premium options that require payment. Before you commit to paying, be sure you find the content valuable. Also, create a folder in your email, and send these emails there (use a filter,) so that your inbox isn’t cluttered.

Follow these pages on Facebook (Instagram was not in my plan, yet.)

– An Airline – because they often post their deals on Facebook before you will get an email about it! Choose one (or two or three) that service your closest airport. I chose Air New Zealand, lucky break – read on!

– The Points Guy – he offers tips about how to maximize your airline miles, hotel points, etc. He often shares offers and travel deals as well.

ProTip: Do Not follow too many – unless you want your feed to be bogged down and then you get sidetracked, and then… oh, I don’t know what I am saying, there’s great deals on Facebook.

Joined these groups on Facebook

– Just Get Out of Denver – in the likely event you don’t live where I do, there are usually other groups in your area – search Facebook for your city.

– Groups specific to my interests – I am not going to list these here, as some are private and some are about solo travel, which is not for everyone (and the subject of a future post.) If you like birdwatching and travel, there’s a group for that. If you like cruises, Disney, cooking, scuba diving, eco-adventures – there are groups out there for you to follow. You can be inspired in these groups, or find information on how to travel for your interests.

Now, I am being fed information about what I want to do – travel internationally. And, I did not have to spend hours on the internet, scouring “deal” sites, nor did I have to chance it with a travel agent. I am not against travel agents, if that’s what you want to do, cool – you do you. I like to research and plan my own travel, at my own pace. More on that later.

What’s in a number?

It has been one month since I set my #60by50 goal, and setup this blog. A wise woman once wrote: “Life isn’t about what you have; it’s about what you have to give” -Oprah – I have this quote ripped out of O Magazine, May 2007 issue, hanging on the wall of my home office. I look at it every single day I am home, and it propels me forward, along with my vision board, which occupies the same home office.

Vision board: it’s a collection of what I plan to accomplish in one year. I create this with my best girlfriends – the ones with whom you can be really vulnerable and deadly honest. So, for 2015 I added the goal of visiting the 2 US States that will satisfy the goal of visiting all 50 US states. As a side note, did you know the average American has only been to 8 States?

I was a bit stuck in how to get to my #60by50 goal – there’s a whole lot of countries out there…now, how do I choose which to visit first? And I have roughly 11 years in which to do it.

My point of mentioning the quote from Oprah is this – I want to give you the tools to achieve whatever goal you have in mind. If it’s travel, then I want to share with you my tips and tricks. To get unstuck, I put on some lively music, and did the following:

Made a list of every country I have visited to-date
Made a list of every country I want to visit in my lifetime, carefully sorting the list in the order of desire to visit. (i.e., my #1 place to visit is Bali.)
Tallied up the number of countries I have visited, and the subtracted that number from my goal of 60 countries.
Divided that number by 11 years (the number of years that I have to achieve it) – and this gave me the number of unique countries I needed to visit each year in order to achieve my goal.

Pro-Tip: I keep these lists in the notes section of my iPhone. It’s easily accessible, and easily updated.

I know you are dying to know my number, and here’s the thing… I am not going to tell you. Nope – that’s not the point of all this. My goal is just that – mine. It is not a competition with anyone else. It is not for comparison as ‘better than’ anyone else. It’s for me.

#60by50

#Experiencesnotthings

Back in 2009, while I was taking a break from the working world, I stumbled upon an article related to minimalism, that spoke to me in a profound way. The article suggested that the key to happiness wasn’t in accumulating wealth or material goods, but rather through experiences – new and varied. It was a breath of fresh air and just what I needed to rev-up my engine.

I’ve always been a fan of goals and achievement, whether personally, professionally, or with my dogs…and I’m a self-professed over-achiever. I mean, who doesn’t like to be at the top-tier of a frequent flier program (or hotel rewards program?) – all the perks! Then, in late 2014, I stumbled across a life-changing book: The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life, By: Chris Guillebeau.

So, I made myself a new goal: visit all 50 states. I recounted my many work trips, family trips from childhood, and of course, the awesome road-trips to numerous dog events since 2007. Cool – this goal is quite achievable – only needing two more states to complete the 50: Maine and Delaware. As luck would have it, I was slated to drive from Colorado to Cape Cod (with dogs in-tow) in the Fall of 2015. I can cross-this off my list, in a few short months! Yeah!

Hold up…now what? I’m going to achieve the goal of visiting all 50 states, and I know the all-too-real “funk” of reaching the goal and then not being motivated to achieve more. In 2016, I will turn 40. Yikes…40! I know I don’t look 40, but still – that’s halfway through life, right? I’ve always loved traveling and experiencing the world, not just the beautiful USA. I’ve visited numerous countries, so why not set a goal based on visiting more unique countries?

And, that’s where #60by50 was born. On that very dreary day in December 2014, after I finished a life-changing book, and committed to myself, and solely for myself the following:

I will visit:

All 50 States by Fall 2015 and
60 unique countries by the time I am 50 years old.