Plan8 – The world as if it was in sections of 8

Hi folks, I have set a table for 8, and invite you to dine with me at my blog.

In recent days I have set my next quarter goals for the year, with 8 sections to measure. 8 walks / runs in a week, 8 meditation retreats in a month etc. You get my drift …

Today I want to offer my top 8 reasons for traveling Solo, with a group. There will be articles in the future on traveling with beloved family and friends. This one is not that one. I offer this to spur you to take your one life and share it with whomever and wherever you please.

1. Selfie pics. For those who have a precious iphone and ipad (and I highly recommend you have both for all travel experiences) you want pictures that make you look exquisitely photogenic. Not somebody else’s shot of how that building behind you should be centered in the picture. Yawn. Take hundreds of selfies, and send a few out to the universe via Facebook or your favorite blog and see how proud you are of how you look in front of whatever it was … J

2. Go where you want, when you want, and see what you want for as long as you want. If you take a lifetime waiting for this place on your bucket list, then enjoy it as you imagined it thousands of times before. Stand in front of that famous piece of art for hours …. or seconds. Walk the Great Wall of China or Hadrian’s Wall and take 5 days ….. or 5 minutes. Enjoy the bridges of Paris, if that is your dream (it was mine) and take the full 9 hours to walk by each one and take those mental pictures of yourself making your own dreams come true.

3. Who do you want to try on? Dress up for the day, donning your favorite (although not the most comfy) shoes you brought, put that exotic hat on your frizzy hair, carefully apply makeup as if this was your photo shoot to sum up your travel life, put on a skirt that is long and flowy and billows in the breeze, purchase that elaborate umbrella that makes a statement about what you love most in your life. Be sophisticated, lazy, exotic, thoughtful, stunningly attractive, and happier than anyone has the right to ….. Pick a feeling, dress for it and “wear” it all day.

4. Write your story. You are the central character in your life, and you want to write it in your language for your memory, and select stories that happen to you. Take time on the steps of an old cathedral, or at a corner café with a glass of French wine or Italian Prosecco. Enjoy the carved marble stones and ancient tree providing shade at Ephesus. Sit among the sunflowers or lavender fields in a meadow in Tuscany. Scribble in a journal bought for this adventure, or make notes on the ipad, or record in your free AudioMemos App on the iphone. Draw; find some water and paint, use color and expression. You will relive this moment for all time!

5. Eat gluten free, vegan dessert for breakfast. Be high maintenance with your food choices. Demand the best and try local foods to get a sense of the culture. Socca made of chick pea flour, fresh cucumber eaten as a baguette and dipped in fresh salsa or tapenade purchased at a market and enjoyed while lying on the beach sand, fruit fresh from the vine or tree local to the area. A whole bottle of a local wine in an artistic wine glass you purchased from an artisan. Is there vegan chocolate? Of course there is, find it and have it gift wrapped and eat it later.

6. Don’t wait or ask what the others are doing. Attend to every vacation with an open mind, and curiosity. I also will suggest that there is a reason you wanted to be in this place. Make a list of 8 items of interest you might want to check out while here. Then also be totally surprised at what you find as you search out those on your list. Best place to eat champagne infused sorbet, attend a free wine tasting and strike up a conversation in a language you don’t speak. Take the train to an exotic place you have never heard of before. Enter small boutique shops and compliment the staff, try on hats and take your own selfie (see item#1 above), laugh out loud.

7. Become confident in your own courage. This is a great opportunity to create a story you will retell in the years to come. Take some comfortable risks and celebrate that which shows up you would not have discovered if you had stayed on the well trodden path. I am not talking about danger here, rather, I am saying that the more you listen to your inner guide and follow to the edge of your comfort zone; the pleasure you will discover in your own abilities of navigation may astound and delight you. Even when traveling as a group, someone always suggests the outrageous (skinny dipping in the Aegean?) and you may never pass this way again J

8. Answer to no one. No whining, complaining, no ridicule or apology. This is your trip, your dollar or pound, your time and you get to love it just the way you create it. No one, not even you, is going to be critical of how you get to enjoy your very life.

Ps. You might want to remind yourself to live your life with these rules EVERYDAY!!

—
Pamela MacDonald
I am living my dream by connecting to others ….
My website is open 24/7

Travel Dreams come true …
http://www.PamelaMacDonald.cruiseshipcenters.com

My blog: http://www.og7tkr.com