Does Solo Travel Scare You? Do What I Did.

 

 How many times has fear held you back from doing something you really want to do?  Oftentimes it's more  that we care to admit.  Fear can paralyze us into not living our dream lives.  Of course not everyone can act on every little whim we have, like quitting a less than fulfilling job when we have a family to support, but with careful planning we can take steps to make our dreams into reality.

 

 Take for instance traveling. My dream of going to Paris began many years ago when I was in High School.  I love fashion and it was always a far off dream to visit the fashion capitol of the world.  I never thought I would actually go at that time since dreams like that for me were just that-dreams that could never be reality.  Then I turned 40 and for the first time I realized I will not live forever.  I set up a separate savings account and started putting away about $15 dollars a week into that account.  It was my "Paris Account" and I did not touch that account.  I found that I did not miss that $15 every week and although we could have used that money for daily expenses, that was the only way I was ever going to make my Paris dream a reality.  If you think you can't afford to take a big trip, I recommend opening up your own little savings account.  Put $5, 10, 15 dollars a week aside.  It may take a long time to save up enough, but it will be worth it.

     For the next seven years I kept building up that account until I had saved $3500.  Mind you my hubby had no desire to share my dream with me and being that I was determined to go I started researching going by myself.  I started searching for info on traveling to Paris solo and found that there is a whole lot of people my age that go it alone.  There are lots of bloggers and other websites out there just geared to solo travel.  I also did a lot of reading on the Paris forums on the Foder's website for about every bit of information geared toward Paris travel.  The more I researched the more obsessed I became.

     I had resorted to the fact that I would have to go it alone until my hubby saw a TV spot featuring a week long tour of Paris with a local tour company hosted by a local news celebrity.  Maybe this was my ticket!!  Why I never thought of this before I will never know.  I was afraid to go it totally by myself.  After all going to a foreign country where you don't speak the language is a little intimidating, but I was desperate to go and had the money all saved up!  Could this be the answer?

   
     I ended up going to an informational meeting about this trip and I had found my answer.  That night I paid my deposit and made my Paris dream a reality.  In the end I went on that trip not knowing a single soul and ended up having the time of my life.  Going on a group tour is the perfect way to see a place you dream about. It turned out I was not the only solo person on that trip and in the end I made a few friends too.

     I'm here to tell you that you should not let your fears stand in your way.  Life is too short for having any regrets.  Just because you have no one in your circle that shares your dream, does not mean that you can't go for it on your own. Check out the tour companies in your area. I'm from Wisconsin and this trip was trough Holiday Vacations. There is a ton of info out there on solo travel. One of the best blogs for solo travel is the Solo Traveler blog.  Or just do a Google search for solo travel and go from there.

     Don't let fear hold you back from fulfilling your dreams.  One way or another you can find a way to get there.  You just need to believe you can do it and you have to want it bad enough.

5 Things To Do When It's Too Darn Cold Outside

Winter.....I could definitely live without it.  I don't mind a little snow to keep the winter enthusiasts happy, but this -25 degree wind chill stuff is for the birds.  In fact I'm pretty sure that the birds don't like it either.  OK so maybe I should't say that since I'm not a bird.

Anyway, as I'm sitting in my nice cozy house writing this post I thought about my favorite non- device things I do when I'm stuck in the house on such a cold day like today.  There's probably 100 things I could be doing like maybe cleaning the basement, but those are just not fun and require WAY too much ambition.  No, a day like today should require as little ambition as possible.

Here's my list in random order

1) Bake some cookies-  I know what your thinking, you thought I said little ambition here,  I'm not talking about made from scratch flour and the messy kitchen type of cookies.  I'm talking about the frozen ready to bake kind that you bought in fall from the kid down the street who was raising money for new shoulder pads for the school football team.  Or maybe you have about 10 containers in your freezer from your own child cause your child didn't want to go door to door and you had to sell 15 containers. Bonus-your house smells fabulous!!

2) Get out your new adult coloring books and color-I love this adult version activity.  If you have kids this is a great thing to do together.  It helps me to stay out of the kitchen and not eat  those cookies I just spent all that time baking.  Plus it is really meditative to zone out and focus on staying in those intricate lines on the page.  I have four books that I rotate depending on whatever mood I'm in.  Some are not so easy and very detailed and some  are easy to create a masterpiece in a half hour.  Bonus-some books come with the pages perforated so you can frame and display your works of art all over the house!! Perfect for no talent artists like me.

3) Pick up an actual book and read-This is kinda a no-brainer in our house.  I LOVE to read and so does my daughter so I usually have at least one book from either the library, second hand store, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon within reach.  If I run out of books I can always raid my daughter's collection.   Bonus-even though you don't want to go outside, reading a book can take you anywhere you want to go.

4) Start or write in your journal-If you journal already this is just a friendly reminder to write a post today.  If you don't, start.  It doesn't have to be five pages long.  Even if you write one sentence to describe your day or one thing you are grateful for that's all you need.  Along the lines of this you could try a vision board or work on those Soul Collage cards.  If you've never heard of these, just do a google or Pinterest search for more info.  Bonus-you may learn something about yourself.

5) Take a nap-By now if you did all the things mentioned above you will need one.  If not take one anyway.  A short nap is a perfect thing to do on a cold day.  It feels good to crawl under the covers in the middle of the day.  This can be combined with number 3.  If number 3 makes you sleepy then don't feel guilty about putting that book down and catching some zzzz's.  Bonus-a little recharging never hurt anyone.

I know it's not easy to carve some time for yourself, especially if you have kids, but sometimes it's okay to have days like today.  So maybe I've changed my mind about cold frigid days like today...Ah maybe not.  I think I would rather be lounging outside my tiki hut in Bora Bora.  Heck, I can always bring along my coloring books and pencils, journal, and a book or two.  As far as the cookies go, well who the heck needs cookies when you're in Bora Bora!!

What do you like to do on those cold winter days?  If you live in Florida and have no idea what I'm talking about, this post is not for you!  Just kidding!!