Travel Awakenings

As a woman, I have fearlessly traveled alone, no matter the country, as I go with the flow and share  life’s deliciousness through travel with others.  This particular morning while in Europe in route to a speaking engagement, w ith backpack thrown over my shoulder, I  easily navigated the local trains in Berlin to get myself to it main station,  Berganhaauf . I could have easily taken a taxi, but what fun would that be.  I was at the station in plenty of time so decided to browse the shops located on the many levels before finding a quiet corner to enjoy a local beer and watch people rushing from one place to the next. The train platform was pretty full, yet I had reserved a seat the day before since trains from Berlin to Prague  were not as frequent   as to other cities.  The car was decorated in shades of crimson and burnt orange with comfortable seating, retractable tray tables and electrical outlets.  My window seat afforded m...

I didn't have much time in Dublin, arriving in late afternoon and leaving the following morning. I certainly was not at a loss for things to do, with advertisements galore in the tourist pamphlet I picked up off the ferry. First things first, check into my nights accommodations.  I smiled when the taxi turned down Harcourt Street, probably one of the prettiest streets in the city. I usually go with the flow, but had picked this place off the internet, having no idea if the pictures they had posted on the travel site were dated.  The exterior of the Albany House, a multi-story brownstone decorated in Georgian style, did not disappoint. The staff was happy and helpful, the room large and the price reasonable. My room was up ruby red carpeted stairs. I opened the door to find modest, yet tasteful furniture amidst ornate Georgian moldings adorning 16+ foot ceilings. The room was very clean and the bath modernized, yet I felt as if I had stepped back in time. The location w...

When I travel solo, it's for months at a time. It began in the 1990's  to places like Europe, Mexico, Central and South America. I would schedule my long trips around my tech gig downtimes, ensuring that I was at mom's for the holiday.  My travel over major holidays started after my parents passed away about a dozen years ago.  I can tell you that this is not the same as getting on a plane to go to your mom's house across the country. When you travel for months at a time, you learn to avoid the business travel days and do not budge during the holiday week. I've spent Christmas in the Amazon, Central America, South America and Mexico. I think you can see the trend here with me opting for warm climates where I can swim and soak in the culture of some of these out of the ordinary places.  I will point out that I also try and connect to volunteer opportunities while in these locales. When I travel, it's typically with a backpack,  finding my people in l...

I travel a lot, both in my career as well as when I'm off assignment and volunteering. On assignments, like the one in 2017, I flew to Boston every week. It is nothing to spend several thousand dollars on airfare for a last minute flight only to turn around and have to change it. This causes huge fees, but when you are traveling for work, it's not on your dime.  When traveling for spiritual development and having to pay for airline tickets out of my own pocket, however,  I use all avenues to save cash by utilizing a couple of techniques.  Airline Credit Cards The credit cards that I have are all tied to some airline points system. You'd be surprised how fast points add up until you have enough for a free ticket. Most offer incentives like enough points for   at least one round trip on  sign up for that card.  Many offer different classes of service with super saver specials when redeeming miles on less used flights to fill up the aircraft. A...

As I celebrate my 6 year anniversary of the first true Vipassana I attended, I am posting an expanded version of the article I wrote a year ago in the hope that it will find you when you need it, now especially as most people are seeking something more. T hese multi-week  Vipassana's can be challenging even for someone like me who has g uided meditations and lectured on energy and other modalities for years. For those who are unaware, a Vipassana is insight into the true nature of reality. Below was my experience  at the Vipassana Center in Northern California in late November and early December 2013. It's about discovering inner strength and eliminating the misery that plaques most of our minds. Now, I had been off-the-grid in the woods silent for a few days before, but nothing can compare to this experience of being silent and meditating for 10 days alongside forty other people. When my friends and family heard that I was going, they all laughed at th...

Bohemian travel is not new to me as I immerse myself in the culture for the experience of it all. And  I've trekked through lands and stayed in places with dirt floors and no windows where the only thing keeping me separated from the natural inhabitants of the insect variety was a thin layer of netting. These are the nights where my full head of curls is securely tucked into a large stocking cap. That's to be expected as I travel alone for months at a time in the middle of the Amazon jungle, in the Andes where the coca tea is abundant, or hanging with locals doing Ayahuasca in remote areas of Brazil. Okay so no one has ever accused me of being a girlie-girl  all  the time. When booking through a travel site for a stay in a US based hotel, however, I do expect a somewhat comfortable bed with the amenities advertised in the posting, even in 3 star  accommodations .  So what happens when you get to your hotel after midnight and realize that it was a h...

2015:  You can say a lot about the place where the Berlin Wall stood, now not more than a tourist attraction visited, I'm sure by millions. Although I arrived too late to visit the Checkpoint Charlie museum, I did spend time at this remembrance, sitting with a cappuccino at Einstein's Kaffee, watching all the tourists. It was a great place at the high back stools at the window counter, providing a birds-eye view of the checkpoint and tourists. All and all, I was not too impressed and kept waiting for a sign of something more significant. It came in the form of a small collisions with a young man. When I apologized in English, he smiled and said "No it was my fault." It was in that moment that I was spurred to ask a question about the Berlin Wall.  The tidbit he shared was not in any guide book and I was grateful to receive it from a perfect stranger, a local. I knew that the wall was most probably close to the checkpoint and I was right, although I could not se...