Traveling and why its cool...

This may or may not be a random blog for you to read but I am about to begin a month long travel spree all over the US.  It will entail San Francisco, Maui, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Miami.  Many of you know that I travel a lot for work and when I can find the time, I stay over a day or two in the locations to get a lay of the land and see what it is all about.  Even though I go to many of the same cities time and time again, it is always an adventure.  You see today I sit in a starbucks in Palo Alto,blogging, and tomorrow I will be doing project management in Maui.

I have taken subways, and trains to numerous destinations.  I have studied timetables and directions.  I have learned the difference between BART and Muni and CalTrain and know how to pull the information I need to get to destinations I have to go to.  Can you do the same?  You see some people look at traveling like a headache.  They think that life is all about the journey and getting there.  I can't tell you how many times I have been sitting in an airport and heard two couples bitching about getting to their destination, mis connected flights and not being able to enjoy their vacation on the beach. What they don't realize is that the vacation has already begun.  I always say, "its not the destination, but the journey"

If you don't travel or haven't taken a trip anywhere, I implore you to do so.  Get on a plane, train, bus or even take a road trip somewhere, anywhere.  Forget your time constraints and leave your expectations at the doorway.  The less expectations you have when traveling , the more you enjoy the journey.  If  there is one thing I have no regrets about, it is traveling.  There have been times I have been alone, maybe slightly frightened, but for the most part, I am able to pull my head together and begin to figure out that I am responsible for where ever it is that I am heading.  I don't count on other peoples help, however, I am not afraid to ask for it every so often.

When you travel, you get a sense of independence that you don't get from your job, your family or your every day life.  You can be someone other than yourself.  You can write your own movie script as you walk down some crowded street where no one knows your name and you feel the sunlight on your face and the trees crinkle under your shoes.  You can frame the the scene as you are on the train and look down the car and see the beautiful guy or girl carrying a bag or backpack as they look out the window and the light from the morning hits their face and you contemplate what they may be thinking about.

My point in all this is travel changes you and makes you grow.  It makes you adapt to a new way and not your comfort zone that so many people like to stay in.  Take a step out, breathe in the air, where ever you are and let your trip begin now.  Don't panic when you cant master a system but rather sit back and embrace it.  If you cant figure out a train system, or how to get from point a to point b, ask someone.  There is no better time than now, there is no better day than today.  Put on some good music and rather than become mindless, see how it adds to the soundtrack of the newest movie...Your life

Until next time...