Traveling is healing

02/13/2017

Who likes traveling? I do!! But believe it or not I know probably just a few people that don’t. All I can say is that they are missing a big healing opportunity in their lives. Of course for everybody travelling is not healing, relaxing or therapeutic. Some people just get so stressed out that they need a vacation from their own vacation. Well, that is not my case.

When I was a kid I really didn’t travel that much with my family, so my first big trip was to Florida. As I was struggling with social awkwardness in life during my elementary years, didn’t my mom have the best idea to send me on a tour with a bunch of kids?! I know she planned the whole thing in advance and made sure these people were safe and knew them, but for an 11-year-old girl it was scary. But I really did not have a choice pretty much. I had to go and have fun. I never am going to forget how weird it felt to be without my mom or family at the airport in Lima.

Well, I have to say I am so grateful for that opportunity. That trip changed me, healed me and another me came back to Peru. That trip, as scary it was at the beginning, opened my eyes to something new and different from what I was used to. My fear of people disappeared; the shy me started to go away, and joy started to show up more often. That trip woke up my passion for Disney. I got to go to Disney World, Wet and Wild, NASA, and other places. Just enjoying that life from mine, living in hotels for 15 days, and experiencing things was great. When I went back home, I think it was a different me.

After that experience, I was fortunate that my mom could send me quite often to the United States in the later years. I got to visit friends in California and Florida and discovered how unique this experience was. I have taken tours on my own and with friends, and all of them have been great.

My 2001 trip to Colorado was not for fun necessarily, but I did have fun. I had a goal to meet that I was to learn English, and the best way was to immerse myself in that culture. Back then I was going through a hard time with some relationships, and this trip couldn’t come from a better opportunity. This time I got to be an AuPair. Imagine how afraid I was the night before my trip; I was almost sick to my stomach. I was ready to leave home and have a whole new adventure in Colorado with a totally strange family. This family opened their doors to a completely strange young lady who used to smoke and did not really like kids that much, but it was meant to happen. I spent the next year with them; I enjoyed taking care of this little girl who now is in college. That is freaky!! I can’t believe it has been that long. My host mother introduced me to my new friend the cosmopolitan cocktail, and I got to have a dog for a year. That year helped me heal, and the best way was meeting my husband, my partner in crime, in the early months that I arrived here. I learned a whole new language, dated, got to know the culture and made some amazing, long-lasting friends. As hard as it was to be away for such a long time from home, I had to focus to remain positive not matter what.

I have never had the opportunity to do a big road trip, and thank goodness I married someone who also enjoys travelling. In 2013 when my amazing aunt from Peru came to visit me, we all hopped in my white Rav4 and drove for a total of 3 weeks. We went to a dinosaur museum in Grand Junction and to Las Vegas (my first experience of 115 degrees; oh my God, I almost died). We went to Disneyland and other parks and had an amazing time. This trip was a healing for my aunt as we lost my grandmother (her mom) just a year before. We went to visit my mother-in-law in Tucson, came back through Santa Fe, NM and back to Denver. What an amazing trip!

When I turn 40, I had a choice of a tummy tuck or cruise; well which one did I pick? Disney Cruise!! Not being sure if we would like to be in the middle of the ocean much, we just picked 4 days. Let’s say that by the end of the 4^th day I had literally tears in my eyes; I did not want to leave that place. I have just become obsessed with getting on another cruise. The cruise was a totally different experience; we met many people and really had a blast. Among those people we met, there was this guy, LOL, who proposed in front of an entire cruise to his fiancé. OMG! That was very cool. We got to know him and for our pleasure he was a travel agent. Yay! And I had the pleasure to call him our travel agent.

Dave has his own business, Disco Travel Company, and as soon as we left the Disney Cruise we had our eyes on him. Sometimes I felt that we bothered him so much, but according to him this is his passion, and he actually enjoyed answering all our silly questions. We asked for another cruise experience but wondered if we could afford another and when it would this happen. Well, we were in good hands. Dave set us up for our next amazing and super healing cruise experience. He found an excellent deal that we could not pass on.

As 2016 goes, it has been a roller coaster. We got a few extra trips in and also had pretty bad moments last year. As our marriage gets hit with our hardest moments ever and starts to crumble, we decided to take the trip that our friend Dave set up for us as a family. That trip, let me tell you, it was far beyond imagination. The cruise we took was amazing, different from what we were used to. We were exposed to many different cultures, excursions and healing. What a wonderful time. Now I would love for Europe to be our next destination; let’s see what Dave can do for us.

As I don’t recommend depending only on trips to heal and enjoy life, if you can do it and take your kids with you, it is such an amazing experience to be exposed to something else other than your daily routine. This blog is not only to promote my Life Coaching business but is also to promote other small businesses that have made a difference for me. So here is Dave’s information; he really was very personal, and I didn’t feel that he was all about sales: Dave’s Company name: Disco Travel Company. Website: www.discotravelcompany.com

As I look forward to planning a future trip to Europe, remember to always look for that place that fulfills your heart that might look different for you. Maybe the lake in front of your house, the trail in your neighborhood, the mountains, the beach or your own house, make it happen! Remember it can be done. Whether you break the bank or not, get away from the routine and enjoy this gift of life.

Know the world

Me