Travel Wings Rustling

I had three things on my mind when I was single again.

1. Go to India
2. Do the Camino De Santiago
3. Work as a Trip Leader

India. India has been on my mind’s future timeline. I put in a lot of research and mapped out the different areas and ashrams I could visit. The orphanages I could help out at. I connected with everyone I knew who knew India and received their recommendations and support. A part of me really wanted to finally experience Mother India, as I know it’s not a vacation, but an experience.

After being newly independent and grounded for a few months, my travel wings were beginning to get restless. But I wanted to be smart about my choice and dip my toes back into traveling alone.

India, India felt like diving head first. I knew it would overwhelm as well as delight. But I also knew it’s shady reputation and the male dominant culture there. I talked to females and understood how I could do it alone. I could do it, but I kept coming back to how hard being a female there would be for me after being in recovery from recent traumas.

So, I told India I’d catch her when I was more strong, more prepared and ready for all she had to teach me.

The Camino De Santiago. I’d had this walk in my mind since, well, college. I minored in Spanish and in one of my history classes we studied the Camino. I remember, sitting in the front (of course), and writing that I would do this some day. **Bucket List Item**.

In my past relationship, it wasn’t just my bucket list, but our bucket list. So I had packed this pilgrimage across Spain away in my mind.

Now my life was back to being all about me, and my choices alone. So up swept this thought like, why not now?

Porque no? 

But before getting too absorbed into the idea of the walk I felt pulled to also seek out a new career. Teaching online is a great passion of mine and I love to connect with my students at the liberty of my own home. But I really was missing in-person connection. So I connected with friends who were traveling while getting paid.

Trip Leader. I’d always wanted to work as a Trip Leader for a company that takes young professionals on travel excursions around the world. I’d met one such company in 2012 in Costa Rica, and felt very connected to their mission and how they create culture rich experiences. I put a lot of energy into wanting this to manifest. . . but unfortunately I wasn’t hired.

Well, I can’t say so unfortunately, because it was actually fortunate.It was clearly not the right time for me to enter that market, that maybe one day I'll get to pursue. 

So with this career setback I was given space to breathe in the Camino. And this journey, this commitment, this (soul)cial experience, would begin in southern France and end in western Spain, Finisterre (the end of the world). It would last 35 days. It would be a physical practice and also a mental one. It would allow for breakdowns and breakthroughs. It would be the thing that refreshed me and returned confidence back to my heart.

It’s interesting how life works out.

We can think our world has ended, and then we can actually be strong enough to walk to the end of the world. 

We always have choices. And I’ve realized the value in sitting with my choices, giving them space, and letting the right choice unfold for me. It worked this time, at least, and I’ve got the confidence now that trusting the flow of life will continue to serve me.

Maybe, just maybe, you needed my story to give you the confidence to trust your own unfolding. Line up those choices. Write them down. And the best one, the one that’s meant for this moment, that one will manifest if you give it the space to breathe.