I have been planning this trip for quite sometime now and it has just come to fruition. The dream was a winter out of the snow and somewhere near salt water, sand and sunshine. I am only semi-retired and not independently wealthy so there was a financial challenge to overcome. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..how to have it all????
I questioned my friends and acquaintances, scoured websites, and sent my prayers out to the Universe. I’ve been very intrigued with the concept of Workaway. Take a look at their website – so many opportunities around the world. In the end, I found an opportunity through a good friend of my mine with her sister in Mexico. For the next 4 months, I will be volunteering in Rocky Point, Mexico helping with their AirBnb business. Check it out here.
The first hurdle was to get there without spending a lot of money. Travelling across the USA for free. There had to be a way. I found it with Toronto Drive-Away Service. I applied online in September and heard back from them promptly. Early in October they gave me my assignment. I drove a brand new Honda CRV to Fort Myers, Florida for a couple of elderly snow birds.
It was a great adventure – driving across country on my own with the radio cranked high singing to the Beatles and a variety of 60’s music and other pop era’s. Yowza!!! This is not for the faint of heart. I hit every type of weather – lots of rain on and off, snow in West Virginia for a few kilometers, bright and blinding sunshine and then absolutely torrential rain on I-75 just a half hour from my hotel. It was terrifying as traffic slowed to nothing and no one could see. I quickly exited the highway and waited it out in a parking lot.
I drove 12 hours on day one and spent the night at the Holiday Inn Suites in Beckley, West Virginia that I easily booked on Hotwire and left a 5 star review on Yelp. I slept well and was up and on my way to Athens, Georgia very early the next morning. I arrived there 6 hours later. I spent a lovely day with my friend and mentor, left my luggage and drove another 12 hours to Fort Myers the next morning. Spent the night at the Hyatt Suites, met the couple (whose car I was) delivering at an airport shuttle office, took the shuttle over to Southwest’s Terminal and flew to Athens an hour and half later. Read my reviews of the Hyatt Suites and Southwest Airlines on Yelp.
Choosing what to pack and how to limit my luggage took lots of my brain power. I need warm clothes for the drive down and for my stay in March in Connecticut, boots and water shoes, clothes for being around the stables and clothes for fun, clothes for meeting clients………….I love my clothes. I had to limit myself to luggage I could manage solo and also the limitations of the airlines.
I know this is the time for me – time to get healthier, face my fears head on, ramp up the adventure meter and experience something new everyday. There’s no stopping me now.
The old tapes I suppose. What do I mean by the old tapes? Those are those thoughts that flow through our mind. Crap that other people told us or crap that we repeatedly tell ourselves? Can’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t. Yowzers!! How did that stuff get into my head?
I pride myself on a cup that is more than half full and often spilling over. I think that I am a “take charge, get it done, kind of Womyn”. I never leave dishes in the sink or laundry unfolded. I plan my meals, plan my grocery list, take time to cook healthy from scratch food, keep my home neat and tidy, stay in touch family and loved ones, remember birthdays and special occasions, make lists and check things off. Yup, you got it….I can busy myself with a lot of mundane details and tell myself that I was too busy today but tomorrow….no the next day….ok no….next week…. I’ll do it….cause I love it. What’s going on????
We called our goals sun rays and each ray was a stream that we wanted to pursue and follow. In this time I got my licence to marry couples and started officiating weddings. I was blogging very regularly and many of my ideas were unfolding . I started my training to become a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess). I was doing it!!! And… Then…I …Stopped !!!!!!!!! Right in the middle of doing what I was sure I loved and what I am still sure I love. What happened? One thing only….I got in my own way.
Sixty in the City 