My Life Altering Solo Journey

I ended my year with the best thing I ever could have done for myself, I went after my dream. In early Novembers I headed to Istanbul for a few days, stayed in Nepal for 27 days, and then went back to Istanbul for a few days. During my trip I visited sacred sites, studied Himalayan Singing Bowl Therapy, went on a Yoga/Meditation Retreat, talked to the locals and fellow travelers, enjoyed the food, and took in the breathe taking views. I returned from my excursion feeling stronger than I ever have and so full of love, gratitude, and abundance. Someone asked me what my biggest take away was and I'd have to say that I am no longer afraid of going after what I want and need. I'm also much better about living in the present moment.

I decided I wanted to visit Asia when I first became serious about meditation and natural healing. What better country to visit than Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha? I practice and teach meditation. I also work as a vibrational healer with crystals and energy work. The idea of the chakra system comes from the East. Holistic forms of medicine are highly regarded in Nepal. I have a group of friends from Nepal and it was through them that I first became familiar with Singing Bowl Therapy. The singing bowls seemed like the perfect accompaniment to both meditation and crystals. I was enthralled by them and wanted to learn more.

The #1 thing that will keep you from living your dream is yourself. Get out of your own way with negative thoughts and baggage that drags your confidence down. The top thing that was holding me back was lack of abundance. I'm 55 years old and single and I never thought that I'd be able to get the money together to go to Asia. I knew that if I went to Nepal, I wanted to go for a month. Last spring I came to the realization that I had enough points on my credit card to cover the flight to Nepal. So I set the intention that I would manifest the trip for the late autumn of 2018. I met my intention halfway by making an extra effort to save and it seemed that the savings kept building.

What started out as a trip soon transformed into a sabbatical. As I was dreaming up all that I wanted to do while in the Nepal, I soon found that I was actually planning a Sabbatical. It started with the Singing Bowl class that I signed up for through the Kathmandu Center of Healing and grew from there. I also made plans to study yoga and meditation. Istanbul was added onto the trip to make the traveling easier. I had been there years earlier and had seen very little. I live at a spiritual center which is open to all religions and I made a point of lining up various sacred sites to see in Istanbul and Nepal. Lastly, I wanted to take in the healing energies of the Himalayas.

There were several things going against me to keep me from departing on this trip. The big thing that was making me consider staying at home was my health. I have relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis and I've been taking this really great drug to slow the disease down for the past 13+ years. It finally started negatively affecting my immune system late last summer. I decided that I would take it through October and start a new disease modifier when I returned home. Then the skin irritations turned into ear infections and I was feeling like I should call it off because everything just seemed to be getting worse. Even the neurologists were suggesting that I stay at home. Intention setting came in again and I set the intention that all would be well while I was away. I figured if worse came to worse I'd stay in the hotel room or book an early flight home, but I was going. Everything went fine while I was gone. I used a walking stick for the entire trip because I will admit that walking is quite challenging in those parts, but I didn't have any immune issues except for a nasty cold.

I must admit that just before I left I felt rather frightened. It was my first solo trip and my first visit to a 3rd World Country. Yes I'd flown alone, but I'd always met people when I arrived at my destination. I didn't know anyone. A lot of what you read about traveling can scare you. I read from several, including travel bloggers, that you get lonely traveling alone. I never felt lonely, ever! Want to make friends when you travel? It's easy, just smile, be friendly, and a sense of humors is ALWAYS good. I also read a lot about the dangers of doing this and that and the other thing in the travel books I was reading. If you are constantly looking for danger then you'll be sure to find them. I always felt safe and taken care of, even at night when I was alone on the streets.

So many people told me I was brave for taking this trip. I wonder why it is brave to live your dream? Living my dream has only made it so that I am in the process of building new ones and appreciating all the little things along the way!