REAL TALK WITH DANIELLE- Setting Intentions for RTW Travel (A Beautiful Day in LA)

We landed in LAX at 11:30 AM last Monday morning. As soon as we got outside the airport, my spirits lifted. I have seasonal depression and I promise you that no amount of Vitamin D pills or therapy lights can do what the actual sun does to me in a tropical environment. I literally can feel my soul return to my body from hibernation. It feels like joy pulses from my heart to all my extremities. I know that sounds cheesy. I don’t care. That’s how intense it feels to me.

We stayed with our friend, Patrick, who lives in Venice Beach. While Patrick was at work, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant called Sunny Spot. I cannot recommend this place enough. Yes, it has LA prices ($14 for guacamole, WTF?!), but... the vibe is a very cute bohemian-style with lime trees decorated in Christmas ornaments, the customer service was superb, and the food was OUT OF THIS FUCKING WORLD. We started with chips and salsa. I don’t know how, but they made this taste like homemade melt-in-your-mouth glory chips with a side of spicy, but not too spicy, in fact perfectly seasoned tomato happy sauce. And then the cobb salad was this perfectly portioned mixture of hardboiled egg, tortilla strips, avocados, romaine, and they didn’t skimp on the chicken situation! Actually there may have been other ingredients but I don’t remember because I just inhaled it. And the dressing was this “avocado-thousand islandy” tasting mixture? I don’t know, but it was BOMB. I would also like to submit this paragraph as my application to be a judge on Top Chef because I think the American people would appreciate the positive perspective and charm I bring “to the table”. LOLOL get it??? Moving on...

After eating our weight in food at Sunny Spot, it was time to go on our first long walk with our packs to the apartment in Venice. Terrance’s pack weighs 34 lbs and mine weighs 23 lbs. It will definitely take some getting used to, but I felt pretty good about traveling for a half hour with that load. We visited the boardwalk on Venice Beach. This place was a very intriguing intersection of many different walks of life. There were quite a few artists stands, and a sizable population of immigrants selling goods. Every 10 feet, the storefronts were blasting some bumping tunes. There was a little bit of tent city going on, and, notably, the opioid crisis has impacted this part of the city. Watching the sunset was gorgeous - the entire sky was vibrant with the colors of the rainbow. The highlight for me was the skate park. There were incredibly talented skaters, and it was mesmerizing to watch that kind of athleticism.

We met Patrick for dinner, and I had my first experience at In-N-Out Burger. I ordered off the not-so-secret menu, and ordered the “Animal Style” burger, which did not disappoint. This place is basically McDonalds, but my stomach didn’t feel terrible afterwards so I’m #grateful. We headed back to the apartment and Patrick asked us something really important: “What are some intentions you have for this trip?”

Wow, was that a refreshing question! We’ve been talking to a lot of people about this trip and I don’t think anyone had asked us this (except my therapist). Travel for me is more about the experience than it is about “traveling”. Yes, seeing new places, meeting new people, and eating tasty food is fun. But, for me, the real magic of travel is in the growth that has occurred every time I’ve gone. I’m talking about mind, body, spirit. And privately, I’ve done some really important intention-setting work that I’m glad I was able to say out loud. It made it a bit more real.

So here is the context: This trip wasn’t planned spontaneously. Most of you know that I’ve been planning this trip since I was 13 years old. I kept waiting for the right time to do it. I felt too afraid after high school. I almost went after college, but chose to start my master’s degree instead. When I graduated, I wanted to do this trip with Terrance, but he needed some time to save money. The most recent milestone I’ve achieved is receiving my license in mental health counseling. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. Having this license gives me a lot of career and financial freedom. I also stumbled into teaching voice lessons during the last 3 years. In sum, I’ve finished the end of a long trajectory of academia and training, and I can finally start the next chapter in my adult life. Buying a house, getting a dog... But before we start doing things that will require rooting ourselves, we wanted to do this trip. As a lot of people have told us, there probably won’t be another time in our lives like this. We don’t own much and we don’t have a lot of responsibilities. This is the time to do it.

So what is my intention? I want to just “be” for the next 6 months. I haven’t taken a break like this ever in my life. I have always been on a trajectory toward something, whether it was being an actress or being a therapist. There is not a trajectory anymore and I want to simmer in that. At home, I’m typically very goal-oriented - making checklists, planning for the future, etc. It’s only when I physically leave the state of Massachusetts that I’m able to chill out and remember who the fuck I am. On vacation, I almost feel like a different person. My creativity flourishes when I leave. I wrote most of my musical, Special, while on a trip to Italy.

What I really don’t want is to fall into the same goal-setting behaviors I do at home. There doesn’t have to be a goal or an intention right now. In fact, the intention is to see what life is like when there is not an intention. It’s been tricky so far. I’ve already considered ways to monetize this blog. I’ve researched a lot of information on SEO and marketing to learn what would be the next steps. But this conversation with Patrick helped me stop myself.

No, Danielle, just be.

So my plan is to bask in the glow of existing without intentions. It’s the first time in my life I have an opportunity to do this, and I want to take full advantage of it. This is not to say this is the type of intention-setting I would bequeath upon all travel-minded individuals. I only know as much as I know, right? Maybe you have travel goals that are different. Maybe you really want to scale Mount Everest. Maybe you want to tour the US National Parks. Maybe you want to go to the UK, meet Paul Hollywood, and ask how he gets such a “nice texture” in all of his bread! WHO KNOWS? All of this and whatever you could imagine for yourself is valid. I just wanted to put that out there, because I’m definitely not trying to be an expert travel advisor. I only know what works for me.

I want to take opportunities as they come rather than make opportunities for myself. If this blog happens to start making money, that’s fantastic. But if it doesn’t, that’s fine for now. This type of thinking gives me so much FREEDOM to just go with the flow. The pressure of earning puts a real limit on creativity. And at the end of the day, SEO and marketing can be interesting and creatively-stimulating. But it’s frankly a pain in the ass if there is pressure to make money. So I’ll take some time to learn, create, and be still for a while... or not! I’m letting life carry me instead of carrying life for the next 6 months.

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