Friday February 5, 2010 - So I know it's not Friday the 5th. But this is my "Friday" entry. I'm sitting here trying to think of a topic to write about regarding my yurt getaway that I haven't already written. I did a bunch of writing while I was there, primarily a journal documenting what I did - oh do have a read sometime about my encounters with the wildlife while I was there; it was really something - so I don't want to repeat those same stories here.
But one thing that does come to mind is about travel and spontaneity. I suppose it's about spontaneity in general.
I didn't have an agenda of any sort for my yurt getaway, but I sure did have a very long to-do list of things I wanted to do. Going for some walks outdoors, including a visit to the beach, were on my list; as were playing my guitar, building a campfire, writing, and reading. I brought one entire suitcase of books and journals, because I wasn't sure what I'd feel like reading. (ok it was the carry-on size of suitcase, not a full-size suitcase. But still.)
The week before I left, I had lunch with a friend who was commenting how, when on vacation, she likes to have an agenda, an itinerary to make sure they do all the things they want to do while there; her husband on the other hand would rather just veg out, not have any plans and just see where the day takes them. I can see benefits to both, but truly I prefer somewhere right down the middle. Maybe a list of all the things you want to see and do, but not planned out to the hour; maybe just waiting to see how you feel each day, how the weather pans out, and then based on all those things you choose from your list what most seems right for that moment. And maybe you won't get to it all, but you get to decide in that moment if you're ok with that. Because maybe, depending what's going on, you won't mind if you skip Item Number Nine on your list, because Items Number Twelve and Three were just so dang much fun and took up so dang much time, you can't possibly squeeze in Number Nine after all.
That's kind of what happened on my yurt trip. The beauty of it was that it was just me there, so nobody else's "top priorities" needed to be accounted for, which of course would matter if you were on a family or group vacation. But as the days and hours played out, I had the freedom to listen to my heart and go with my gut and do just what captured me at that moment. And I did just about all of the "really important" things on my list, as well as some very cool things that I did not have on my list, that hadn't even crossed my mind to do until I was right there in the moment and the opportunity presented itself. And because I wasn't regimented to a strict schedule of any sort, I was able to seize those moments and see where things went. And it was amazing.
For example, not being much of an animal person you wouldn't think that I'd get a real kick out of feeding squirrels, but something possessed me to do so on Thursday morning and by Friday morning, I had a squirrel greet me first thing in the morning, perched on the picnic table waiting for my appearance. It followed me all the way to the washroom and back again, waiting for the next round of almonds. Ok I know it's not personal and he could have cared less if it were me vs. anyone else who was handing out nuts, but the experience was so cool. I captured it on video and I swear, with the squirrels climbing up on my lap for nuts and the chickadees landing in my hand for their sunflower seeds, I looked like a regular Wildlife Whisperer. It was priceless.
So build some freedom into your life. Have an idea of the things you want to do, the goals you want to accomplish, but be flexible enough to go with the flow of life and see where it takes you. You just might be very pleasantly surprised.