I absolutely love to travel. In fact, I would have to say it is an addiction for me. I will have to blame this on my father who told me once that when I had money, the two things that I should spend it on was buying land and traveling. My father passed in 2001, and left me some money. I bought a beautiful ranch here in the high desert of New Mexico, and I traveled around the world.
I spent five weeks in Mali, West Africa, studying African drumming and dancing, buying piles of colorful fabric, sleeping in the dirt in small villages, dancing in the Mango groves and playing music with the locals and visiting the sacred Dogon territory. I had the incredible experience of a journey to Timbuktu, then forty miles out into the Sahara desert where I attended the great Festival in the Desert concert for four days. I slept in a goatskin tent shared with women from Norway, mingled and drank gunpowder tea with the tribal Tuareg, rode camels across the shifting sands with my head wrapped in a turquoise turban and rocked out to music from around the world at night.
I spent a month in Thailand at the healing Tao Gardens outside Chang Mai where I immersed myself in deep healing therapies that required a sacrifice of my caffeine and wine addictions. I was wrapped in banana leaves, and baked in the sun, rejuvenated in oxygen tanks, detoxed in infrared saunas, buried under warm stones and smothered in fragrant oil while being rolled and kneaded like bread dough. When I wasn't attending to my healing schedule, I was lost in the mystery of Buddhist temples, riding elephants in the jungle, savoring yet another amazing Thai meal or having a blissful shopping experience in the bountiful markets where I stocked up on everything silk.
I have spent a lot of time in Mexico, and every winter I go there. Sometimes I go back to the same places, sometimes I try a new place. The villages I love most are Todos Santos in the Baja, and Zihuatanejo, Sayulita and San Pancho on the mainland coasts. Mexico often gets a bad rap, but it is truly a wonderful culture in which to immerse yourself. I am not a resort girl unless I am vacationing for a short time. If money and time will allow, I like to spend at least three weeks somewhere because it usually takes me ten days to unwind and drop down. I usually rent a house in a small village by the ocean in Mexico so I can really participate in the local way of life, and get my daily ocean fix which is much needed when you come from the high desert. The Mexican people are deeply committed to family, and warm and open to strangers. My desire to converse with them fuels my continuous studies to learn Spanish. Every winter I am brought back to life by the warm sun and healing waters of Mexico, and by the big hearts and simple life of the Mexican people. I return home full and saturated from too much Tequila and Damiana, fresh papayas and just caught shrimp and fish. I fill my home with all the hand-crafted treasures found in magnificent markets that will remind me of my love for Mexico until we meet again.
Travel is one of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves and to others. It expands our minds and hearts, and feeds our souls with rich new experiences and perspectives. Best of all, it reminds us of what a beautiful planet we all share.
Stay tuned...I will have stories to share. In the meantime, perhaps our paths will cross hiking in the Andes mountains or sipping wine overlooking the Mediterranean.
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