Good Morning, Travel Friends!

Today I decided to experiment with a fun feature here on Substack and send you an audio message with my travel tip of the day. It’s true that I still need a bit of audio recording practice and won’t become a famous podcaster any time soon, but let me know what you think. Is audio a feature I should continue to incorporate into the Big Story Living newsletter? Check it out below. (FYI…clicking on the 1.0x button will serve to speed me up a bit if you’re in a hurry :) )

Travel Tip of the Day

Travel Permission You Didn’t Know You Needed

Once-in-a-lifetime holidays don’t have to be a thing.

If you have dreamt of traveling the world, you’ve most likely wrestled with the notion that you’ll have to save for years for just two little weeks in paradise. Then once they get there, there is this weird tension to see and experience absolutely everything the city or country has to offer because “who knows if you’ll ever get back.” Can you relate?

I can.

And I really don’t appreciate the feeling of that kind of pressure. :)

That’s why I’ve worked hard to develop a mentality of travel that fits who I am and not who Instagram or the list of 25 “must-see’s” try to convince me I’m supposed to be on my adventures. Once I started to give myself the permission to be me when I travel, and see and do what I love while saying “no thank you” to what I’d rather not, travel has become a life-giving adventure that restores and relaxes instead of frazzles and exhausts.

Travel doesn’t have to be once-in-a-lifetime. There are ways to explore again and again. And I’m here today to give you permission to travel every single time in a way that makes YOU happy.

I have been to Paris twice and I’ve yet to see the Louvre. Maybe I never will. I don’t love museums or spending time standing in lines with large crowds. Have I still experienced Paris? Absolutely! I adore impressionism, so I’ve actually donned the halls of the Musée d'Orsay twice…not because I should in order to make my time in Paris complete, but because I wanted to and because I could.

I have strolled Rue Cler and watched the Eiffel Tower shimmer in the evening because I wanted to. But I have equally skipped other Top 10 attractions in lieu of sitting on a bench and savoring an entire warm baguette with cappuccino while people watching in a park whose name slips my mind..or maybe I never knew it at all. What I do remember is that this bench called to me, and I allowed the space in that moment to say, “yes, please.” And do you know what? It turned out to be the highlight of my day…just me, the pigeons and a warm and toasty baguette…with PARIS swirling all around.

Because of my afternoon love affair with a no-name bench, I missed the opportunity to enter the Pantheon AND to see the Arc de Triomphe. But I’m fine with that. And you can be, too. With your head up and curiosity on high alert, Paris, or any other destination in the world, can become your very own. And when it happens, all of a sudden the “must-see’s” don’t matter at all because you have seen and created your own perfect travel experience.

In my opinion, by being intentionally attuned to yourself and all of the curious going’s on right there in the presence of a unique holiday moment, travel in the best sense of the word actually gets to happen. Jesus gets the opportunity to be the tour guide for a bit, and let me tell you, no website can lead you to what makes your heart leap like he can.

Paris became “my Paris” on that no-name, green bench and I’m forever happy I didn’t miss her while standing in line.

So there you are. I’m giving you the gift of permission today to travel to all of the places in the world you dream of AND do it your way.

I do hope you discover your own park bench somewhere out there. I hope it derails you in the best of ways. I hope you miss more tourist traps and savor more baguettes. And most of all, I hope you get to do it again and again.

How to Travel for Almost Free…Again and Again

Click Here to get started. It’s easier that you think. It’s a book. :) Yep, I wrote it. Enjoy!

Big Story Living

Happy Travels!

Amy

transition to book

Big Story Living

Use This Tip to Get to Europe Faster