Dream it. Plan it. Live it.

In these times, our everyday lives are stressful and challenging.  We have to be more creative and imaginative in getting our “To Do” lists done more than ever before.

Day in, day out, endless work schedules and just barely enough time to dream of a real vacation are often unachievable.  Many of us say, “Vacation?  What’s that?”  As many studies have shown, the time that we allow for time to get away from our everyday hassles and plan time for ourselves, the better our overall personal life, business life, social life and emotional life.  So, why are we so hesitant to get away?  Many respond, “I just have too much to do.”  

I agree, planning a one or two week vacation may not always be easy to envision, although I am a huge proponent of this, but a one day get-a-way is much more do-able than we realize;  especially for us here in the beautiful Southwest.  So much is right in our backyard.  So…take advantage of it.  Plan it.  Experience what the smart ones do on a regular basis.  Tour, explore and experience.

This weekend I was fortunate to spend the weekend with a group of wonderful people who traveled with Sonoran Excursions on Mother’s Day.  They live in Gilbert and enjoyed a casual day congregating on the bus, talking about their families, their travels and anything else that came up.  They photographed Saguaro Lake like professionals and shopped in the art gallery as if they wanted to take a piece of AZ back with them to far away lands.  New friendships seemed to be developed with the sharing of recipes and the planning of other travels. (Several made plans to travel with Sonoran to Lake Havasu City as they enjoyed themselves so much.)   I initially believed they were all AZ visitors who enjoyed travel experiences in their retirement.  Well, I was only half right.

The group members were all full time AZ residents, most were not fully retired and all traveled on a very regular basis.  Some spoke about being on limited budgets, others shared their overall successes and all agreed that their quality of life has significantly benefitted from traveling around their state, their country, their world.  I was personally impressed with their connection to each other and their secret revelation, finding their path to happiness…travel.  And their willingness to share their secret was most impressive. 

So, as I have always known the benefit of taking time off and away from the everyday grind, it was certainly reaffirmed this weekend.  As I move forward with Sonoran Excursions, I will continue to encourage others to explore on their own, even if not with us.  For all of the reasons that I was reminded of this weekend, I will share the message.   Dream it.  Plan it.  Live it.