Luang Prabang, Laos
We have all heard the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” And so, alas, I will give blogging a try, once again. And guess what, this time, I will succeed at sticking to it, perhaps because I have been much more consistent in incorporating meditation into my life. As they say in meditation, when the thoughts and distractions come in, as they will, simply BEGIN AGAIN. So, here I am, beginning again…
One of the struggles I had with blogging to begin with was that I wanted to focus on so many different things — from wellness to architecture; style to hotels and hidden treasures; amazing meals and touching interactions; travel tips, charities and fashion finds. In other words, I wanted to focus on TOO many things! In the process of finding my voice I realized that success lies in focusing on what you are good at, and what you are good at typically is what you love. Francesco and I were recently reflecting on just how much we love the life we have created for ourselves, a life that is rich in experiences and connection with other cultures and other people. A life that is rich in content DUE to our travels. This is indeed what I love and hence what I will be writing about — TRAVEL. And the wonderful thing about travel is that along the way all of my other passions — from fashion to market finds, architecture, wellness, giving back, food and flavors can be highlighted as well.
I am writing this first official entry from my veranda overlooking the Nam Khan River in Luang Prabang, Laos as I gear up for our Escape To Shape: Exploring South East Asia to commence tomorrow. It is the fifth country we have visited in the last month, and the second Escape of nine in the next five months. By the end of July we will have visited fifteen countries. And while we are always happy to have people join us along the way, for those of you who cannot, we invite you to follow along here on our adventures and interactions. And for those of you who ever want to add your own contributions to this blog, please reach out! We are always open to new voices and perspectives along the way.
And so I will leave you with this, from the words of one of my favorite travel writers, Pico Iyer…
We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.
Here is to a new beginning…