Travel is the best Education…

I stopped attending college nine years ago, but I have always tried to maintain a level of learning and reading outside of the confines of a structured class since then. As many well know, I separated from and divorced my ex 3 years ago. We had travelled on tour and I did see more of the US, Europe, and Australia than most. I also visited cities in Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Korea on those tours. But, I really just started to travel shortly after my separation. My travel bug all started so simply really. I met up with some friends at the Yardhouse in Newport Beach for a couple of drinks and catching up time. They were going to Cabo for New Years which was a week and a half away if I remember correctly. It happens that a friend had cancelled and I was asked on the spot to join taking the vacant ticket with pretty much everything but basic drinks and meals being covered. It was easy to say yes but why did I automatically say no? They couldn’t understand really why I was saying I couldn’t do it. Was it too spontaneous? Did I really have so many affairs that I I couldn’t get away for a few days? I didn’t have plans for New Year’s Eve already so why was I saying no? This is what I asked myself on the drive home. What was stopping me? The answer is quite simply put….me. I was stopping myself. Why?…. I wasn’t exactly sure then, but I did ask myself, “Why not?” And….so I went. That was the beginning of my freedom. It should be clarified by saying that from the time I was 16-28 which spans 12 years, if you took the time I was single and added it up collectively it would only surmount to 2-1/2 months. I know….crazy right? So freedom to do whatever I wanted without thinking of someone else did not come naturally to me. It took some time but the momentum grew to the point that I stopped trying to control it. The world opened up to me in every experience and trip that I took. With that though my understanding of religions, governments, art, food, architecture, wars, cultures, wine, nature, the universal language, and ways of life blossomed in my eyes and my heart. It has changed what is inside of me although you see the same on the outside. It might not be noticed with the naked eye but my understanding of people and myself is very different now. I have received an education that no one could match in any school. I have experienced firsthand some of the most amazing places and people. And…that is where I have been. On a wonderful journey worth every sacrifice.

The week of launching blogs

It seems that both of my blog launches fell in the same week. It is funny how things happen like that when they were not planned to be that way in the first place. So, as you can see, I have transferred my Myspace blog to http://www.ariasblog.com I will be posting my blogs at this url from now on, so come back often to check it out. I also want to let you know for all those fans that have been interested in my travels and my stories behind the photos, well I launched a travel blog this week at www.booble.com/aria  It seems that I will be knee deep in writing blogs for some time now, but I am not complaining. I am excited about both projects and hope you enjoy them too. 

Eat Pray Love

Wow, what a great book. It is not that it was so perfectly written, but I guess it is more of the timing in which I read this book. It is about a true story of a woman in her early thirties that leaves her husband, her home, and her career behind and decides to travel 4 months in Italy, 4 months in India, and 4 months in Indonesia. The journey and the realizations that she comes to is what is so interesting about the book. I have a quirky habit when I read books. I underline every passage that I relate to or that speaks to me. I sure have a whole lot of ink that I left in this book. To give an idea my favorite passage is: “People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person that brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake…soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave…purpose was to shake you up…show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life…-Elizabeth Gilbert

Being Single

I have been single for two years now. It hasn’t been easy considering for the last 12 years of my life I was almost continuously in long-term relationships. I didn’t really know how to be alone. I am not at my best when I am. I use to travel in the beginning and spend a lot of time looking at other couples on vacation together and wish I had someone with me. Traveling alone without a significant other can really get to you. You can’t distract yourself when it is only you talking in your head. I have noticed a change recently though. I look around and see couples and say that looks nice, but I am ok. For once in my life I am ok with not having someone around all the time. Don’t get me wrong…being single sucks, but I guess I am growing. I have so much I want to do and see now. My mind has opened to new things and experiences and that has taken the precedence. I have been able to think more clearly without my emotions wrapped up with everything I do. I guess you can blame it on the Scorpio in me….we are strong but quite emotional under the surface. I can see a lot more clearly now than ever. I am living life the way I want to with no excuses, no apologies, and just going with what my gut tells me. I know in the long run this might keep me from finding someone. The more “out there” I get, the less likely I am to find someone who understands and has experienced the same. Nevertheless, it isn’t stopping me. Not this time. I can’t let myself be worried because there is a part of life I believe cannot be controlled. It will be what it will be. I have really noticed in this last trip too all the “couples” that seem sooooo happy fight quite a lot. Why don’t they find someone more compatible? I’ve been there…not anytime recently but in my far past I have. Life is too short to let small things matter. There is a time though when small things add up and it is time to go. I want to be with someone that makes me smile from the inside out. Only a couple of people have done this for me in my lifetime and I realize now that it means everything. If I find someone, that is what is necessary for me to make it happen. Without it, I will continue being a nomad….gladly. I have realized that life is too short to compromise myself.

Jump and the net will appear

I believe that things happen for a reason in life. I have found that it is the easiest way of accepting the parts that don’t make sense. There are people that come into your life like a whirlind. A strong gust of wind through a revolving door that spins you around and viola!…they are gone. You didn’t see them coming and you sure in hell didn’t see them going. But, what you are left with is the confusion and the desire to decipher all the odd pieces of the puzzle in a search to find reason. If they could not stay then what was the purpose of them coming in the first place? I’ve been sifting through these pieces for some time now. Whether the wind will return I do not know, but I have learned some things. I have learned to be more open to new experiences. I can be stubborn and set in my ways with no rational reason why other than just because. Well, just because keeps me from gaining the full experience of all that is around me. It is not a good enough reason anymore. I have learned to travel while I can. See the world and all that it has to offer because one day I will not be able to. I have really taken that one to heart maybe a bit too much even. I am grappling with the last one. To relinquish all control and let life take its course. It is hard to have faith that everything will fall into place on its own exactly the way it was meant to. I always want to meddle with it; to put my hand in the pot and try to change the outcome. It will take its time but it will come. So, here is a motto to live by “Jump and the net will appear.”

I’m addicted to travel

Am I running from something? I am not sure. I came back to Los Angeles to work on a project but I have been always on the go. The project lays untouched. Any chance to go somewhere else I take. My schedule is crazy stupid packed to the brim with one trip after another. Where am I going? I think I lost my balance. I have no place that I call home anymore. There is nothing keeping me anywhere. I say that I will stay home when I have something to stay home for. I guess I haven’t found it. I’m seeing the world but I am not moving forward. I have work to do but I don’t want to do it. I think I have lost my motivation because I don’t feel I have a purpose to work for. I don’t want to be in one place or maybe I just don’t want to be in Los Angeles. I feel that I have worn this city thin. There is nothing here for me anymore. I think I’m addicted to travel like one would be to chocolate. I am searching but I haven’t found it. Where is the purpose? Where is the meaning? What was it all for? There has to be a reason, some conclusion. I have given up on finding it so maybe it will come more easily. I’ve surrendered to the possibility.

80 flights in 2007

Is that too many? Hahaha…well maybe a little, but I just flew my 80th flight this year to New York. It definitely takes a toll on the body but I have been so many places this year that it has been an experience to say the least. So, here is my list of places I visited in 2007: Cabo, New York, Los Angles, Vegas, Miami, London, Paris, Barcelona, Costa Rica, San Francisco, New Delhi, Khajuraho, Agra, Jaipur, Kathmandu, Varanasi, Sacramento, Amsterdam, Rouen, Budapest, Nairobi, Tanzania, Prague, Limoges, Thou, Munich, Mykonos, Athens, Montreal, San Diego, and Austin. I didn’t factor in layover cities or duplicates. On one hand, I am tired. On the other hand, it has been amazing. Here’s to travel in 2008. I talk about slowing down a little but I already have 12 flights booked in January alone. You would think that I would be over my fear of flying about now, but sadly I am not. Oh well.

I wish I was home…wherever that is

I know…I said that I wanted to travel and here I am doing exactly that. I am in Paris now just half way through this trip and all I can think about is that I want to go home….wherever that is. I live in New York but I am only there 4 to 6 days a month. So, do I really live there? I find myself booking tickets to go home for the purpose of paying bills…how absurd is that? There aren’t any signs of things changing anytime soon either since so far I have travel commitments until the end of the year. Part of me enjoys being in new places but I am torn between the desire to see and experience the world and to feel grounded again. I think that when this period passes, how nice it will be to come home and feel comfortable again. I want to cook again in my kitchen, work in the yard on the weekends, spend time with my family, friends, and pets, and have time to plant a garden. I just hope it passes before I go to the other extreme and become a hermit.