BEWARE! Reviews!! Balance information with listening and spontaneity!
I continue meeting people who decide what to do based on reviews. That is dangerous! When someone asks me what coffee I recommend, I first have to find out what they like, what they prefer, help them get clear on taste profiles…then I can recommend something. An opinionated review is not very helpful to me!! Which leads to thoughts for today….”THINK less! FEEL more!” Listen to y0ur own inner guidance and then flow with it! No one else can access that for you!
I am clear on the priorities for my travels, my intentions, and then I plan the basics. From there, I flow, listen, adapt and often find my self in more authentic and immersive experiences!
For example…the photo below. People told me that Padangbai was horrible, not nice, don’t go, nothing there! My reaction…maybe that’s my kind of place! Spontaneity! Listening! I went, found a great place to stay, walked up the hill, and came to this lovely cove at Blue Lagoon beach. Quiet! No tourist! Good food. Friendly locals. Had I heeded advice from unknown travelers, I would have missed this experience. I have hundreds of similar experiences from my years of traveling! Yes, feel more, think less!
Sufi Saying:
"Only a fool trusts another's word over their own experience!"
I talk to others, learn about new places, listen to what feels insipring to me, and then go! I discovered the butterfly park and the bird park that way. Amazing experiences for me. Two travelers here this morning looking at a butterfly…”Oh we read the reviews so didn’t go to the butterfly park in Kuala Lumpur”! That’s an option!
Balance...planning and flowing!
I’ve met a number of business leaders as well commanders for special forces who make the same suggestion.
“The planning process is invaluable. The plan is useless!” Meaning….the plan helps you consider all contingencies. But once you take action, you must adjust to the conditions of the moment or, you are screwed! Rigidity doesn’t serve you! Adaptability and flexibility do!
Traveling, I have to make reservations, contact tour companies and home stays, coordinate my schedule between them, arrange transportation and so forth. Outside those required plan details, I build in maximum flexibility. And, most importantly, I feel…that is FEEL!
As children, we all knew how to do that!
Feeling reference point for me!
I know the difference, in my body, between thinking which comes with a tense, focused effort-ing sensation! My body is tight, I breathe shallowly. I’m micro focused. And the mind relishes that condition. It’s in control
Flowing is a different experience. Whether from natural causes, experiences with qigong or Ki Aikido, meditation, or simply being an athlete, I have a clear focusing sensation in the core of my abdomen. And I consult it regularly!
Several days ago, I was struggling to book flights. Almost there, things crashed and I had to start over. I wrestled with this issue off and on for several hours. Suddenly, it dawned on me….IT IS NOT FLOWING! STOP FORCING!
So I did. And immediately I felt a sense of relief, of lightness and ease in my center. When I came back to it later, options showed up I hadn’t seen before and in one easy flowing effort, the ticket purchase was complete!
Making decisions as I travel, I always consult that place in the center of my body to feel for the lightness and ease! And I follow that. If it is not there, I stop, don’t force anything and look for flow!
Canoe example and feeling the current!
Years ago I heard an analogy that caused me instantly to feel that sense of ease and flow.
Suppose you are packing for a canoe or rafting trip. You take all you camping and cooking and travel supplies, load up your boat and push out into the river. It would never occur to you that next, you turn the boat up river against the current and paddle as hard as possible attempting to make progress. Yet, that is how many people live!
However, if your stopped paddling and let go, the current would literally life you, change your coarse and smoothly move you down river in harmony with the river current. Instantly, a feeling of relief would come into you!
That’s what I feel for! If I’m not feeling that, I’m likely pushing against something!! If I am not feeling that relief, I’m out of alignment!
More Magic!
Travel plans shifted for me in Kuala Lumpur. As a result, I was on the roof top savoring the morning and sipping coffee. Ron appeared, a man from South Africa now traveling and working remotely! We spend a long time engaged in the coolest and most nourishing conversation! Open to possibilities. Listening. Random encounters. Authentic connections! Those are highlights of my traveling!!
I decided to do laundry last night. Walked to a local place in the evening. And it was full of locals. Who looked at me, cautiously. When I smiled and said hello, they all relaxed. It was fun interacting! After, I went up to the rooftop where I joined people from Chile, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Germany. We had the most wonderful interaction for several hours!!
Those are moments that can not be planned but can be experienced by being present. Awesome real genuine conversation! Feeds my Soul!
Random comment, awesome experience...
There are so many things I could write about!! This one occurred yesterday. Anna from the hostel and I were talking! I mentioned I’m going up to the British teahouse. She asked me if I liked coffee and told me of “the best place” in Sandakan! So I headed there to explore. On the way, I discovered the laundry I went to last night.
At the coffee shop, #1 Roastery, I met Michael. He’s the manager/roaster of the cafe. They have no espresso machine!! Everything is processed in the back using a “brew bomb”. Read about it here: https://www.brewbomb.com/
Their coffee concentrate is ready in a couple hours. In house, they have an “air roaster”. It takes ten minutes to roast their coffee. Customers can purchase green beans and have them roasted to their taste and have them ready in a little more than 10 minutes. Amazing operation and it was so nice meeting Michael and sharing his enthusiasm for coffee!
Here is video of the roasting process. Notice how the beans expand and the volume increased as the process continues!
Examples of seeing! Perspective is everything!
Travel day!
