December 29, 2019 – Plan a Great Year

THE THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION

WHERE TO?                       TASTE.                        SEE

What a day this can be. As 2019 winds down, there’s a lot of “stuff” to look back on. Do that.

Throw out everything that doesn’t matter.

Smile at everything that does.

File the beautiful experiences and memories on a shelf for easy access.

Looking Forward Days

In a few days, the year ends. And also a decade.

Every day, you will receive a brand new, unused, utterly blank canvas. But wait, that’s not all. You get the biggest box of crayolas you can imagine. It has every single color in it.

So on this new day, of a new year, of a new decade, what are you going to draw?

Are you reaching for the same old grays and browns? Come on, grab the fuchsia and neon!!!

On The First Day Of

This year, make some resolutions worth keeping.

Lose weight for your health, for you and your loved ones. Do not do it to fit into that Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini.

Hard to believe, but I have been thin as well as non-thin. The people who matter, loved me both ways.

Diets only work (sometimes) as long as you stick to them. Take it from the yoyo expert.

Do you want an age-old secret on how to keep yourself at a healthy weight for you? Eat healthily and get moderate exercise. Stop working towards a look but achieve a better feeling. They call it health.

You are creating world peace. Probably not going to happen by one person. Try getting some order in your own life first.

I’m going to be a nicer person. Love starts at home. Love yourself, and the universe will come around.

So we are going to work on health, peace, and love.

On the Second Day Of

So we know our goals.

Health

Deep down, we know that the twinkee, bag of chips, and gallon-gulp soda are NOT a good idea. I am not saying go cold-turkey as most people fail at that. Wean yourself from 10,000 calories a day as you replace wrong with healthy.

Clear out the bad stuff from your house. You don’t have to dump it, but please do not replace it.

Start walking instead of driving to lunch, the post office, the mailbox at the end of the driveway.

If the knees allow, walk up if it’s only a flight or two, and always walk down. You do not have to join a $100 a week gym to walk and climb stairs.

In beautiful weather, you can do it outside. In bad weather, go to a mall (without credit cards.) See if the local high school opens its gym or pool to the public. And get a partner in crime with the same realistic goals. Start simple.

Peace

The term “meditation” scares many people.

and for a good reason. Some try to take advantage of others under the pretense of meditation.

Here’s my suggestion. Turn your phone off. Get a picture of a place that fills you with good memories, A lake, a mountain, (not the twinkee stand.) Maybe it’s a place you still need to visit.

Now try to forget about everything outside your immediate space. For two minutes, look at the picture and let the warm fuzzy feelings cleanse your brain and reset your feelings. Picture this, you unplugging your brain’s modem and counting to ten before restarting.

That’s the beginning of peace. You can achieve this without Tibetian chimes, rain forest incense sticks, or the 39 C.D. set of Monks breathing. Start simple. Add sounds and smells later only if you require it.

Love

What the world needs now, needed then, and will need is love.

Renew your love for your higher power, who, or whatever that may be. For me, it is the Christian God, father of Jesus. But there are other religions. The more I travel the world, the more I realize that the majority of them base their beliefs on love.

And unfortunately, most of them have misguided factions who use hate as their inspiration. Yes, even mine. Don’t hate, especially en masse.

Love yourself.

When you say, I’m short, fat, not good at math, etc., you are making it hard to love yourself. Try to be kind to yourself. Do not say anything to yourself that you would not say to your best friend.

While working on loving yourself, start working on loving others. They have just as many flaws as you do.

On the Third Day

Reward yourself for a good start on your health, peace, and love project. Not with twinkies and gallon-gulps, those are empty calories.

Why not make 2020 the year you finally travel? You certainly deserve it.

Start filling your life with beautiful memories and experiences. Did you see a family member or friend over the holidays? Someone that made you feel warm and fuzzy? Well then, use that as your motivation.

Day One

Start small. Meet someone around the corner or downtown. Go for a coffee, a walk, or the Christmas tradition you missed this year. Many places still have lights, decorations, or holiday menus.

Do you walk the same street, the same path, the same tightrope every day? Go to a new road, a new park, a new location.

Day Two

Start planning a weekend. To the romantic B&B in your town’s historic area, or the big city. Is it a festival weekend? Why not a sporting event or just a guy’s or doll’s weekend away? Only two days and a night. You can do it. You must do it. Start simple.

Day Three

Start planning a real vacation. “Someday, I want to see the Grand Canyon” is not planning a trip. What is the closest airport? How much is a rental car? Can you arrive in other forms of transportation? If you drive from your home, how many hours or days will it take?

Where will you overnight? Are you passing through Denver, Salt Lake City, Flagstaff, or Las Vegas along the way? Why not spend the night and spend a few hours adding that town to your experiences?

Are there hotels at the Grand Canyon? Are there activities available? What about the food? Do they only offer trail mix?

Is the canyon accessible year-round? I’ll give you a hint, only parts of it.

Treat the planning as its own adventure. Learn a little history. Do you know Fred Harvey? What is El Tovar? Who is the Havasupai? Are there other National Parks in the area?

Involve someone. Have someone look up hotels or local food and drink. Have them look for hikes for people over 50, or bungy jumping if that’s more your style.

Can you sleep in the canyon or only above? Are their boat trips?

Use GoogleMaps, a library, or even a travel agent, but start planning.

This year dreams take on shapes and specifics.

Day Four

Engage. Ask for the time off. Mark it on the calendar, VACATION! And do not let anyone, especially your job, make you feel guilty for one minute for doing this.

Book the hotel. Buy the plane ticket, get the hiking boot, and start breaking them in. Get on Youtube and look for documentaries and travel vlogs about the Grand Canyon. Or wherever your heart longs to travel.

Include the mate or the friend. Gather the hiking club and watch a travel video while eating southwest chips and dip.

Surround yourself with images. Buttes, Mesas, painted deserts, a cactus plant. Help yourself “see” the destination.

Go to a southwest restaurant, or (eek) nuke some southwest eggrolls out of the freezer. Live it up and google a southwest recipe and make it. (Prickly pear margaritas are a recipe.) Give the destination some depth. Take it from two dimensional to three.

Remind yourself how much you deserve this.

Look over your day-day itinerary. Do the plane tickets and hotels in ink, but do the rest in pencil. So you’re not up for a hike to the bottom of the canyon, are there options?

Can you drive to the bottom? What about other spots along the rim? Do any have “sunset” in their name? Why? Are you a photographer? Painter? Sunrise fanatic?

Is there any history, architecture, or other scenery of any note?

NOW

Do it! You know you can. You know you want to, and no one deserves it more than you do.

Let 2020 be the year you break free of material things you will not remember in five years.

Let 2020 be the year you banish the terms/words, same-ol-thing, maybe, next year, some year.

Replace them with once-in-a-life, my wish, my dream, I can’t believe it.

Believe.

Today is the Best Day of Our Life

So many people know when they are going to die. They must. Why else would you put everything off until a later time?

I, however, do not know the day or even year of my passing. So I need to get busy. It’s today!.

Can you imagine going through eternity, saying I never got to the museum in my town? The state park an hour’s drive away. I never saw the USA from a Chevrolet. Paris in the spring? I never saw the inside of a French restaurant.

So many people buy into the notion that the most successful people are the rich. They have cars (plural) houses (plural) everything (plural). They are the poster children for envy, gluttony, greed, pride, lust, and at least two other things that come to mind.

I don’t buy into that.

To me, the wealthiest person is the one who surrounds themselves with family, friends, and memories.

WOW, you are more abundant than you thought.

Today, increase your wealth, short-term as well as long-term.

To read more, click on any of the orange links.

“See the World” Continued on Page T3          “Taste the World” Continued on T11

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“Where are you finally going in 2020?

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