Anticipation and saying Yes, Hell YES!

I am approaching retirement from my government job. The date has been decided and the planning begun. It is no doubt a significant life style change. I have been doing this work as a probation officer for a very very long time. Time now to enjoy a lighter side of life.

Certainly being a travel consultant brings with it many perks. All fun, and very exciting. Contact and meaningful connections with family and new travel friendships. I feel like I am living my dream!

As for my bucket list: The menu of possibilities is endless. I have been part of a Travel Club and am often on the look out for trips that others will enjoy. Cruising is one such option, however, land vacations and terrific excursions, flights and boutique hotels also intrigue me. How to decide? What are the best dates for ultimate travel experiences? Who wants to come with me?

I started out this calendar year with no trips planned. I met and spent some time with an amazing group who started making selections. Turkey and Greece, by cruise, planned for September 2015. Hell yes! I have been before and always wanting to expand the growing list of different Greek Islands. This cruise offers my favourites as well as a few not yet explored by me previously. Special and dear friends, and family joining me on this trip. Check.

So excited, have now also added another 9 day cruise for more Greek sailing after the cruise mentioned above. Planning a week or so on land in a villa in France for the dates in between. Reconnecting with travel buddies I met on Azamara cruise in Italy last year, Barb and Anne. I anticipate some Prosecco to be consumed!

Then the Amazon was suggested as an exotic destination, bucket list dream, by a wonderful world travelling member of the WomensTravelClub here in Victoria, BC. On board the luxurious yet casual Oceania cruise line, Regatta for 21 days repositioning from Rio de Janeiro Brazil to Miami, with a full 6 days touring on the Amazon River. Hell Yes again. Another deposit …. Sailing March 2015.

In April 2015 I am booked for a ten day Pacific Coastal round trip Vancouver, cruise on Princess (of love boat fame) with an overnight in San Francisco, ports of call of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Catalina island and more. Hoping to host a group of wonderful friends and family on this closer-to-Home vacation cruise! Hell yes!

Intrigued always by the Baltic, I have also committed to two week son board the fabulous Cunard ship departing end of August this year, 2014. Followed by 4 nits in London to see Tower of London, London Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Portabello Road, Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court Palace, the artist area of Bloomsbury and to take a stroll in Notting Hill. Places made famous in my mind from movies. I can hardly wait!

I then fly to Naples Italy, to spend a few days exploring that area, followed by a week at an Agritourismo outside Sorrento with seven women members of the WomensTravel Club. We will make pizza, pasta sauce and learn about making and possibly consuming the local product, Limoncello! Oh yah!

Five of us leave there, and in have now acquired my International Drivers License so have rented a car for a week, staying in a time share condo suitable for five Canadian women on the move. We will explore the south south coast of Italy. I have not yet been to this area of the Italy and the world and am already in love as I make plans and research the local lifestyle.

After five weeks in Europe I will come home to rest for a bit, adjust to retirement …and prepare for a fabulous ten day Caribbean cruise aboard Oceania Insignia (small boutique ship that I have spent three weeks on crossing the Atlantic and equator on about four years ago). Ports of call include Martinique, St Kitts, St Bart’s, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Lucia, and the Grenadines! Awesome. Lots of extra perks and I have some group space, inviting friends and family to join me as I celebrate my new traveling life and not returning to public service government work.

In April 2016, I am hoping to again enjoy the Princess ship cruising the Pacific coast, 10 days round trip Vancouver. I hope to return to England that year and walk some of Hadrians Wall … Perhaps travel to Asia with my life time friend Penny… And I am open to more ideas and travel bucket list destinations.

Thankful for every opportunity presented and for all of you for joining me. Please contact me if any or all of these trips entice you to join me.

I love my life and I am truly saying yes, Hell YES, to travel whenever I can.

How about you?

Planning for England and Italy

The excitement of going to foreign places is high. The stress of making plans is also rising. I am reading about places and trying to plan how I will get around. Where to stay, transfers, food.

I like to cruise, well, actually, I love to cruise. Most of my travels center around cruising because it is luxurious and easy for me. I get to explore new places from the safety and comfort of my cruise ship. I love it.

This trip does start with a lovely and most luxurious two week Cunard cruise through the Baltic. Then several days in London with family to explore a few places I always wanted to see: London bridge, the Tower of London, Buckingham palace and Big Ben.

Then I fly, alone to Naples. I will meet up with four or five, not yet confirmed, ladies from the travel club. I have assisted with their flights and wish we could arrive together.

Then staying at a small hotel we selected, maybe a bed and breakfast. We will check out the area for several days until we move on to see Sorrento, Pompeii and a week discovering the area around Amalfi coast. I have only heard stories, this will be my first time in the south of Italy.

Followed by a week at a time share generously provided by one of the gals, 5 of us will travel the area exploring. And I will be driving standard on the small curvy roads hugging the coast of Southern Italy.

So many plans to make and lists to check off. The dates get closer and closer. I fly out of Victoria at end of August. Much to do between now and then.

Ciao Bella,

Pamela

Ten mantras for travel mastery: Italy

1. Plentiful abundance easily flows through me
2. I walk with ease along the coast of Italy, the Walk of the Gods
3. May all travellers experience health and positivity on our journey
4. My body is vibrant, photogenic and full of energy
5. I experience love, joy and peace in all my relationships
6. My written words inspire and illuminate
7. I radiate positive light and goodwill along my path
8. I attract clear skies, sunshine and moonbeams
9. I live in Easy World: breathe, relax, allow, enjoy
10. I am grateful for the happiness I experience

Flight of the Angels and Walk of the Gods: Italy

Making plans for my next trip, five weeks in Europe. Starting with a flight with my partner to London UK, train or bus toSouthampton, to board a Cunard queen cruiseship. We will sail for two weeks in the Baltic and visit amazing and exotic places, StPetersburg, Copenhagen, Helsinki and more. Two glorious weeks of travel in ultimate luxury. Thank you, Cunard!

We then meet up with Sarah and her partner in London for just shy of a week of walking talking and eating of London fare. I am going to Buckingham Palace and will see the Tower of London, and London Bridge, as well as the legendary Big Ben. In mid September I fly to Naples Italy.

I have not yet been to the south of Italy, never south of Rome. So this will all be new territory for me. The famed Napoli, Italian name for Naples. I will explore, with five women from the Womens Travel Club, the Amalfi coast and where the sea meets the shore. I will walk and rest and eat and probably taste the wine of the area. A week with GAdventures, local living in Sorrento at a lemon farm agritourismo. I love that word! Included is the world famous Walk of the Gods.

Italian words, how fabulouso. After that week, we spend another week even further south, rental car and time share week to explore and adventure local living Italy. The Flight of the Angels is like a high wire joining two cities. You should google it.

How lucky am I? I think I say yes, Hell Yes, to opportunities that present themselves. I am delighted with what adventures are around every corner. There is always room for more, so come on along!

Ciao Bella,

Pamela

Plan8 – The world as if it was in sections of 8

Hi folks, I have set a table for 8, and invite you to dine with me at my blog.

In recent days I have set my next quarter goals for the year, with 8 sections to measure. 8 walks / runs in a week, 8 meditation retreats in a month etc. You get my drift …

Today I want to offer my top 8 reasons for traveling Solo, with a group. There will be articles in the future on traveling with beloved family and friends. This one is not that one. I offer this to spur you to take your one life and share it with whomever and wherever you please.

1. Selfie pics. For those who have a precious iphone and ipad (and I highly recommend you have both for all travel experiences) you want pictures that make you look exquisitely photogenic. Not somebody else’s shot of how that building behind you should be centered in the picture. Yawn. Take hundreds of selfies, and send a few out to the universe via Facebook or your favorite blog and see how proud you are of how you look in front of whatever it was … J

2. Go where you want, when you want, and see what you want for as long as you want. If you take a lifetime waiting for this place on your bucket list, then enjoy it as you imagined it thousands of times before. Stand in front of that famous piece of art for hours …. or seconds. Walk the Great Wall of China or Hadrian’s Wall and take 5 days ….. or 5 minutes. Enjoy the bridges of Paris, if that is your dream (it was mine) and take the full 9 hours to walk by each one and take those mental pictures of yourself making your own dreams come true.

3. Who do you want to try on? Dress up for the day, donning your favorite (although not the most comfy) shoes you brought, put that exotic hat on your frizzy hair, carefully apply makeup as if this was your photo shoot to sum up your travel life, put on a skirt that is long and flowy and billows in the breeze, purchase that elaborate umbrella that makes a statement about what you love most in your life. Be sophisticated, lazy, exotic, thoughtful, stunningly attractive, and happier than anyone has the right to ….. Pick a feeling, dress for it and “wear” it all day.

4. Write your story. You are the central character in your life, and you want to write it in your language for your memory, and select stories that happen to you. Take time on the steps of an old cathedral, or at a corner café with a glass of French wine or Italian Prosecco. Enjoy the carved marble stones and ancient tree providing shade at Ephesus. Sit among the sunflowers or lavender fields in a meadow in Tuscany. Scribble in a journal bought for this adventure, or make notes on the ipad, or record in your free AudioMemos App on the iphone. Draw; find some water and paint, use color and expression. You will relive this moment for all time!

5. Eat gluten free, vegan dessert for breakfast. Be high maintenance with your food choices. Demand the best and try local foods to get a sense of the culture. Socca made of chick pea flour, fresh cucumber eaten as a baguette and dipped in fresh salsa or tapenade purchased at a market and enjoyed while lying on the beach sand, fruit fresh from the vine or tree local to the area. A whole bottle of a local wine in an artistic wine glass you purchased from an artisan. Is there vegan chocolate? Of course there is, find it and have it gift wrapped and eat it later.

6. Don’t wait or ask what the others are doing. Attend to every vacation with an open mind, and curiosity. I also will suggest that there is a reason you wanted to be in this place. Make a list of 8 items of interest you might want to check out while here. Then also be totally surprised at what you find as you search out those on your list. Best place to eat champagne infused sorbet, attend a free wine tasting and strike up a conversation in a language you don’t speak. Take the train to an exotic place you have never heard of before. Enter small boutique shops and compliment the staff, try on hats and take your own selfie (see item#1 above), laugh out loud.

7. Become confident in your own courage. This is a great opportunity to create a story you will retell in the years to come. Take some comfortable risks and celebrate that which shows up you would not have discovered if you had stayed on the well trodden path. I am not talking about danger here, rather, I am saying that the more you listen to your inner guide and follow to the edge of your comfort zone; the pleasure you will discover in your own abilities of navigation may astound and delight you. Even when traveling as a group, someone always suggests the outrageous (skinny dipping in the Aegean?) and you may never pass this way again J

8. Answer to no one. No whining, complaining, no ridicule or apology. This is your trip, your dollar or pound, your time and you get to love it just the way you create it. No one, not even you, is going to be critical of how you get to enjoy your very life.

Ps. You might want to remind yourself to live your life with these rules EVERYDAY!!

—
Pamela MacDonald
I am living my dream by connecting to others ….
My website is open 24/7

Travel Dreams come true …
http://www.PamelaMacDonald.cruiseshipcenters.com

My blog: http://www.PamelaTravelBlog.com

Everywoman should climb a mountain!

Do I mean that metaphorically or literally?

I am personally climbing toward my highest and best, by looking out and up to a vision of what I could be if I had no fear. If there were no obstacles, what would I create in this life? And I take steps, slow certain and steady steps in the general direction of my focus. Sometimes I am not certain where I will end up.

This past month, March 2014 I arrived at the position of number one consultant with CruiseShipCenters in North America! I am not kidding! I work a full time job as a probation officer and for the past five years I have been slowly steadily building a travel consulting business. I had no idea I could reach this spot. The owner says no agent from our office has ever held that position. My results this month pushed our office into number one in Canada.

I don’t say this to brag, although I am pretty stoked about it …. I want to really understand what it means. I know I don’t do anything alone. I am traveling and planning and working with teams all the time. I always have a Tenzing Norgay with me.

Edmond Hilary once said “it is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”. I have been working on my skills, my listening, my enthusiasm, my teamwork and my community involvement for years. I suppose my whole life thus far has brought me to this place, this moment, this success.

The Womens Travel Club meetup group in Victoria, where I live, is alive with some of the most amazing women I know. They are stepping up and saying to me “I want what your having” and they are coming on world travel adventures with me.

I am in awe and full of gratitude for all those who entrust me with their precious vacation plans. To my family, who I love with all my heart, to my friends who inspire me everyday to be even more than I believe I can be and to those women who have walked the ground before me. And a special thank you to those folks who make the choice to invite me into their lives and to help arrange and plan their vacations. It is an honour indeed.

You have hiked the mountain and left a trail. I walk now and leave a trail to those who follow. I am overjoyed with love and happy thoughts on where we go next, together! Thanks for the successful month and for being on my team.

Big BIG love to all.

Pamela
Xoxoxox

The Movies

I was reminded today of one of the reasons I love travel! Thanks Sean from the UK for playing the game with me even just for a minute as it started my wheels turning and stirred up my bucket list.

I love to watch a movie and see places I have been in person. A few of my favorite examples (and I invite you to add your own personal examples below) include: (can you tell I love the fluff movies?)

“French Kiss” takes place partly in Paris and Nice and Cannes, along the Cote d’Azur … and produces one of my all time famous travel phrases “Beautiful –- wish you were here” ….. and original and remake of “Sabrina” – when she goes to Paris! Didn’t the original version of “Charade” take place partially in Paris?

007 SkyFall, James Bond is at the Grand Bazaar, opening scenes with bike riding on the roof in Istanbul (also another James Bond movie “From Russia with Love” takes place in that city).

A little known fact that the movie “Double Jeopardy” with Ashley Judd – scenes of the outside of the courthouse actually were taken at the courthouse in Revelstoke, BC Canada – where I worked for years as a Probation Officer and Family Court Counselor! REALLY!!! I was living there at the time.

“Only You”, with Marisa Tormei and Robert Downey Jr – One of my favorite lines comes from that movie “Italy … my wife’s in Italy. What’s my wife doing in Italy??” Also in Rome, “Roman Holiday” of course is a classic favorite.

“Home Alone 2”, in New York … the Plaza Hotel and Central Park. What about the original “Men in Black”? The big hit for Tom Hanks in his early years, “Big” takes place in New York (I loved finding the massive piano keyboard in that toy store when I was in NYC in 2013!). “When Harry Met Sally”, the ball drops on New Years Eve at Times Square. “Sleepless in Seattle” when it remakes the scene at the top of the Empire State Building from the original “An Affair to Remember”! Another remake of that movie starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening I think was called “Love Affair” and starts out on a cruise ship and also has them running for the famous top of Empire State Building.

“My Life in Ruins” starts in Athens and goes all over Greece …

Fan Tan Alley in Victoria, BC Canada featured in a flick called “Bird on a Wire” starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn.

“Bottle Shock” shot in Napa County and part of it in Paris …. Features California wine competition. Yummy!

Please play along with me, famous movies and favorite places ….. name that flick!!

Till next time, See you at the Movies!! And in the airports, trains, cruise ships and walking the cobblestone streets of your favorite location.

Pamela

—
Pamela MacDonald
I am living my dream by connecting to others ….
My website is open 24/7

Travel Dreams come true …
http://www.PamelaMacDonald.cruiseshipcenters.com

My blog: http://www.PamelaTravelBlog.com

Bucket lists and Inspirations

What causes something to arrive on my bucket list? What makes me want to return to certain places? And why did I end up there in the first place? What do I love about travel to new locations, and familiar ones?

This past few weeks I have been really surprised by my answers to some of the questions noted above. I have committed to travel to places that I did not know were on my list and also some that have been always on my list, and I have been to a few times before! So surprised at the range of responses to “invitations” to go along.

A few things come to mind, and I just thought I would write about them. When someone I know gets super excited about a destination, and then, as a travel consultant I do some research for them and find the absolute best deal, great value and intriguing vacations, I am so tempted to go along.

Some leave me cool, for my own travel plans, and some take me to a full boil in an instant, where just moments before there was almost no interest. Is that an inspiration from the Universe? Is it a sign? What to do with it?
When I get a sign that this is a great value, luxury cruise (for example) to a destination that is intriguing and unique, an exciting adventure springs in to my mind. I admit some of it definitely has to do with relationships.

I make most of my decisions based on relationships. Maybe we all do? Inspiration and dreams leads the way. “Travel to far off destinations with family, friends and women holding hands around the world.” This has been part of my vision statement for my personal life, for several years now. It is coming true, and it is showing up in my life in a clear and consistent way now. Did I create it by narrowing my focus?

Whatever the path, the truth is that I have arrived. I love where I am and I love even more where I am going. This past two weeks I have laid my money down on deposit for two outstanding brilliant, life changing and fabulously exotic trips. Both with Oceania. One is Greece, oh I love Greece! With a few stops in Turkey and a few more islands in Greece that I have not yet visited, of course, also Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes, my 3 favourite Greek islands.

I am over the moon excited, even though we don’t go till September 2015. The most fun is that several of the Womens Travel club members are joining me and we will travel together. My favorite bus driver, she is joining me too. And my mom, and some great friends, and two gals I met on my last trip to Italy … the list goes on. There is still space and I hope you join me.

The second trip, which is sooner, March 2015 is 21 day repositioning cruise aboard Oceania Regatta (small boutique ship) through the Amazon! Can you believe it? Can you even dream such a fabulous trip? Flights included round trip Vancouver and there are 3 of us gals booked so far. Breathtaking scenery, the ship that I love so much, and the luxury of Oceania. Going places I have never been and returning to Rio de Janeiro (I still have my Brazil passport from my last repositioning cruise with Oceania!!). I get to cross the Equator again and be in that glorious heat.

Well, for now that is my travel blog. The stories of my future travels will unfold. I hope you have been inspired to take a chance, join a group and see the world! If you want to join my travel group, google Meetup Victoria Womens Travel Club and you will see us there!!

Tally ho,
Pamela

Pmacdonald@cruiseshipcenters.com
Www.pamelamacdonald.cruiseshipcenters.com