I made it to Peru

After our disastrous failed attempt to make it on our summer holidays this year, I am delighted the travel gods were smiling on my trip to Peru, everything was smooth and as easy as travelling for 36 hours non stop can be!

Today I arrived in Cusco and it feels very surreal. That could be the effects of jet lag and altitude sickness, both of which I can feel in my body as I write this sipping my cacao leaf tea.

I wanted to send a short message that I'm here, and also share a photo on day #1. I met a man at a workshop who told me he always takes photos of people on the first and last day of these trips because he is always amazed by the change he sees. So let's see if that's true!

I am excited to share the next few weeks with you (probably not daily, but when I have something to share). In the west we have idea that people are "broken" and we need putting back together. That feels really awful to me, it always makes me think of a dropped hair dryer that's smashed into various pieces and I have no idea where to begin to repair it.

In Eastern culture however, they see you as whole: as a perfectly formed gem fully able to let the light in, and light out. However, life has a tendency to dull some of your facets, and thus some of your light. Your work, therefore, is to simply go around polishing your facets until you shine like new again. Nothing broken, simply dulled.

I love that analogy and intend to do some facet polishing of my own here in Peru. I truly believe taking time away is vital not just for me, but for everyone. I am aware of this need because I hold people in my job every day, and I know these experiences allow me to be more helpful to others. But life is all too precious and unpredictable for all of us to keep putting off our adventures for "another day".

So I hope that in following along, I inspire you to take your own adventure. Whether it's the trip of a lifetime like this one, a weekend away, a retreat, an afternoon fully to yourself or anything simply to allow yourself to shine a little brighter.

I have no idea what to expect from this trip, but I'm excited to see what comes!

Photo: Day 1 picture for comparison

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