Be Present: Traveling with Intention and learning how to Be Jade 

After an eleven hour car ride from Los Angeles to Lake Powell (broken up by a night stay in Las Vegas), I was ready to stretch my legs and explore. I quickly changed out of my driving clothes (yes, I have clothes I only wear in the car) and into something a little more presentable to be walking around the lake.

As I walked around the shoreline, I noticed dozens of couples walking around too. It was late afternoon and the temperature was perfect for a pre-dinner stroll. After leaving Las Vegas, the silence of the lake was a welcomed retreat. Slot machines and car horns were replaced with motor boats and the wind. The stillness was so refreshing and for the first time in months, I was all alone.

There’s nothing like a little time alone looking out at a almost alien like landscape to put a few things into perspective.

Now that I travel a lot for work (I’m not complaining) and sometimes without Bob, I need to look at travel in a different way. I need to have intention with each trip. ‘Is this a photography story? How many story angles do I need to get out of one piece? Is this a vacation? Should I try more local restaurants? The waters freezing, but this is a story about beaches- so jump in and smile!’

After thinking about the intention of the trip, I want to let it all go. Sure, know what I’m there for, but also be present in the moment. Be myself. Allow the travel experience to still move me.

As I’m reading The Happiness Project, one of her main rules is to “Be Gretchen”, Be yourself. So I need to remember to Be Jade. Most activities aren’t life or death and most things can actually be made better with a smile and a joke. I’m good at both of those things.

While I realize this post isn’t really about Lake Powell, I’m a firm believer in the ‘it’s not about the end destination, it’s about the journey” and it’s on this part of that trip that made me realize to be more myself. On a boat ride through the Lake, we were taking pictures of ourselves in front of the Dam and we had all been joking and getting along like we had been friends for years. They started teasing me about being on a photo shoot- and these photos are what came out of it. Totally crazy, totally in the moment and 100% present.

The best part of the trip and it was all because I was just present. I was being Jade.