Isagenix has blessed me with a lot for which I am grateful - health, retirement, time with family and a wonderful community.
It has also opened up a world of travel that I never imagined and in the last three years I've been to 8 different countries.
I love travelling - love packing , love the trip in the taxi, love arriving at the airport 4 hours early and love getting frisked for bombs - everyone knows I love plane food......ππ
I have also realised that time with Isagenix doing personal development has enabled me to achieve a certain calm in the face of what normally would exasperate me.
I have been spoiled with the chance to travel business class and stay in 5 +star hotels in some of the most magical places on the planet but have always maintained a grounded belief that I am true to my roots and can easily accommodate lesser conditions of travel
Well this has truly been tested hence far on this trip to Melbourne for Isagenix event SKO.
On board Qantas airbus seated alongside 3 other people I can achieve an almost zen like state deep in a meditative position stoically seated in my limited zone, eyes fixed forward, legs stretched to capacity under the seat in front and telly screen poised.
Whilst I pride myself on being a model passenger I also have time to reflect on the behaviours around me.
You know the loud talker - male- who feels the need to yell 'thanks Karen for the man flu.....'
and then as if we all need further affirmation that we are in an incubated hot house of infection he coughs and sneezes convincingly.
We also have the loud talker - female - who must think that is her last day on earth and needs us all to know she is really well travelled and read and using her blank canvas companion as audience, talks non stop
I love my seating companion who has come prepared with every sort of technological distraction and spends some time arming flight mode and preparing headlphones and finding entertainment apps only then to pull out Woman's Day and then wait for it.......
The Australian - I get it - I'm impressed - you can read a broad sheet - but really - save it for the kitchen table........
Still - love travelling - -and after a brief flight , short movie and breakfast - -a good flight......
Wait for it......
The hotel.....
First clue should have been the fact that the taxi driver didn't recognise the name.
Second clue was when I discovered it sandwiched between a Vietnamese karaoke cafe and a Chinese laundry.....
Only thing welcoming is the automatic glass doors-
Once inside - I muse that it is only a few minutes walking distance from the Convention centre
and all I need is just a bed and a shower ....
I arrive at the front desk and despite some difficulty understanding the receptionist manage to learn that I need to take the elevator to floor 1
This done I meander around the passages looking for my room until the signage leads me down several flights of stairs with heavy luggage in tow to what I can only describe as a converted garage.
Bemused I eventually get to my room and discover that luckily I only want a room and a shower - 'cause that's all I've got........
Can't swing a cat - no phone reception and every time someone flushes a toilet I hear it ...
Apparently underground rooms are trendy but have you ever seen that superannuation ad where the excavators dig in the bowels of the earth for remains of civilization - well that's how I feel as I anticipate the next 4 days in the dungeon as I have fondly named it.
Still love travelling and I stayed in a hotel in Vietnam where the toilet door opened out on to the wider world and the switch that controlled the fan also controlled the light so I had a choice....
Still loved it for the rich fabric of diversity that is travel
It all gives me pause for thought and makes me even more grateful for the opportunities and blessings that make my life such a rich experience
Still - gotta be honest - a room with a view would be nice ......π