I came up to Chicago for the Adventures in Travel Expo here. The expo was smaller than I’d hoped, but my brother Alan lives in the area, which made the trip more enjoyable. Text chat with Alan:

Alan: (Night before the trip) It’s wind chill 20 below here
Me: I don’t think I own enough clothes for that
Alan: (morning I leave) Warming up, should be balmy when you arrive
Me: (taxiing to terminal in Chicago) I see snow. Am I in the wrong place?

One afternoon we took a walk around downtown Naperville, which was a pretty downtown, though I’m sure it looks a lot different in the summer.

Also out that day for a stroll in the snow were a bunch of ducks. What ever happened to migrating south for the winter? Those web feet really don’t look like they’re designed for this!

Like many who travel to Europe and pay for European goods and services, I’ve spent plenty of time the past couple of years bemoaning how the US Dollar has sunk in comparison. Everything in Europe gets more and more expensive. Then on the home front, the cost of gas has risen substantially, so airplane tickets are up, and even driving trips in the US get more expensive! Oh, woe is us…

But compare it to a REALLY bad time, and all of a sudden, it seems like we’re downright fortunate and prosperous.

During the German occupation of Greece (1941 to 1944), the monthly inflation rate peaked at 8.55 billion percent. Prices doubled every 28 hours. By 1944, they were printing 100 trillion drachma notes.

Daily Frappe: Greece hyperinflation - how far we’ve come…

While our Greek Islands yacht trips would certainly be a lot cheaper with their currency in that state, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! We visit this fascinating country twice a year, and I’m happy that they’re doing well. (Though I may continue to moan privately about the exchange rate!)

I’m in Sedona now, and is it ever COLD! People here tell me it’s usually only this cold 2-3 days a year, so I must be lucky! There’s ice forming on puddles, and a possibility of snow.

I’m here to sample some of the vortex tours, to decide which vortex guide to use on our trips in 2008. Unfortunately, the guide we’ve used for years is moving, so we need somebody new. We whittled it down to a short list, then I came up to meet the finalists, and see how they ran it in person.

The last tour wrapped up about 6pm. I’d been outside most of the day, and by this time was wearing 2 sweaters, 2 vests, an Alaskan jacket, 2 blankets, hat, gloves, boots, and more, and was so cold my words weren’t forming quite right.

(The good news is that I’m convinced shivering is an effective weight-loss method. I’ve yet to see a scientific study on this, but a good full-body shiver must burn quite a lot of calories, and involve toning many different muscles.)

Each vortex guide has a unique style, but their overall purpose is to teach you about Sedona’s mysterious energy vortexes, and help you connect with that energy in various ways. People always ask what this feels like, but there’s no simple answer. It depends on the guide, the rituals you use, your receptivity, how you’re feeling that day, and a lot of other factors. Some people claim miraculous visions and healing. Many people feel nothing at all. Most people fall somewhere in between.

On the first vortex tour, the leader did a guided meditation that had me soaring like an eagle around Thunder Mountain. This had a very surprising effect on me — I still don’t understand quite what happened. I left the tour wondering “what is going on with the eagle??” On the next tour, I was told that my spirit guide is a golden eagle. Among other qualities, this is supposed to mean that I can soar like an eagle. I left this tour wondering “what is it about eagles??”

I may or may not ever understand these links to eagles. But at least I accomplished the purpose of testing and selecting vortex guides — cold weather and all!

We do our Sedona hiking trips for women in nicer weather — spring and fall are usually ideal. Warning: If you ever come here in January, remember that even Arizona gets cold, and pack the expedition-weight long-johns!

I’m partway through transitioning from a PC to a Mac. Actually, I still have both, and I don’t ever expect to transition totally, so I’ve moved from PC-land into both-land.

This is not a painless transition. I’ve worked on PC’s so long, that I’m a power user there. I know all the shortcuts, and fly through things on autopilot.

Then came the Mac. At first I loved it! I adored features like the quick, easy editing of pictures in iPhoto. I take a lot of pictures, and this can save serious time compared to doing the same basic editing in Photoshop (which was always overkill for basic cropping and lightening).

Then I became frustrated, as my productivity on normal tasks plummeted. I can’t Alt-I-C anymore to insert a column? Now I have to hunt and click, which takes about 100 times as long. Even on some things I love, the transition itself is a time-sucker. (Like getting all those thousands of photos into the Mac. It’s still not done, after many, many hours.)

I started to see this all in terms of a change slider. It’s like adjusting the left-right balance on your stereo.

Resistance to change <—————||————–> Desire for change

I have these two sides battling it out in my mind over the Mac transition. Some moments the desire side is winning, and the slider shifts right. Then I hit a problem, and the slider moves back to the left.

Each of us has our own default setting. You probably know people who are eager for new experiences, and adapt easily to change:

Resistance to change <————————||—–> Desire for change

And others who are big on stability and routine, and try to avoid change:

Resistance to change <—–||————————> Desire for change

This is just a general tendency. All of us have the same opposing forces that come into play on each change situation we encounter. It’s just that some people have their default setting nearer one end than the other. It’s like they hear better out of one ear, so they keep the stereo adjusted to compensate.

Now there’s the presidential election. From early primary results, it appears that a large number of voters this year want change. What does it take to move so many people at one time towards the Desire for change? One answer is pain. When the pain of stability increases, it creates motivation for change. The more glum economic news there is, and the more of us it affects personally, the more we’ll want change.

(This leads to the thought that stability is not really possible - it’s just an illusion caused by different rates of change. But that’s another topic!)

Years ago, I did a profile of Robert Mondavi as part of my MBA. What an amazing man! Wine drinkers will recognize that name — one of the most influential people ever in the California wine industry. When I ran across his autobiography Harvests of Joy, I had to find out more.

It’s enlightening to see how much difference one person can make. He didn’t do it all by himself, but nobody can deny that he was a major force for change. Napa and California (and possibly all of the US wine industry) would not be what it is now without Robert Mondavi. And to think he started his own winery at the age of 52, after being kicked out of the family business. (Yes, all the stories are told in the book!) There’s no such thing as starting too late! It certainly gives ME hope.

If you’re thinking of visiting Napa, it’s also fun to read about how Napa was a few decades ago. My, how things have changed. Not the sleepy little farm towns anymore.

The other thing I find inspiring is the spirit. He shows his hard-driving business side, and admits that had some serious impacts on his family and those around him. But there’s a level of joy throughout, too. How many business owners view their endeavors as “harvests of joy”? I love it!

Recommended for:
- Anyone who wants to follow their dream,
- People visiting Napa Valley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We do a Napa Valley tour for women each fall at harvest season. It’s a stunning place - beautiful and sophisticated. Funny to think how different it was, not so long ago…

We just finished our last trip of 2007! Last weekend was our final trip - a Red Rocks Getaway to Sedona. The trip was great, and now that I’m home, it’s time for reflection — on the forest and the trees.

• When I first started Adventurous Wench, I was focused on each individual trip. One Santa Fe trip this month. One BVI trip that month. I obsessed over all the details about each one.
• Soon, I moved on to thinking in terms of seasons and years. After the last trip of the season, we stow away all the trip supplies we won’t need again until the next year. It’s a logical time to review — how was the overall success of the year? What will we do differently next year? It’s like a football team, you’ve got a fixed season with a certain number of games, and you want a winning season.
• As time went by, I started thinking in terms of destinations. Each trip morphed into a series. Instead of seeing each San Juan Islands trip in isolation, or as part of our 200x season, it became one of a series to that destination. Each year we make adjustments to the trip, as things change and new opportunities become available. The destination remains the same, and the trips themselves evolve over time. “San Juan Islands” is now a series rather than an individual trip, like a TV show rather than a movie.
• As our selection of trips grew and grew, I moved on to thinking of portfolios of trips. We have our selection of European trips, our selection of US trips, tropical trips, yacht trips, etc. Which areas are doing the best, and where do we want to grow? I’m evaluating the portfolio of today, and planning the portfolio of tomorrow, looking years into the future.

Of course, all of these viewpoints have to happen at the same time. One day’s task list could include working on all of these.

1. Selecting trips to introduce in 2008, 2009 and beyond (portfolio view = forest view)
2. Listing ideas on how to improve our Sedona trip for 2008 (destination view = part of the forest)
3. Setting the dates for the next Napa Valley trip (trip view = tree view).
4. Deciding what time the dinner reservation on Tuscany day 4 will be (trip details = leaf view)

You’ve got to see the forest, the trees, and even the leaves on each of those trees, and be able to switch views easily. As we offer more and more trips each year, this gets more and more challenging. I may need binoculars and bifocals!

- Deanna.

Arriving in San Francisco feels like coming home (though I live in Arizona now).

It’s my favorite city in the world. I never get tired of it. The beautiful skyline, the constantly changing bay, the vibrant city life, the quirky characters, and of course the food! It’s hard to put any city above New York, Rome or Paris, but for me, San Francisco takes the prize. Whenever I get back here, it makes me feel good. I felt my heart soar as I crossed the Bay Bridge and saw the city before me.

I’m in town for our Napa Valley & San Francisco trip. It’s the first time we’re doing this one, so there’s an extra bit of excitement before the trip. Every trip is an unknown before you start. No matter how many times you’ve done a particular trip, each one is different. What will the people on this one be like? What will the weather do? What little surprises are in store for us? On this one, I’m also wondering “will they like my favorite places?” I love San Francisco and the surrounding area so much, I hope I’m able to share some of what I feel with our guests.

The downsides? Parking (difficult or expensive) and prices (sky high housing). But once you’re here, you understand why people are willing to pay so much to live here.

We stay at the Orchard Hotel, a lovely boutique hotel downtown. Dinner tonight is in North Beach, the Italian section of the city (my fave), then a cable car back to the hotel. What could be more perfect?

Tomorrow we meet the group, and begin our adventure! - Deanna

Hi everybody! Or should I say Hi nobody??

This is my very first post, and I sure hope nobody out there is reading this yet! But I know that I have to get this blog started somewhere, so here I am!

What’s this all about? This is (or will be — at the moment it’s more of an intention than a reality) a blog about adventure, in the many forms it can take. There are the big adventures, like sailing solo around the world, through the howling winds and high seas of the roaring 40s. Of course that’s an adventure! We all know that.

But adventures don’t need to be big. They don’t need to be dangerous. They don’t need to be physically rigorous. They don’t need to happen in the wilderness. They can (and do) happen everywhere, all the time!

A wise man once told me

To some people, adventure is running a river that’s never been run before. To my mom, it’s staying in a hotel without room service.”

The thing is, to a veteran mountain man, a stay at the Ritz could be an adventure. Think Crocodile Dundee. An adventure is something unusual, something that takes us out of our normal patterns, and involves a level of newness and uncertainty. As such, it opens our eyes and expands our world.

Some adventures are cunningly disguised, and you have to look at them just right to recognize them for what they are. It’s like putting on the 3-D glasses. There are the domestic adventures, like cooking duck for the first time. There are the uncomfortable adventures, like sleeping on the airport floor when all the flights are grounded at Christmas. There are the business adventures, like leading your first staff meeting. And there are the life adventures, like going on a blind date.

They all add up to the greatest adventure of all — “YOUR LIFE”.

I’ll fill you in on all of this more later. In fact, I’ll be talking a lot about adventure in the months to come. Eventually there will even be a whole “About” page to explain what this blog is about.

Right now, I’m still trying to figure out the software. (-: That didn’t work - let’s try the right-handed smiley

Bye for now, but more, much more, to come! - Deanna.