Vacations are great - once you arrive at the destination. I can tell you that planning, paying, packing are not the parts I enjoy, but they are the means to an end, right?

I took a page from my previous blog — tried to pause before reacting. I was able to do that, in most circumstances. Doesn’t mean I’m perfect — a few ‘snarky’ comments passed through my lips; not something Howard (husband) enjoys or that I’m proud of.

Our trip - a cruise in the Baltic on a Viking ship - offered me lots of ‘people-watching’ opportunities - the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good - people helping people; people waiting for the slower ones in the group; people smiling, saying Hello, and even engaging in conversation. Plus all the beauty of the countries (Denmark, Poland, Germany, Finland, and Sweden) that we were able to visit.

I was going to go on about the other two (bad & ugly), but I think I’ll just stick with the good.

So, I’m home — now what? Back to work - teaching public classes and seeing clients in my office. I heard that, while gone, the teachers who sub the public classes I usually teach did a great job. I plan to thank those who stepped in for me; so good to know this change was well received by those attending class.

Our travel home was uneventful. A longer-than-anticipated flight (including wait time and tarmac time) from JFK to LAX wasn’t pleasant; however, we made it home safely albeit 2 hours later than we had anticipated. All was good at home and it felt so great to be in our space again with the pups.

When practicing and teaching yoga, I am often heard to say the quote “change is inevitable; growth is optional” (author not known). Same is true for travel in another country/situation. There were changes in routine, languages, people, circumstances. Let’s hope we took the ‘growth path’.

So, I will stop rambling now. I wanted to get a brief note to the blog so that I can send my newsletter (another means to an end).

Enjoy your Summer travels,