If you ever have the chance to go to southern Asia in the winter you should take it without thinking a second. You know that time of year when the snow is starting to get old, having the fireplace on is more out of necessity then a luxury and your starting to daydream about being outside when everything is green. I know that I was getting into that mood right before our trip. It had been snowing for a few days along with the kind of cold that makes your bones ache. It was absolutely the best time to leave the city. So that’s exactly what we did! We got out of there.
First stop was the southern CT city where we picked up a bunch of friends, including Hero (she flew in the night before and seeing her was by far the best thing about the trip, but you already knew that didn’t you), and then later that day we flew on down to the place we were having our retreat. I was so excited for the warm weather that I actually packed a pair of shorts in my backpack to change into on the plane. It was so great to step out of the airplane rocking a t-shirt, shorts, sunglasses and best of all my fiancee.
Our ten days down there were fantastic. The whole time there we had a beautiful sunny sky and stars at night. You would be amazed at how much you miss the sun and stars when you have seen them less than half a dozen times in five and a half months. I had plenty of time to go swimming, play a round of golf, elephant rides, bamboo river rafting and lots of watching soccer. Believe me when I tell you that the pictures don’t give the country the credit it deserves. It was a beautiful place to spend some down time with a great group of friends, to rest, and relax for the last little bit of my journey.
It wasn’t all play though. We had 15 or 16 meetings packed into 7 days. In no way was it stressful though. Every meeting I left feeling more equipped and ready for what was coming up. Not only did it equip me for the next 3 months but also for life beyond. One of my favorite things that I got out of the week was a little work-booklet from one of the speakers. The purpose of the booklet is to help you narrow the goals you have which will then help you decide what direction in life to take. I have been realizing that there is so many different ways that I can start to take but I know there are good paths and then there is the best path.