Borrowed River House

Excerpt written from an adventure to Colorado :

When we arrived into the old, yet modern western town, we went to meet our town friend Rico and his faithful companion, Belle – an adorable bulldog, who held the key to our borrowed river house and the secrets to the town. Rico led us to our lovely new hideaway, it was perfect! As soon as we dropped our bags, we went out to explore again. 

A few steps in town, a cowboy of sorts stopped to ask us if we were lost, we said, “yea kind of, but in a good way!” We had to admit later that in most other towns we would have been leery, but you could just tell people that lived in Telluride were simply happy and were living true to their purpose, and in that, there was a lot of trust. So our new friend went on to tell us all about the town’s must see’s and how he came to be in Telluride and never left, as we found held true for most! We thanked him for all his great advice and for capturing a few “yoga in the streets” shots and went on our way, very grateful for this short encounter.

We spent the next few days challenging our minds and bodies on the mat with teachers from all over the world. When the yoga conference was over, we continued to explore onward- this time onto the trails throughout the mountains surrounding the town. And up we went. As with any other challenge, going uphill brought up great resistance, but as we pushed on, we came upon the most incredible views.

Everything seemed to slow down as the beauty, strength and grace of what seemed like a thousand mountains completely wrapped around us. We inhaled love, we exhaled gratitude and then we smiled at each without saying a word.

On our last afternoon, the storms started to roll in. As the skies turned darker, we received news that we would have to skip our first flight and drive through the night to get to our next flight in Phoenix which was not so conveniently located 8 hours south. So we took a big breath in, packed our bags, and headed to Rico’s to say goodbye and return our keys to our river house hideaway. We reminded ourselves that “it was all good”  as we started our next adventure home.  I knew with Megs by my side, we could totally do this. We loaded up on snacks, veggie sandwiches, lattes and coconut ice cream (serious reinforcements for our long night ahead) and said goodbye to our town guides as we handed in our keys and said, “we’ll see you soon T-E-L-L-U-R-I-D-E!”

As the sun started to fade, we set out of town feeling very much relaxed, which was strange considering the night had ahead of us, but something about what we learned from the mountains gave us the strength and confidence to keep moving forward onto dark, uncertain roads, ready to take on anything that came our way. As it turned out, the trip ended up taking a little longer than expected (by about 4 hours) as we had to make a u-turn shortly after crossing the border to New Mexico. We found out we had to return our rental car to Durango or pay an outrageous fee. (Note to self- return car to the place you got it from- check!) So with a bit of energy on our side, we headed back to Durango, as it turned out to just say “hi”, with smiles on of course, fill out a new contract and be on our way, same car and all.

It was a long night, probably the longest of all nights- but we did it!   Megs pulled us into Phoenix as the sun rose and we caught our flight back to Philly exhausted, but very grateful for the best kind of adventure. One that took us up hills, down valleys, into our hearts and out through our minds. 

It is in our adventures where we completely let go of the outcome and simply stay present that we discover beauty all around us.  The more we are open to the experience, to this moment, the more beauty that will be revealed around every corner. 

PQ: If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would you bring?

Make a travel vow. I promise to do all that is my power to travel here ______________________________ with __________________________ (could just be you) by ___________________________.

Signature:

Date:

Witness (aka Accountability partner and perhaps travel partner):