Do you remember how excited you were in grade school when you were going on an excursion? One of the reasons they create such excitement is that they are a diversion or deviation from the norm, from the routine. So, when was the last time you gave yourself permission as an adult to take an excursion?

This past Christmas, my son and daughter-in-law gifted my husband and I with a cooler with the “challenge” to use it for time together away from the house and today was the opportunity to take up the challenge. It was a holiday and a gorgeous clear day in Hawaii with hardly a cloud in the sky and it occurred to me that we could take our cooler out for an excursion. We set out on a drive with the intention that somewhere along the way there would be the right spot for our picnic. We did not anticipate the holiday traffic, but with no particular destination or time commitment, we had the freedom to just drive and have meaningful, undistracted conversation. We finally found the perfect spot at a small beach park and secured our picnic table. Sitting watching the beachgoers, we found ourselves reminiscing about family excursions we have had over the years and are now looking forward to our next excursion.

There is another kind of excursion I want to share with you – they are called creative excursions. These are trips that are a designed to be just for you. They are an investment in supporting your creative self and individual spirit. If you are not accustomed to giving yourself this freedom, you can start with small steps such as changing your lunch hour habits. Instead of eating lunch at your desk, take it outdoors. If you can, walk to a quiet place and while you eat be present to the elements around you – the sun, the wind, the sounds. If you can’t take it outside, you can create a small mental excursion by closing the door and tuning in to a calming soundtrack of ocean waves or falling rain.

Other ways of taking excursions can included taking in a movie, stopping for an early breakfast at your favorite coffee shop, attending an open market, browsing through a used-book store, or just taking a drive to a park – either near a body of water (beach, lake, or stream) or in the mountains. The solitude will refresh and renew you – body and soul.

Happy trails…

Until next time…