Paris

As I’m writing this post I’m literally plotting my next international trip. I have been itching to catch a flight out of the U.S. since my last big trip to Europe. Since I’m being consumed by wanderlust and #ThrowbackThursday and #FlashbackFriday are upon us I think it would be cool if I shared some of my pictures & thoughts from my not so impromptu trip to Paris. I didn’t have a blog established at the time so it’s only right that I catch you guys up before my next big trip.

Let me just start off by saying I totally manifested this trip through the law of attraction and positive visualization! But I’ll get into that in just a few minutes. As a I child growing up me and my siblings always went on family vacations yearly but we tended to go to Disney in Florida, Colorado for skiing, and if we left the country we went to islands like the Bahamas or Barbados. Which those are all cool and overall “kid friendly” I always noticed that all of my Caucasian classmates at my private school went to the UK, Australia, or maybe even China for their school breaks. So as an adult I would look back and wish I had those cultural travel experiences as well. But in true EEH fashion I immediately turned my thinking around and said to myself “Ebonne why not start now” and that’s when my planning, visualizing, and travel expectancy kicked into high gear.

At the time I was working 10 hours a day at my day job so I had money coming in but I just didn’t know when I would have the time off from work to take a trip. Also who would be willing to get up and go with me and was I really ready to drop a $1,000 plus on a round trip ticket. I felt like there were so many other places that my money could be going towards…like bills! But I knew that I wanted to build a “work-life balance” and in order to do that I would have to prioritize financially and spiritually for what I wanted to create more of. And I was clear I wanted to create more travel in my life. So I started with a clear vision and decided upon Paris. I kept my expectation to myself and began journaling about what I would eat in Paris, the people I saw, the letters I would write to my family, what I would wear as I would sip on wine at a quaint café while reading my favorite book. I wrote ALL of that as if I was already there in Paris (I know that sounds kind of crazy but it worked). Me visualizing in detail on a daily basis created an emotional connection that got me excited, hopeful, and more importantly expecting my trip.

Even though there were no signs of any of this happening I kept reminding myself that all of the details would eventually be revealed to me in perfect timing. In the meantime I kept visualizing, expecting, and saving portions of my check for the trip. I didn’t stress myself about it or become obsessed with the wanting of it all. And honestly, I think eliminating the fear and overthinking is what allowed everything to unravel as smoothly as it did. Because when you exercise (it’s a learned behavior) “trusting the process” and knowing that everything is working out in your favor you eliminate resistance from your desires so it can easily and quickly manifest.

And BOOM! Just like that I got word from a friend that there was a glitch fare for Paris roundtrip for only $480 dollars!! My friend was already scheduled for a big trip so she couldn’t go with me but I knew despite having nobody to go with this was my moment so I booked it anyway! I felt that if I was able to get a ticket for such a great deal I would also be able to find great company in perfect timing as well.

Long story short, my sister Evette and one of her dear friends excitedly decided to come with me and they were able to snag the glitch fare as well! Everything literally unfolded perfectly and not to mention our trip turned out Magical. I ate a chocolate croissant every morning, indulged in Croque Madame’s faithfully, walked the Parisian cobblestone, overdosed on Paris’ fashion, museum hopped, tried escargot for the first time, had a glass of wine with every meal, and took late night river rides. And of course I wrote and mailed vintage letters to my family just like I said in my journal when this was all a dream.

I once heard motivational speaker Lisa Nichols say that we all will have a story to tell. Sitting in our rocking chairs on the front porch talking to our grandchildren or great grandchildren and they will be nudging to hear our life story. So if we have to tell the story we might as well make it Juicy and worth hearing.

I fall in love daily with the fact that I carry the pen to write my own story so as I sit here planning my next travel adventure just know that I intend on playing BIG and making the story JUICY.

XoXo,

EEH