Discovering 4 Travel Secrets on my Trip to Martha’s Vineyard

Back at home now, I’m writing from my second floor office where the view out of my window is a bit dreary- the rain is back. Yet, as I sit and reflect about my trip to Martha’s Vineyard, it was far from dreary. In fact, I discovered 4 really cool secrets that I wanted to share with you.

Before departing on our trip there’s the usual freneticness that goes along with any kind of travel these days requiring leaving your house for more than a few days. Since the summer is upon us, I know I’m not alone in my quest for sanity amidst the travel. Key for me was trying to figure out what to do with our sweet, adorable, 11 month old Golden Collie- Lily, who’s entwined herself into our hearts forever. (Photo- Here’s Lily hanging on the porch.) When we went to Las Vegas we had put her in the kennel and found out when we got back that she was sad and depressed. So for this next trip I needed to find another option. As things always work as they’re supposed to, our dog walker found us the most incredible dog sitter that would stay with Lily. So my first travel secret was 1) Having Peace of Mind- how much would you pay for peace of mind to take care of your animals, plants and home while you’re away? Well let me tell you, I’m not sure I can put a price on my peace of mind. To me, it was priceless not to have to worry about Lily or our home while being away.

This leads me to my next discovery- 2) Trusting Your Gut- as it turned out, our dog sitter Justin was a godsend. He took great care of Lily. In fact, he walked her for 8 miles each day and then played with her all the time so she was way too tired to chew anything in the house. I’m glad I could trust my gut on this one. (Photo- Lily so tired she fell off her bed!)

Then my next discovery- 3) Taking a Chance- we drove from New Jersey to Wood’s Hole, MA and had a decent idea when we’d get there, depending of course on traffic all along the coast. As it turned out we arrived into Wood’s Hole at 8:20 pm. The ferry was leaving at 8:30pm- what to do? The next and last ferry was leaving at 9:45 pm and we didn’t want to wait. Yet, we were not planning on taking the car and we didn’t have a reservation. (In the summer you need a reservation for your car.) Plus, we didn’t have time to park in the lot, unload our stuff and be able to make the 8:30 pm ferry. So I took a chance. I had nothing to lose- all they could say was no. This was all new to me, trying to take a car on a boat. I simply drove right up to the entrance and asked if we could go standby and the next thing you know- he said there was room for the car and hurry and go buy a ticket. I ran as fast as I could in the terminal, whipped out my Amex Platinum, and had my round trip reservation to Martha’s Vineyard with my car. Wow, that was just the coolest feeling, taking a chance, and having it all work out so splendidly. So we made the 8:30 pm boat and were the lasts ones on. I couldn’t have planned this any better. (Photo- Car Ferry entrance at Wood’s Hole.)

The ferry ride was smooth and easy, and we got to see the beautiful sun disappear along the horizon. This was my son Harrison’s first ferry ride and he totally enjoyed it! (Photo- Sunset from the ferry on the way to MV)

My last discovery on our trip was- 4) Spending Time with Those You Love- this discovery has lots of meaning to me. I never seem to take enough time to be with those I love and make time to share some laughter, food and just hang out and “be with.” Spending time on Martha’s Vineyard with my Executive Coaches and friends- Debbie Phillips & Rob Berkley was doubly wonderful because I was able to bring my family. They’ve never been to MV and I was able to introduce them to all new adventures. Suffice to say we had many moments where we laughed until we cried, ate some inspiring and delicious food, met some other fabulous Islanders, saw some incredible beach and ocean views and had some wonderful adventures. (I even managed to squeeze in attending one of Debbie’s “Women on Fire Tea Party’s”- the first one on MV!) (Photo-Me and Debbie Phillips having breakfast at the MV airport.)

Don’t deprive yourself this summer of these 4 Travel Secrets-

1) Having Peace Of Mind

2) Trusting Your Gut

3) Taking A Chance

4) Spending Time With Those You Love.

I guarantee a steady diet of these 4 travel secrets and we won’t be able to wipe that smile off your face come September- promise!

Do You Ever Long to Feel like You Belong Somewhere?

I’m writing from the train, heading home to New Jersey. I’m on the way back from a business training meeting that was in Baltimore. (As an aside, riding in business class is the best way to ride up and down the east coast- no worries of gas or traffic!) To be honest, I wasn’t totally looking forward to working the whole weekend, yet I was so pleasantly surprised at what happened.

Going there, I honestly had no expectations. I was ready to learn and discover new ways to help promote a business I’m working on with one of my clients. The weekend of discovery and training turned out to be one of the best meetings I’ve attended in a while.

At this meeting I had the best sense of being a part of a wonderful organization. It was a small meeting- only about 70 people. I was surrounded by incredibly smart, funny, and the nicest people you could ever want to spend a weekend with. In fact I was able to have some great chats with Bill Glazer, President of Glazer Kennedy Insider’s Circle, and was inspired by Karen Schaefer, who has a fast-growing info-marketing business involving real estate investors, real estate brokers and agents, and consumers: ‘Simple Appeal’, the premier nationwide “staging company” assisting homeowners in presenting their homes to obtain top dollar from buyers http://www.simpleappeal.com/

I’m leaving my meeting with such great connections and this wonderful feeling of belonging to a group of like-minded, motivated and successful people. Most, if not all of the people in the room, were incredibly successful entrepreneurs. I discovered a lot of great ways to promote my client’s business and things I can even use in my own. Yet the biggest lesson for me was how much I so enjoyed feeling like I belonged with these people. I knew being an entrepreneur was going to have its ups and downs. And for the most part I’ve very much enjoyed my ride to date. The only things that gets in my way at times is spending too much time in my home office and not enough time with like-minded entrepreneurs.

My suggestion to you it look for ways to join some like-minded groups of people. Don’t miss out on belonging somewhere and collaborating and brainstorming with fellow like-minded business people. Seek out a Ladieswholaunch or a local Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle Chapter or Mastermind Group. This group is all around the country and you can check out this map to see one that’s closest to where you live. Don’t wait. Do this now- schedule an event, go check out a new meeting. You’re not alone. We’re all seeking out friend, colleagues and ultimately our own financial freedom.

Know When To Hold em, When to Fold em…

Remember this line from Kenny Rogers song The Gambler- “Know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run…” Well with this continuous talk of gloom and doom in the economy (I don’t watch the news anymore. Yet it seems people I talk to keep bringing up “the recession.”), this song came to mind which we could gleam some interesting things…

For one, Hillary and Obama are all over the news this week. He finally declares victory and she’s chiding away from publicly announcing he’s got the nomination. Talk about “know when to fold em…” This whole thing to me seemed to drag out forever. Thank goodness it’s coming to a conclusion. Not one to dwell on politics here, but I really liked Hillary and thought having someone with her experience in the White House might be good for our country. So it will be interesting how this will all unravel.

In fact, last night I was at this really fun event- it was a book launch party for Pamela Skillings, who just published her new book called Escape from Corporate America. I met her through a networking group over a year ago. She interviewed me and I have a mention in the book. It’s a wonderful book that will help many people during this interesting economical time. (Photo- Author, Pamela Skillings and yours truly- Shannon M.) This is where Kenny Rogers song really hits home to all the people in Corporate America who feel stuck, exhausted, not sure what to do next- they have to know when to hold em, fold em or walk away. Pamela’s book will really come in handy if you find yourself in this catch-22- need to make money, yet not liking what you do, or maybe you have a friend or family member who’s in that position. I’d totally recommend picking up a copy of this book and giving it to them. If you want to know more, you can also go to her blog- http://blog.escapefromcorporate.com/

It was a really cool and fun party in New York City. The mojitos and much rum was flowing. I was hesitant about going by myself because I wouldn’t know really anyone there. Yet, I decided to keep up with my trend of being bold and daring. So off I went on the train to New York and I ended up meeting some great like-minded people. I was introduced to Marie Forleo, a fellow info marketer who has this much talked about product called Productivity Secrets for Creative Entrepreneurs. She brought a friend of hers- Kendra Todd, who if you’ve ever watched Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, she was the 3rd Apprentice to be “hired” to work for him. It was a fascinating conversation. We had a lot in common and knew many of the same people in the information marketing world. It was a really great night to step outside of my home office for once and hang out with other fun entrepreneurs. (Photo- Marie Forleo, Kendra Todd and your’s truly, Shannon M.) I also met Margot Tohn, who is THE woman behind the Park It Guides for New York City. So if ever you’re in the city and need a place to park- her guides are IT – so check them out- http://www.parkitguides.com/

So I would encourage you if ever in doubt about going to an event alone, take the chance, be daring, step out of your comfort zone. I promise you won’t regret who you’ll meet and what might be in store for you in your business and in your life. Go take that chance and be bold!