growth

Real Change in Real Time

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I am on my third house sitting gig and my fourth move since I sold my house and moved out in mid August. I was telling a friend today that it’s been more difficult that I expected. The constant moving and learning a new house, establishing a new routine and making sure my dog is taken care of has been a lot of work. Additionally, I make sure that the homes are treated with extra special care (more than I showed my own) because I want to respect and show appreciation for the generosity people have shown me by sharing their homes. Sometimes, this feels like “walking on eggshells”.

Even with the discomfort, I remind myself that I am doing all of this for a reason. I intentionally blew up my life because I don’t want to live a stagnant, “autopilot” life. I believe short term irritation will garnish me with big time gains of a new perspective and value for life and all of its facets, ups and downs and experiences.

My to-do list is getting shorter and shorter. New tires on my car yesterday. Today I signed up for Trusted Housesitters. I figure it will open me to potential locations I haven’t considered or even know about! I also met with a friend today, and as with other friends I have visited, I invited her to accompany me on the road or join me for a part of my road trip. I let her know how important she is to me. I think we don’t tell people enough how they have added to our lives and journey. I am adamant the my friends know they are truly special to me.

And so my journey continues. It will have its peaks and valleys and I will continue to remind myself that it is where the growth happens. And more important than growth, it reminds me I am human and striving to be the very best version of myself, parent and friend.

Travel is the Great Equalizer

Posted on by Seniye Groff
Anacortes, WA at sunset.

I often get asked why I like to travel so much and especially why I mainly travel solo. Well, in truth it’s all about THE FOOD! I say that in jest, but food is a big motivator. I actually love to see how the food, culture and history converge in the various places I visit. A recent example is Peru. I expected typical Latin fare but what I found was food infused with influences from China, Japan, Spain, Africa and Western Europe. When I dived into Peru’s history, I learned that each of the people from these cultures were a part of Peru’s past (and present) and naturally brought their food and ways of cooking with them.

Travel also allows me to meet new people and hear their stories and perspectives. When I hear new perspectives it allows me to question my own viewpoint or even add to my own views and lens…which is a gift by any measure. When we are not on auto pilot, we are open to different ways of being and doing and so I truly love the element of discovery that travel naturally brings to the traveler.

I, probably similar to any other avid traveler, have a running list of travel destinations I want to visit. I do seem to add more destinations rather than cross off…another great advantage of traveling! I often meet people while traveling and listen to their travel stories, which in turn inspires me to add the destination. I did my first oversees solo trip in 2018 and it was incredibly empowering. I only planned the first two nights of the trip and the remainder of the trip was completely ad hoc. I figured planning the first two nights allowed me to conquer my jet lag and get my bearings, but once I was at full throttle, I was at full “take it all in” mode. All I knew was the day I needed to depart and it was a free for all for the two weeks in between. I got lost…so many times! I felt uncomfortable…so many times! I landed in areas that were not on my radar and learned so much about the area, the people and frankly my own resiliency. Travel allows this and so much more.