This is a big deal
For those of you who know me well, you know I am not the type of person who enjoys doing pretty much anything by myself. If you don't know me well, then you may think that as an only child I am perfectly happy hanging out all by myself, but you would be completely wrong. I always prefer the buddy system. So naturally traveling for work and flying solo for the weekend is pretty much the last thing on my list of "things I would really like to try." (Sidenote: My co-workers are both flying to other cities this weekend b/c they've done the LA thing before.) Nonetheless I'm giving it a go.
Last year when I accompanied Bryan to Chicago for a business trip I had my first taste of "solo" sightseeing. We flew up together, but that Friday while he was at work I explored the shops of Chicago and even ate lunch by myself. (Baby steps here people.) It turns out I had a great time! Even though I felt incredibly awkward, I enjoyed all the things I got to see and do (and all the things I bought...).
One year later, I'm now embarking on my second solo travel experience. Back when I found out I was going to be in LA for the weekend, my first thought was for Bryan to fly out here. We agreed it was an awesome idea, but it just didn't work out with his workload. I flirted with the idea of flying home, but it's just too much with a 5 hour flight and a three hour time change to fly home just for a day basically. (I would have to take the red eye home Friday night, and I'm sorry but I just don't sleep well on planes.) So that left me with the third option of sucking it up and seeing what LA has to offer. Since I had never been to LA it actually sounded like a fantastic idea.
Knowing that when the weekend rolled around I wouldn't exactly be the happiest person in the world, I decided to pre-book a tour of LA for Saturday and arrange to see a friend who lives in the area on Sunday- all in an effort to not just sit in my hotel room and be a hermit. So tomorrow I set off on an 8 hour tour to see what there is to see in Santa Monica, LA, Hollywood and anywhere else we may stop along the way. I'm arming myself with my best attitude and the DSLR. (Bryan was generous enough to part with his most treasured material posession - his camera. You're the best, hubby!) On Sunday I'm driving up to Calabasas to spend some time with Tony and his girlfriend Catherine. Believe it or not I'm excited about the weekend! I've mapped out how to get to where I'm going and I'm looking forward to living it up. I'm sure that once I get on the tour I can find someone to buddy-up with, right? Sometimes you've just got to put your big girl panties on and go see what the world has to offer. Here's to new experiences (despite being homesick). Cheers!
