The ULTIMATE in Freedom - Own Your Own Island
At dinner last night, we were talking with some friends about the idea of ultimate freedom....
owning our own island. Could you imagine what vacationing would be like on your own island?
You wake up one day and decide...I want to go on vacation. You hop on your leer jet and after landing in your own private air strip, you enter the ultimate lap of luxury. Your own private island. Talk about getting a good tan...you don't even have tan lines!
Here the
Top 5 reasons to make owning your own island a goal:1. You never call for reservations and find out your favorite hotel is sold out.
2. You always get the best room and view at a great rate.
3. The service is superb!
4. You can get amazing room service at any time of day or night with exactly what you want.
5. You will be the envy of all your friends.
Want to learn more? Conde Naste recently had an article on owning your own Island in the Bahamas. Check it out here:
http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/Editorial/Article/data/
cntraveler/2005/07jul/isletakeit.xml/When I buy my own island (or at the very least a vacation property) it will have to be in the Caribbean. Or maybe the Dominican Republic. They absolutely have some of the best snorkeling in the world.
Where would you buy your island? Share your island-purchase goals here...
A Quick Overnight to Recharge...
Ever have one of those weeks where even though life is good, you just need to decompress to "gear up" for the week ahead? Well Sunday Mark surprised me with a quick overnight get away to my favorite little spot...
You guessed it.
The JW Marriott Desert Hot Springs. (this is a view from our room)
So I quickly packed a bag (I wasn't told where I was going...just bring a bathing suit and a cute dress for dinner.) An hour into our drive, I noticed that the weather was rapidly changing from the 95 degrees in the Valley of Los Angeles.
100 degrees....105 degrees...110 degrees.
At this point I'm pretty sure I know where I'm going. It can only be the Desert or Las Vegas. And since I have to run the
Shared Vision Network meeting in 2 days, I figure it must be the Desert.
Upon our arrival at 3:30 it is a
whomping 122 degrees!!!! It felt like 5000 degrees.
We decided to make the best of it. After our last crazy experience we are in good shape with our favorite gal at the hotel. We realize that we have now achieved VIP status and have lifetime passes to the spa pool (hooray) and there just happens to be a suite open for the nite.
So here we are in 122 degrees, with a summer rate (way less than $100) in the executive suite. It's a great way to recharge. So we head to the pool for a quick dip (you can't stay outside too long) and our favorite spa-tea's. We finally learned that the
secret reciepe is SportsTea. It is a great combo of ginseng, anti-oxidants and a fruity taste. I suck them down pretty quickly out there when it's hot.
The other funny thing was that the resort was packed full of Mike Ferry's Real Estate coaching program participants. We had just been hearing about the program the day before.
Coincidence? I think not.
Especially when we shared a table at the Mikado's with more people from the program. Since Mark is in real estate, we picked up all kinds of great ideas and tools for his business.
Another fun little excursion. And since you all keep asking...I don't know exactly where we are going next...but I promise to keep you posted!
A Mini-Travel Day - The Best Way to Recharge
What do you do when your plate is full but you really need to recharge? A mini-vacation. Over the weekend the Valley was rapidly approaching triple digit weather (and yes, I do melt) so Mark & I headed to Marina del Rey to get some exercise, sun and cool off with some kayaking.
It was so much fun we've decided to do it again.
The best part is that I can row right up to my good friend Ali Brown's (
www.ezinequeen.com) place right on the marina and say hi. (She wasn't home that day...but next time!) She was busy planning her big bday bash for August 5th where we will all be joining her on a big yacht for some high-end networking and celebration. Want to come party with us?
Join us here.
How about sharing one of your most favorite ways to take a mini-recharge break? Need some ideas? Here is a post from a recent ezine I wrote.
Take a Break! 10 Mini-Vacation Ideas to Spark Your Creative JuicesWhen I was in corporate America, it was so easy to take a vacation – I was getting paid for it! As an entrepreneur, I find months slip away and I’m still going full speed ahead. I think, “Who’s got time for a vacation?” I’ve noticed many of my clients and friends have a similar mindset.
What is the cost of not taking time off to recharge?We may become grumpy or perhaps we get writers block and the creative juice aren’t flowing. Or worse yet, we start suffering from the entrepreneur’s worst nightmare -- fatigue (five cups of coffee later and you still can’t get in gear.)
It is time to give yourself a break. For those of you who have great discipline and balance, you can stop reading now. You have probably already mastered this area. For those of you who rarely take time for yourself, let alone a vacation from the business, take good notes.
Why is this important?
Because as an entrepreneur our most important and valuable skill is our creativity. And creativity flourishes when we are rested. Have you ever noticed that our best ideas come at times like when we are sleeping or in the shower? Maybe you are like me and they drop in when you are driving? Well, to tap into that cherished creativity more often, we need to have downtime. Let me introduce the idea of the “entrepreneur’s vacation.”
You may not have the time or inclination to go to Yosemite or Las Vegas, so here are 10 ways to give yourself a “mini-vacation” without losing momentum from your business. (And all ten are doable no matter what you say about your schedule.)
- Read a good book. No…not another marketing or leadership book. Be really audacious – read a fiction book. Recently, I’ve read “The Kite Runner” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” Anything that will let your imagination run free and the creativity flow.
- Hang out in a coffee shop. You’ll meet the most interesting people (especially in L.A.) I’ve run into Dr. Phil, Allison Jaimes (from the West Wing), Robert Downey Jr., and many others. Coffee shops are great for people watching.You can’t throw a wet noodle without hitting a Starbucks around here so I prefer the “local” places (like Aroma Café in Sherman Oaks.)
- Go for a drive. Pick a place you haven’t been before. I’ll often jump in the car and drive down to the beach just to get my head clear.
- Have lunch with a friend. You know, at one of those fancy, chi-chi restaurants with the great view. I highly recommend Shutters in Santa Monica if you are in the neighborhood.
- Go to a mid-day matinee. Be decadent and make it a 2:00 showing. Plus it’s a great way to escape the summer heat waves.
- Enjoy a hobby. Golf, tennis, knitting, painting, gardening, whatever it is, give yourself some time to have fun with it. Internet surfing and chat rooms don’t count! (But planting a few house plants does!)
- Play games with friends. Two of our family favorites are Guesstures and Canasta. Games are an amazing way to let off steam. The idea is to laugh like a kid again.
- Get some culture. Most towns have outdoor concerts for the summer that are free. Visit a museum. Be a tourist in your own town.
- Spend the afternoon with a child. If you don’t have any of your own, borrow one from a friend. Do something you would never do unless you were with a five year old! When was the last time you build a fort in your living room? Remember how fun that was?
Treat yourself to a spa day. - My personal favorite – massage. It is something that is good for EVERYONE!
The pay off for taking breaks can be significant. Writers who suffer from writers block often say that the best thing to do is disengage for a while and do something else. When you notice you are reading the same sentence over and over again or when you sit staring at the computer for over 15 minutes, trying to remember what you were just working on, it’s time to take a break! Have fun with it and just enjoy yourself for a few hours. I promise, nothing horrible will happen and you will be much more creative when you return.
So here’s an opportunity for you to integrate more time to tap into your creativity…Plan to do at least one of these 10 recommendations within the next week. Watch what happens. Realize how your energy is rejuvenated. Observe how much more productive you become when you take time for fun. Open your mind to the flow of creativity and new ideas. Pretty soon you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how nice an “entrepreneur’s vacation” can be.
Want to get these tips on a regular basis? Visit www.successconnections.com and sign up for the "5 Massive Mistakes" gift.
4th of July in Paradise
Paradise to me is
San Diego, California. Home of my alma mater -- San Diego State University.
Believe it or not, it has been almost 1 year since my last visit...way too long. So my boyfriend surprised me with a 2 day get-away to paradise at the new 4-Star Spa Resort called Estancia. (
www.estancialajolla.com) Conde Naste voted them one of the best new properties for 2005. So we went to see if we agreed with their rating.
What I loved about this property first and foremost is the
amazingly friendly staff. I give them 5 stars for helpfulness and rapport-building. From the housekeeper to the restaurant manager, each and every person on this property was very helpful and friendly. The pool area was great with these cool little cabanas and big, comfy hammocks. Of course, I took full advantage of the 78 degree sunshine and sun-worshiped in the hammock!
They also have a
great pool-side restaurant that grilled up the most amazing chicken kabobs. Now as a pool-side munchie connoisseur, I must admit that the 2nd day of noshing didn't go so well. The yummy looking cobb salad wasn't quite so awesome. But they made up for it with a protein-style hamburger slathered with grilled bermuda onions and brie cheese (yes, I went off the diet just slightly.)
Now for those of you who are hard-core spa'ers like me I didn't venture to the treatments on this trip. I did check in with some very relaxed looking ladies by the pool who truly enjoyed their
spa experience. I did get to the
gym one day and even though the equipment was adequate, without the music (their system was broken) I just wasn't all that motivated!
Sunday we ventured to
George's Ocean Terrace Bistro (
http://www.georgesatthecove.com/) in La Jolla for a divine lunch of smoked chicken and black bean soup, sea bass and Caesar salad (am I starting to sound like a food critic yet?) George's is a 3 Start restaurant with the best views of the cove and ocean that La Jolla has to offer. On top of the restaurant is a huge patio --that's where you will find me!
We capped the evening off at a great club in the Gaslamp District called The Bitter End.
Here is a pix of us out on the town, getting ready to dance up a storm.
On the 4th, we managed to secure great seats to the legendary
La Jolla Cove fireworks show by parking right in front of the gate to the Scripps Institute. We had the best views in the entire beach area and managed to bypass all of the traffic! If you have ever tried to hit the beach during the 4th of July, you learn the hard way to avoid it at all costs.
Back to The Estancia hotel. Now of course we negotiated an out-of-this-world deal at this one-year old 4-star resort. (Let's just say they swore us to secrecy.) There are some beautiful meeting rooms and the
bed was one of the most comfortable beds ever. But we both agreed we wouldn't come back. It just doesn't really have that "special something" that a 4-star resort must offer it's guests....
On our way back to L.A. we stopped by a great new find in Del Mar called The Pacifica Breeze at 15th and Camino del Mar. We had two of the best egg dishes I've ever had. We both voted it the best breakfast place IN THE WORLD! You have an amazing view of the ocean coupled with fabulous food. You can also check out the dinner menu at Pacifica Del Mar (0pen for lunch and dinner.)
Another fabulous trip and I've returned completely rejuvinated!!!
Back to planning the next big trip!
