I made it to Mallorca, Spain! I wrote last week about all the hurricane challenges that rattled the bones of this trip and there were a few more shakes along the way but I’m finally here and really happy.

And thankfully my home in the Sarasota area is mostly ok! There’s damage for sure and huge trees down that missed the house by one inch! But in relation to what’s going on down there, my house is fine.

International travel is typically challenging and ya’ll know me: I like challenges! So much that I sometimes take already challenging things and add a little more intensity on top.

When I studied spirituality in India, most of the teachings were about our relationship with the mind.

Moment by moment (for our entire life if we don’t master it) we miss out on the exquisiteness of life because of the discrepancy between the stories of the mind and the reality of what’s actually happening.

In other words, we miss our lives because of our allegiance to our mind.

Have you ever heard someone who’s mad or disappointed say, “In my mind I envisioned this and now that I have that I’m upset because it’s not what I thought I’d have in my mind.” Have you ever been the one to say that, ? I know I have many times.

Because we remove ourselves from our comfy home environment, travel is a great time to observe our mental habits. Are you happy you’re sitting in your airplane seat and grateful you have the means to travel and do fun things? Or are you looking around the plane in annoyance thinking I wish I had that seat instead.My favorite (which means it applies to me) is if you can’t get the food, coffee, or other thing that makes you comfortable (and that in your mind you need) how do you react? Internally and externally? Do you embrace the wonderful differences that come with travel or do you mourn your daily creature comforts of home?

It’s easy to be a lovely, balanced person when things are going swimmingly, it’s when things are uncomfortable or uncertain that our true character appears.

So, on this travel journey, I watched my thoughts and reactions as I encountered discomfort. What IS my true character? And as I get uncomfortable, can I be the master of the mind instead of the other way around?

I also like physical exercise for this type of practice. When I feel pain, what’s my mental escape route? What stories is my mind telling me? Quit? Shorten the workout? I can do this tomorrow instead? When you recognize your patterns, you can start to rewire them.

During the last two days of semi-arduous travel, I did pretty well.

And I have a lot more progress to make too.

But now, it’s celebration time. It’s my first morning here in Mallorca! I need to assemble my bike that flew here with me in a special bike suitcase (and by “assemble” that means “I need to watch Berk” or stay out of his way.)

I’ll share more as the journey continues…