The subtle and powerful mindset shift I had about life during my first solo travel experience a few years ago.

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Summer of 2019. I’m enjoying a delicious vegan meal on an Emirates flight, heading out on my first solo trip. I have no clue of the unimaginable ways that experience is about to change and enrich my life!

When you’re travelling alone in a strange country, walking around, exploring, and having meals by yourself, there are many opportunities for contemplation and learning.

Three days into my trip, I’m finding my way to the Giardino Degli Aranci (a small hidden treasure of a garden in Rome).

I’m completely lost! 😂

My phone battery’s low, so I can’t risk keeping the map open. This means it’s wrong turns galore.

I bravely walk and walk, through deserted lanes. And as the sun descends in the sky, I figure there’s a strong possibility of me aimlessly wandering the streets of Rome well into the night. Hehe

But I manage to find the garden just in time for sunset.

The atmosphere is beautiful.

Lovely orange trees, not too much of a crowd, a high vantage point over the city, someone singing, couples being sweet and cozy…

All that walking? So worth it!

As I sit on the parapet wall watching the sun set over the old buildings of the city, I feel a complex mix of emotions

Pride in myself for being on this solo adventure. Joy and gratitude for the beauty around me.

A hint of loneliness, wishing for someone to share the moment with. A sense of immense freedom.

I can stay here for as long as I want and continue wandering around afterwards without being tied to anyone else’s plans.

It’s a completely new experience for me to have absolute control and responsibility for myself and the way I spend time!

Once you get a taste of that, you’re hooked. It shifts your perspective on your life, your own self, and your incredible potential.

I returned home from that trip with a subtle but powerful shift in the way I make decisions.

When my soul tells me to do something, I just do it without feeling the need to seek permission from anyone else

There’s so much more I learnt in Italy, but I believe that the confidence to trust my own heart was the most precious lesson of all.

You don’t have to get lost on the streets of a strange country to embrace freedom in your decisions. Just start tapping into your higher self and let your intuition guide you.

And when your soul whispers an inspiring idea into your mind, don’t wait for anyone’s permission to follow it ♥️

As we start this new year (it’s mid-Jan, but yeah it’s still Jan), I think we need to take more responsibility. for our own selves, our own actions, our own decisions.

When there are people around us, it could be family, friends, mentors, bosses, colleagues, whoever, we have a tendency to often look to them to approve or to validate. But we don’t need that.

There’s a lot of freedom in making your own choices and doing things your own way

Follow your own heart, take complete responsibility, and then take those steps, make those decisions, whether it’s in your life, business, creative projects, travel, whatever it is.

If you liked this podcast episode today, you’re surely going to like my newsletter, The Feel Good Tribe. I share a lot of entertaining stories in it. They often carry all kinds of tips or guidance for life, for running, a business, for veganism and so much more.

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All right, talk to you again next week. Take care!

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Susmitha Veganosaurus

“I’m a Spiritual Vegan Multi-Passionate Entrepreneur. I read voraciously, find humour in most things, and believe kindness and authenticity can make this world a happier, loving place.

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