Why Life (and Travel) Is a Burlap Bag of Nuggets—And How to Savor Yours

Or...Tomorrow I'll be riding camels!

I'm on my travel rest day. After leaving a bustling Marrakech and taking a six-hour drive across the mountains toward the Sahara Desert, I'm perched on a lounge chair overlooking an infinity pool and writing to you. Here's proof!

Tomorrow, we leave to spend two nights in a Bedouin Camp under the desert stars. I'll schedule this post to wing its way to you on Monday morning. By then, we'll have ridden camels and flown to Lanzarote to spend a week with generous friends.

Just a reminder, heroines... every aspect of my extraordinary life I obtained through following the lessons in The Heroine's Adventure (remember, this is MY extraordinary; you get to decide what your extraordinary looks like). The Heroine's Adventure is seven chapters of discovery, planning, and implementation.

We launch on February 17th. Join the VIP list and get early access with free goodies.

But onto this week's journal prompt...

As a kid, we saved our pennies to buy those little burlap bags of bubble gum. Inside each bag was a handful of golden nugget shapes of chewy heaven. Most of the nuggets were hefty, weighty things. They were a joy to bite into, and the juicy flavor stayed in your mouth for hours afterward (and truthfully, I can still recall that flavor 45 years later).

Sometimes, though, you got stingy tiny bits. Put one of those nuggets in your mouth, and all you felt was disappointment, although somehow still a smidgen of joy, because, after all, they came from a burlap bag, and maybe you didn't get the same luscious taste in your mouth, but you're still glad they exist. Without the tiny, tasteless bits, there's no variety, and you won't be as pleased with the succulent nuggets.

This is like traveling. And why I like to document and remember my travel in nuggets. While traveling, some nuggets are fat and juicy, and in the future, you'll be transported back to that moment by a taste or a smell. Some nuggets are medium-sized and don't have as much flavor, but they still highlight the experience (like eating golden gum from a burlap bag). Some nuggets you'd rather forget, but they're still crucial to the overall experience.

Here are a few nuggets from our trip to Morocco so far (I am on vacation!)...

For me (my husband does not agree), Marrakech's energy is similar to what I feel in New York. Only, I picture it differently. In Morocco, it's as if there’s a woven blanket of electricity thrumming constantly beneath the city. When you duck and dive through the crowded alleyways of the souks, that electric current passes through the cobblestones and into the soles of your feet. When you grip your bags close to your body as you traverse Jemaa el-Fnaa, dodging the snake charmers, the monkeys, and the odd ostrich, you feel that thrumming energy pouring from the expanse of concrete and pulsing in the air around you. The energy of Marrakech is a big juicy nugget for me. The flavor lasts a long time, and you can recall it for years after you've experienced it.

On the night we arrived, the riad sent staff to meet us, where the driver dropped us off. No traffic is allowed in most parts of the old medina, and we were told the riad is challenging to find. This was confirmed as we twisted and turned through identical alleyways until we reached our destination. We quickly learn the way, though, and on every trip in and out of our riad, we are accompanied by a wee Moroccan boy, who became fascinated by us when he saw my husband feeding the scrawny stray cats (small pieces of salami Mark had pilfered from our breakfast table expressly for this purpose because my husband can't go anywhere without making friends with a cat).

The wee boy chats away to us on every walk but knows only three English words, "hello," "goodbye," and "football." It isn't until the night before we leave that we realize he is asking us to buy him a football. He leads us to the tiny hole in the wall of a shop and points out a specific football hanging amongst others on the door frame. It's clear from the way he eyes this ball that he's been coveting it for quite some time (it's checkerboard white and orange and is definitely the most handsome of the lot). I would have paid $50 for the smile on his face when he got that football in his hands (it cost us $5).

Another night for dinner, we ordered a lamb tagine for two (and I swear, either the Moroccan people eat a heck of a lot more than we do, or they think all tourists are starving). We ask for a "doggy" bag that is really a "kitty" bag, and Mark feeds all the local strays the most expensive dinner of their life. This juicy nugget becomes tiny when, on the morning of our departure, we walk past the same spot and discover that one of the kittens hasn't survived.

JOURNAL PROMPT:

We don't just experience nuggets during travel. Life is a burlap bag of nuggets, too. You need all the varied sizes and flavors to make the best parts mean the most. Today, perhaps recast a tiny nugget into an experience that made it possible to have a juicy one. My husband was devastated by the loss of the kitten, but to be honest, it probably happens all the time in Marrakech. It's part of life there, just like the energy of cobblestone alleyways and the smiles of wee Moroccan boys.

Why you might want to join us on The Heroine's Adventure and start planning and executing your extraordinary life.

• In Chapter 1, you'll recognize yourself as a heroine, dig deep to uncover who you are, and create a compass to guide your future journeys.

• In Chapter 2, you'll encounter a pivotal shift and learn how to be a Choice Agent, because choice creates change and change creates opportunity.

• In Chapter 3, you'll embark on a journey, get to the core of your life's purpose, and define your Ultimate Whys, or Aligned Desires.

• In Chapter 4, you'll learn all about tests, allies, and enemies and create your own Heroine tribe for your future journey.s

• In Chapter 5, you'll learn how to deal with challenges and setbacks and define your treasure bag of resources.

• In Chapter 6, you'll undergo a personal transformation and learn the intimate details of the process you can use again and again to plan and implement all your future journeys that will lead to your extraordinary life.

• In Chapter 7, you'll learn how to document and share your elixirs so the journey becomes as important as the destination.