Here is a secret about me – I hate to plan. I also like to make up words (plannation, for example).
Planning freaks me out. Planning meals for a week makes my head spin. It’s a bit shameful for a former accountant to admit. I don’t even want to think about trying to get the most out of a round the world ticket. I can plan professional things – product launches, audits in my former life. But when it comes to my personal life, I like to see what happens.
Last week I got to meet one of my heroes. I learned she existed about 3 weeks ago – and immediately fell in love with her life.
I was at Barnes and Noble writing – well, that was the plan, but instead I was browsing through travel memoirs. I found Tales of a Female Nomad, and flipped through it. Even the introduction fascinated me - in 1986 at the age of 48, Rita Golden Gelman took off traveling and hasn’t had a permanent address since. I went to her website and saw she was in Annapolis until the end of January. WINNING!
I emailed her immediately and said I would love to meet her. She emailed me back within a few hours – resulting in me meeting her for lunch with her and 2 other women that were meeting her for the first time.
It was the kind of lunch where you want to remember everything that happened, everything that was said. I don’t. It was 4 hours. I enjoyed all of Rita’s stories, and loved hearing about the other 2 women. Staci and Lesley are both travelers – Lesley is becoming a nomad herself VERY SHORTLY. Kindred spirits.
Rita, me, and my crazy, frizzified hair in Annapolis.
Things I love about Rita . . .
Her travel + connecting philosophy
She travels to connect with other people and become a part of their communities and cultures. She bonds over their food, their cultural activities, their lives. She doesn’t take pictures unless the natives also have cameras. She does nothing to elevate herself above who she is connecting with (such as giving American gifts). It is the ultimate in getting rid of the ‘us vs them’ mentality and melding with another culture.
She was scared too
What touched me the most about her books was how scared she was when she started this journey – she stretched herself in every way imaginable. At the beginning, she was 48 and had never eaten at a restaurant by herself. That is something I love to do.
But most importantly. . .not having a plan is ok
The biggest thing I learned from Rita is that its ok to not have a plan. She has been traveling for 26 years and doesn’t plan that far in advance most of the time. She moves on when she feels it is time to move on. After meeting her, I accepted that. Since then I have had peace about it. All I need to know is the next step. . . everything else happens after that.
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