Farsighted Fly Girl

After flying 13 hours from Chicago to Tokyo, I was a tiny bit woozy. Although the ANA Airlines inaugural flight from Chicago to Tokyo's Haneda Airport was smooth and comfortable, the drastic time difference was starting to affect me. Although we landed at 9 pm Tokyo time, it was 6 am Chicago time and that 15 hour difference was screwing with my equilibrium. But I am the boss of my body, not jet lag so I do what I always do whenever I land anywhere; hit the streets! Walking around in the fresh air does wonders for your internal time clock even without the sun. So I grabbed MJ, the fellow Chicagoan in our group and we strolled out of the I mperial Hotel into the streets of the Chiyoda business district. I had researched a small cluster of hotels that lined the subway near our hotel and we located them neatly situated in a lighted alley, pictured above. On a Monday night at 9 pm, there's not too much activity in Chicago but that's not the case in Tokyo. The sidewalk

The year of 2016 was unrelenting on so many levels. It seems like unexpected scenarios and challenging situations just kept piling up until everyone was numb by the year's end. I felt torn for most of the year. I was heartbroken about the glaring racism, injustice and brutality that kept sprouting up and I fought to keep my spirits and expectations positive. It wasn't easy. On the other hand, I received more invitations to travel than ever before--I took 15 trips in all, exploring 9 countries, three continents and five states. I loved it and appreciated the opportunities but an undercurrent of sadness clung to me. How could I be happy and wander around glorious beaches and mountains and deserts when so many people, especially my people, were suffering? Through a process of  discussion, analysis, meditation and observation, I learned that traveling with intention, and being present instead of caught up in taking photos, notes and posting to social media, revealed the import