"The best way to teach is how you live your life."

"It is our beliefs, more than our experiences, that determine life's possibilities."

"Each of us has our definition of adventure: ending an unsatisfyingrelationship, returning to school, parachute jumping or training for amarathon. Go ahead. Get your thrill on."

"You don't have to spend a lot of money to feel like a million. A good night's sleep, a quiet walk by the river or a hug from a favorite person will do the trick."

"What do you resist examining up close?How can you ground yourself so you feel safe enough to try?"

"The notion of the perfect time is more than myth. It's the ultimate self-delusion."

"Rest and repose are as much a part of life's journeys as seeing all we came to see."

"As you consider your next move, practice this definition of trust: the willingness to take steps while simultaneously waiting for "instructions."

"Give full attention to life's moments and the images you capture will be everlasting."

"Practice makes comfort. Expand your experiences regularlyso every stretch won't feel like your first."

"Adventure, opportunity and reward extend beyond our field of vision, and are made known to us only when we test our wings."

"Those who walk the talk get the work."

"An unlimited supply of wonder and trust, bolsters life lived as a process of discovery."

"New insights from being present are a gift."

"Wandering is not limited to geography. Also an altered state of consciousness, it allows a disembodied self to drift on currents of collective awareness with minimal attachment to the physical world. This state of wander tapped imaginative faculties that opened me to a freedom of being only previously experienced through travel."

"The cruise was the conduit for what would become my third book. While I was traveling and writing for ctnow.com, women across the United States and from the Caribbean emailed not to ask about my geographic journey but my existential one. "How do you find the courage to travel on your own? they wondered. "How do you keep from getting lonely? Don't you feel self-conscious eating out alone? After the first 30 emails like these I thought, There's a book here. It would be eight years before I published Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road. But the inspiration for publication came during the cruise."

"No matter how many strikes are hurled at you, only you decide when you're out."

"The study book for life's tests is the whole of our experience. Though we mayfeel unprepared, tests appear only when we are truly ready to ace them."

"To commune with your heart and soul, be willing to go out of your mind."

"Keep moving. Your next big thing may be just around the corner."

"Let your body move. It will give voice to a language that can heal."

"Embrace those parts of yourself that you've skillfully avoided until now. That's your true adventure."

"Fear not your flame as you flood your caverns with firelight."

"In these pages, traveling "solo does not necessarily mean "alone. The absence of other people often suggests regretful isolation. "Solo by contrast, is a willful decision to be the architect of our own experience."

"Want more fizz in your life? Shake things up."

"When we establish human connections within the context of sharedexperience we create community wherever we go."

"What would happen if you gave yourself permission to do somethingyou've never done before? There's only one way to find out."

"Experience is a master teacher, even when it's not our own."

"No moment is too small to claim. Strung together, moments fashion a life."

"I knew I could always earn money from a job. What I didn't know was could I extend the dream of writing beyond my trip?"

"No matter. I was single, no children, a handful of plants and at 39, young enough to regroup. If I hit ground before I finished building my wings, I would not take anyone with me."

"Stay open. You may find your tribe where you least expect it."

"One of the best kinds of thrill is defining, honoring, and achieving our goals."

"In 2006 I had begun the discernment process for locating my rightful geographic home. By the time my corporate pink slip arrived I had spent two years researching and taking recon trips to five different cities in southern California. Having crossed them off my list, in February 2008 I visited Sarasota, Florida, at the urging of a friend who winters in a neighboring town. Though Florida had never been on my radar, only minutes in Sarasota I knew I'd found home."

"No map? No problem. Let commitment and determination lead the way."

"From the depths of your well, tap your will."

"Risk: no full life occurs without it."

"Turn off the radio, TV, DVD, iPod, computer and cell phone. Then, listen."

"Ten years ago I wondered, "How does one travel around the world? How does one step out of a well-established life to follow the dream? I've answered those questions. But now new ones emerge."

"Much of our lives consists of a series of choices over which we have absolute control."

"The adventures of a lifetime begin with "Yes."

"As your training integrates Mind, Body and Spirit, enjoy the process. Your journey to the marathon finish will last a few hours. Your journey to the start will influence a lifetime."

"Be courageous: be still."

"Forgive someone today. Especially if that someone is you."

"Showing up begins long before you stand at the start. Prove yourself an exception in a world where people talk more than act. Intent without follow-through is hollow. Disappoint yourself enough times and empty is how you feel. Make yourself proud. Fill yourself up. Show up."

"Sometimes we have to break down to break through."

"Large bodies of goal achievement research encourage written goals for good reason. When we write down our goals, we transform what we imagine into reality."

"The gift of solo moments is that they are wholly ours. On or off the road, solo moments connect us inward to ourselves with heightened clarity and insight. They also direct our energies out into the world, magnetizing us to new people and experiences we may not have encountered under any other circumstance."

"When actors encounter a mishap during a stage performance,they transform it for good purpose by employing a technique called,"use the difficulty. How can you "use the difficulty in your life?"

"Mistakes help to sharpen your next steps. They don't prove that you shouldn't try again."