You are invited ...

I mentioned recently that I have a new career in the making, working with PLAY it Forward Adventures. It's been a couple of weeks now, and this professional match is truly one made in heaven. I am feeling energized and renewed by working on projects which invigorate and inspire me, and Jodi - my partner in this venture - and I are excited about the expansion that is now possible with two of us combing our talents, time, and resources.

We just started setting up our 2010 Master Schedule ... and I will be leading a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu in January! Machu Picchu has long been on my list of most desirable destinations. I am fascinated by all I know about the ancient Inca tribes - the combination of mythology and legend with the archaeological finds, which show how advanced these people were in so many areas of life. Most Inca settlements were destroyed in the 15th and 16th centuries, but because of its remote location, Machu Picchu was preserved, and while some people still lived in and around the ruins (descendants of the Incas), it was virtually untouched before being rediscovered in the early 1900s. Now it is designated as a World Heritage Site, descibed as "an absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilization," and is carefully cared for so that visitors can continue to marvel in its splendor.

And I am bringing a group of women there in just 9 months! (It just occurred to me that 9 months is the time of a pregnancy ... this trip will be a sort of baby for me, so how fitting is that timeline?)

This journey will be about finding balance in your life. Over the past two and a half years I have been told time and time again that I should write a book about how my life has changed and how I have managed those changes. I will be using the time between now and January to really contemplate and analyze what has helped me, and I hope to be able to share some of that with my fellow travelers in January. But it won't be "all about me" - we are having a Yoga Instructor travel with us, so that every day we will begin with Yoga practised in the mountains of Peru - talk about inspirational - and we will also fill our days with incredible site-seeing, activities chosen to challenge our bodies and our minds, and - as in all PLAY it Forward Adventures - we will do a volunteer project to give back to the people and the land that will host us during this time.

When I woke this morning, it occurred to me that nothing would be more wonderful than to have my internet friends join me on this journey! Those of you who I only know through blogging - can you even imagine a better way to meet in person? What an incredible way to begin the new year - focusing on yourself, your connection to women, finding balance for the coming months - I get shivers thinking about it.

As we finalize the details (like dates and cost) I will let you know. Roughly - 8 days in early January, something in the $2600-2900 range (does not include your round-trip airfare to Lima), and limited to 12 participants so I expect it will fill quickly.

So I plant this seed in your brain. Mull it over, stew on it, think about it ... and I truly hope you can find a way to join me!