Travel, Vision, Discovery, and Acceptance – Introducing Myself to the World

Welcome

Hi, I’m Kimberly. Welcome to this blog! I love reading blogs and have wanted to start my own for a long time. This will be my place to share, and I want this to be a place for many women to share; a place of adventure, compassion, empowerment, and fun.

Blog Vision

Everyone loves to travel but between work, family commitments, and costs, most people don’t do it as often as they’d like. Pannali: Travel Lifestyle was created to help people travel more and discover the world while discovering themselves.

I envision this blog being a place to share my discoveries and adventures, while providing practical solutions for others to travel more and explore the world. You’ll find lots of ideas of places to go, things to do, and ways to do it that is good for your wallet and the environment. You’ll also find ideas for self-development, so that traveling the world is not just looking at the beauty outside, but also about finding happiness within yourself.

I like to use the word empowerment because I want to empower people to travel, and also empower people to accept and love themselves. I’d like to help you find your voice and achieve your dreams. For that reason, I see the blog expanding to include the voices of other women from around the world, sharing our global culture.

Introducing Myself

I suppose first I should introduce myself. I’m not quite sure how to do that. I love to write, but have never considered myself a writer. I love to dance, but have never considered myself a dancer. I do consider myself a lover of life and devourer of the great expanse of possibilities.

Midwest Born and Raised

I grew up in a charming, bucolic town in USA. This was the type of town out of midwest lore, with a classic town square, many local shops, and where everyone knows everyone else. It was the kind of town where all the children roam on bikes or rollerblades in the summer; and on sleds and skis in the winter; a place where the children stay out until the sunsets; and where you wave to everyone you pass on the road. I moved to upstate New York for a year, and spent 7 years in the mountains (through my master’s degree), before moving to the Western Europe in 2006.

Travel

Since moving to the Europe, I’ve had wonderful opportunities to travel to various countries, including my dream to visit India, Nepal, and Tibet. In total, I’ve spent about a year and a half in India, usually in two-month blocks. I had the opportunity to set up a women’s development program in New Zealand, which means I spent about 9 months on the North Island, about an hour outside of Auckland.

Discovering Myself

Since I was young I have been interested in world peace and spirituality. My love of spirituality is probably the most important thing to know about me, and its what I’ve dedicated my life to developing and sharing. I’ve worked for the last 12 years in a non-profit as an chief administrator of women’s self development programs. These programs include long and short courses, health programs, and inspirational meetings and seminars.

More education

But, after becoming disenchanted with some aspects of the administration, and realizing I had a degree in an area that didn’t translate to a well-paid job, I am currently 2/3 of the way through my MBA. It’s a good, solid, practical degree I never thought I’d get.

Isn’t that life in one’s mid-thirties? Realizing that many things you thought were important, aren’t, and that others are precious and worth fighting for. Love is that precious thing. And life, good health, good friends, and feeling you are using each day well are worth fighting for. Life is also about learning that spirituality and practicality go hand-in-hand – and that sometimes the greatest revelations come in the most unexpected places.

Compassionate Acceptance

One of the things I’ve learned in my MBA is that every quality or trait a person possesses can be interpreted as either positive or negative. In different situations, those same qualities can play out in our favor or against us.

In introducing myself, I could tell you that I am often perceived as strong, decisive, and assertive (bordering on pushy) by others. Or I could tell you that I often feel insecure inside, but am always willing to fight if I’m sure it’s for a good cause.

Likewise, I could tell you that I’ve loved deeply, and that I’ve had my heart broken deeply. Perhaps I could tell you that I’m book smart, but that I wish I had more patience or that I knew what to say in delicate or awkward situations.

I could tell you that I’ve been too thin and overweight, and just right. And also that I’ve been healthy and unhealthy; strong, and weak. I have been angry and broken; and I have been unimaginably happy.

I could tell you that I am loved deeply, but wish I could stop making mistakes, and could better express my love. I could tell you that I can speak comfortably in front of hundreds of people, but most days I’d rather hide under my covers. And with all that, I will tell you that life is a glorious mix of qualities, and it is this incredible mix that makes life so magical, and such an adventure.

Living Each Day

Recently, with the death of a younger friend and the heart attack of another, I’ve found myself living each day. More and more, I go through the day without a thought for the next. It feels brave and it feels crazy. But every day, I look at how I can love more and how I can give more. Who cares about stockpiling and saving, when each day may be the last?

Thank you for taking the time to read this far. I want to take this adventure with all of you. I look forward to sharing where I go, and where we can go together.

What about you – what qualities would you or others say you have? What do you think is your best strength?

Cheers, Kimberly

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