Ninja moves. 3 weeks. ChatGpt. Those are the key ingredients to an epic solo adventure.

Hang in there with me, I promise this will make sense soon. ;)

Earlier this year, I was a full-time employee at a pretty cool place doing pretty cool work. One of my responsibilities was to find speaking opportunities for my boss. I was doing everything: cold calls, cold emails, in-person networking, stalking…(forget I said that last part) to land her a gig. 

One of my regular stakeouts for sniffing out opportunities was a random slack community. I’d post several times a week to introduce myself and get people familiar with my name. Eventually, it seemed to pay off. I got a bite on a random Tuesday afternoon in February:

“Hey, I’ve noticed you’ve been asking about speaking opportunities. I’m putting on an event and need some speakers. Let’s chat!”

It became clear this lead wouldn’t work out, but they were kind enough to connect me with a friend of theirs–let’s call her Louise– that was known for hosting high-end, mindfulness-centered, business retreats. Jackpot! If I could get my boss booked for that (an all-expenses paid trip, paid to speak, with high profile visionaries as her audience?!) forget about the quarter, I’d win the year!

So, I met with Louise and we hit it off. I mean, we were chatting about all things karmic energy, the universe’s plans, auras,...  I kid you not. Unfortunately, getting my boss booked wasn’t going to be possible since Louise was no longer looking for speakers, but it was a lovely conversation all the same. And, as we all know, work can become monotonous. You have to enjoy the glimmers when they come and that meeting was certainly one of them.

With time, things didn’t work out with the job–there’s no tea so don’t try being messy. Money was dwindling and I wasn’t sure what my next move would be–applying to jobs wasn’t getting me anywhere. The bills were stacking up. Come June, I was surfing through LinkedIn, scrolling through the seemingly endless red carpet of others’ accolades, wins, and successes, wondering when my own would come, when I heard a “ping!”.

I’d received a message. Weird, no one really messages me on this platform except for bots and I’ve set up my profile so I don’t get notifications for those.

I open the message and see it’s from Louise. Hmm… I read on, “What are you up to now? I have an opportunity for you.”

Umm… if this lady wants me to come work for her at her high-end international business retreats, I don’t have any questions. Let’s go!

But, you know, I keep it cool. I stick to exchanging niceties and offer a polite and curious, “Thanks for reaching out, Louise! I’d love to hear more.”

“Would you like to come to the retreat as my guest? We had a member cancel. I have a comp and thought of you as a fellow visionary. Would you like to come? It’s Monday 6pm - Thursday 11am next week. You would get your flight.”

I glance at the top right corner of my laptop, it’s Friday. HUH?! 

I already knew everything there was to know about this retreat, mind you, because of our discovery call earlier in the year. It was set to be held at a 5-star resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, right on the beach, with multiple spas, farm-to-table food prepared by a renowned chef, multiple pools, and that was just the start. And this angel had just offered this to me free of charge? Thank you to ALL the gods and their nieces!

I didn’t ask any questions. Next thing I knew, I was spending hours scouring the internet for flight deals. Come Monday morning, just 3 days later, I was on the most beautiful resort property I have ever seen and being handed delicious cocktails one after the next. All sorts of birds were chirping around me. The landscaping was lush and colorful. The air smelled salty and sweet and fresh; I can’t explain it. I was in absolute awe.

Throughout the week, I met world-changing entrepreneurs with big personalities and even bigger stories. They each shared their journeys and exchanged ideas. It was exactly the kind of environment I’d been hungering for. A place where I could both learn new things and teach them, be judged by my plethora of lived experiences, and not for my younger age. Most importantly, I was finally surrounded by people that dared to wonder and invited to wonder with them. 

We did a number of workshops and exercises. Some of them playful, others more emotional or logical. The one that catapulted my solo adventure was “Ninja Move”.

The question, or prompt rather,  is: “What is your ninja move? What’s the one action you can take to turn your vision into your reality?”

Most everyone was pondering that prompt in relation to their businesses. I was too–at first. I have several major business ideas I’ve been sitting on for years that, eventually, I’d like to invest all my resources into making a reality but, for right now, in this cycle of my life, it’s just not in the cards.So, I pivoted to what is in my control right now. 

In preparation for the retreat, I packed all my old journals and diaries in my carry-on so I could refer to them as feelings and ideas came up throughout the week. I thought back to some of the entries I’d reread on my flight. Some of them from when I was only 7 years old. The desire that kept appearing every few pages and every few journals was: “I want to be a woman that travels. That learns new languages and explores different cultures. A woman that’s known for her international perspective.”  If you know me personally, then you know that’s exactly how 7 year old me would have written it, with her legs crossed on her little chair, in her pink room, and her makeshift face mask made from stolen ingredients from the kitchen falling onto the page. Oh my goodness…

That desire never left me. This retreat marked Mexico as my 14th visited country. I’d lived in 3 countries and had made dear friends in many others. Still, it wasn’t enough.

But there was something–fear, perhaps–holding me back from pursuing travel more seriously. I’d been feeling the pull to wander for 3 years at this point. My beloved Washington, D.C. apartment, the one I’d longed for as a place to call my own, my safe place, my nest, had become my prison. Suffocating me day by day. Familiarity and comfort had boxed me into a singular form of expression. I couldn’t stretch for fear of touching the confines of my trauma and anxiety-constructed box. For fear of realizing just how little space I actually had. For fear of realizing that this life I’d built with so much vigor–with determination to prove that I could do it on my own–was holding me back. I’d outgrown it.

How do you let that go? How do you turn your back on that?

So, for three years, I didn’t. I kept to my box. I kept to my routine. I kept to the behaviors I knew others had come to expect from me. Every now and then shirking away my intuition’s pleas for change, for novelty, for room to breathe.

What’s your ninja move, Alexa? What’s the one action you can take the moment you return home to catapult your dreams into reality? What will get you off your couch and into the world?

A subtenant. 

If ever there was a way to forcibly remove myself from my house and be assured that reneging on my adventure was a non-option, it was by signing a contract that essentially promised there was no home for me here anymore. Bet, say less.

Upon returning to D.C., I had ChatGPT write me a subtenant announcement for Facebook. I didn’t want to risk dragging my feet, so relying on ChatGPT for a quick post was ideal. I cross-compared my actual rent cost with the rent for other apartments in my area, found a happy middle, and posted it.

Within 3 days, I had hits. By the 4th day, I booked my flight to Europe. By the end of the week, I had a subtenant my roommates liked. The following week, I spent saying my tearful goodbyes, enjoying meals my friends lovingly cooked,  and packing up my place. By the third week, I was moving my items into storage, frantically googling how the heck to pack for 3 months with just a backpack and a carry-on. 

By the end of that third week, July 1st,  I was headed to Paris, my first stop. I forgot one thing though…

I had nowhere to stay!!