4 Spots/1 Week/5000 Miles
Hey, Hello, Aloha!!
It’s been a min on the Blog. First things first, welcome to the new JoAnn Lamolino.com! After the initial design 9 years ago, I needed a different look. ‘Cause I’m not the same as I was then, so my site doesn't reflect who I am anymore. No, I didn't have a personal identity crisis. Time has passed, my interests, thoughts, passions, and believes have shifted.
What’s been on my mind of late? Travel and transitions. We know a lot about transitions after the last few years.
This past week I had a very pre pandemic schedule. I ended up in four different locations for work and non work life. I hit Reading, PA; Hyde Park, NY; Chicago, IL; and Honolulu, HI.
These are very fun weeks for me but I can also get out of balance easily if I don't stay grounded throughout the excitement. I’m an Enneagram 7, meaning I’m always on the go for new and fun adventures and I avoid boredom and stagnation at all costs. But I also have a Vata dominant dosha in Ayurveda. Vata is governed by air and if I give in to too much new fun adventures, head in the clouds, air sort of things, I get ungrounded and it’s difficult to get back on track for getting tasks done for work. So I need to stay in routines while I travel, like daily trumpet practice and yoga and meditation. Many of my friends and colleagues have asked over the last ten years or so, how can you travel so much for work and live in a different state? This is why!
I used to kid around that it was in my blood to not sit idle. My great grandmother renewed her passport at age 79. GG would frequently travel back to Italy from NYC to do stuff. She had a son who drove a “camper” around from California to NJ into his late 80’s. It’s sort of in my blood to not be in one place. Ok, so I wasn't really kidding…Perhaps the combo of my DNA, Enneagram 7 and Vata are the culprits.
That all being said, it’s also in my nature as an Enneagram 7 to live the way I do and make it work. It’s not for everybody and for some it sounds horrible. Different strokes for different folks! I also figured out during the pandemic a better way to ground myself with yoga and meditation. After 8 months of classes and practicing for 14 years, I received a Kundalini yoga teacher certification in April 2021.
So here are the variety of things I did this past week. I played the season opener with he Reading Symphony in Reading, PA. Great program and a fun visit to the chicken farm I go to.
Monday, my husband was off from work, so we went to one of our favorite places, Val-Kill and Top Cottage in Hyde Park, NY. These are the homes of President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor Roosevelt. The land is now operated and cared for by the National Parks Service. It’s very serene and beautiful. There is even a short hike to get to Franklin’s Top Cottage house. We try to visit every autumn.
By Wednesday I was in Chicago! Super fun day meeting up with Stephen Burns, a trumpet soloist/pedagogue and fellow practicing meditator. He and I co-taught his Mindfulness for Musicians class at DePaul School of Music that morning. The rest of my day was spent walking around Chicago on a beautiful crisp fall day. The evening was topped off visiting long time friend and horn player Mary Jo Neher and her family for dinner. And because we can’t throw down like it’s 1999 anymore, we hardboiled some eggs at 9:30pm for me to carry on my flight the next day. Hot tip, true friends will cook you eggs!
Thursday was a travel day from Chicago to Honolulu. Just shy of a 9 hour flight! I ended up hiking with friends in the evening to catch the sunset. Pretty great end to a long day. I might even start adding a hike or at least a solid walk at the end of a long travel day in the future. I felt great and shockingly had a lot more energy than I usually do the next day.
Being out and about again like the “before times” feels great. If you like hearing about travel tips and routines that work for me, check out my IG @lamolinojtromba. I post something travel related about once a week. Moving forward, I plan to make a blog post at the beginning of every month. Could be about trumpet/travel/mindfulness, who knows? Time will tell. Thanks for reading this far and Happy Travels!!
