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My dream was to strap a suitcase on a motorcycle and take off without a forwarding address.

But I was only nine years old.

So I’d have to wait a few years.

Fast forward 40 years and I’m solo traveling overland in South America.

6 countries in 6 months.

And it hit me while on an overnight bus trip from Ecuador to Peru in the Andes Mountains: playing is true freedom. And being awestruck everyday by life’s moments.

But this is a radical concept in the USA.

Because most of us are trying to make ends meet rather than making time to play.

The USA isn’t an easy place to live.

But I saved money to go on that trip during a financial crash in 2006, sold my car, rented out my apartment, and made time to play.

People told me I was crazy.

“You shouldn’t travel alone in South America, it’s too dangerous,” said people who had never traveled on the continent.

But this was the first time since grade school I’d taken 6 months off from responsibility and adulthood without working!

And it wasn’t luxury. I was staying in hostels for most of it. With people 25 years younger than me.

Now this was an education: making friends, navigating bunk beds and awkward social interactions.

But I learned how to be a real traveler on this life-changing journey.

And how to get along with people from every age in life.

Now at age 68, I don’t stay in dorms.

Because I like to rent apartments. And I enjoy sleeping.

But the low priced hostels made it so I could travel from Colombia overland all the way to Brazil.

I saw Machu Picchu, cloud forests in Ecuador, taught English in Colombia, tangoed in Buenos Aires, fell in love with Bolivia, and bought my first bikini in Brazil at age 50.

And I came back younger. How?

I discovered being curious and becoming friends with the unknown benefited my life.

So It could be travel, changing your life direction or reinventing your business and personal life.

One thing is this: resonating with how we live our lives without being ruled by other’s expectations of us, results in liberation.

Yes it takes guts.

But the more stress free and aligned with your soul you are, the better your life blossoms.

OK so maybe it doesn’t smooth out the wrinkles in my forehead like I was hoping it would but yoga and meditation help.

And inside I feel less reactive and more cool.

Maybe I’m losing my hotheadedness of younger years and happy for it.

One thing I did on the 6-month journey was cutting out drinking and smoking. Why?

Because It dulled my spirit and sense of safety making me unaware. South America is not a continent to lose your wits.

So my intuition sharpened. I trusted it to warn me about people and situations.

Didn’t do ayahuasca either. Why?

A parade of puking backpackers didn’t appeal to me.

(I was told this is what happens when you take it)

And I noticed the more clear I was, the higher on life I felt.

Healthy became an attitude.

3 days before the crash, Chiang Mai Thailand. Photo: Jacky Wolf

But this didn’t hit me until I was in Thailand after a deadly motorbike crash in Chiang Mai.

My doctor warned me at the hospital, “Thailand has the most head injuries from motorbike accidents, I’ve seen horrific things in here,” as he coaxed my back bones into place again.

The car swerving into me missed my head. But hitting asphalt with my body was a bad bunny, bite in the ass.

I’d been in Asia for 18 months, at age 58, traveling solo in India, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and thought I’d settle in Thailand as a home base.

So as I lay in my bed recuperating, a vision floated up from my heart.

What have you always wanted to do?

Since you almost died last week, you might be running out of time.

The answer was, Live in Hawaii.

New Moon Hawaii, Mary Bartnikowski

So I made a list of benefits:

Eat fruit non-stop and breathe clean air every day!

No more coughing in the polluted air of Chiang Mai.

Being immersed in the ocean on volcanic rock was the perfect solution.

Swimming every day and eating fresh mangoes. Always being in shape.

And I’d be able to cross the street without getting killed.

This last one was the kicker after my crash.

Road rules in Thailand are suggestions not ironclad restrictions.

Once you breathe the exquisitely pure air in Hawaii you’re never the same.

The trade winds blow any badness away.

So moving to Hawaii was a health transformation. And there have been studies: people in Hawaii live longer.

And this is what healthy means: growing in to a better version of yourself.

Yes I’m nearly 69 years, but I don’t believe it.

I feel younger now than when I was 25. I eat better and am flexible from practicing yoga for 25 years.

So it’s true what they say, don’t retire because you’re more likely to die.

My plan is to retire when I die, that should work out.

When I discovered I’d become a CEO of Fun in my own life, I wanted to share this with the world.

So I continue to write books about it and lead retreats worldwide.

Many people are now saying, “I want to change my life and help people.”

You can help people by doing it yourself first.

Getting your own oxygen mask on then helping your loved ones.

And playing is an overlooekd feature of adult life. But playing is where all the good stuff happens.

Suddenly while you’re walking by the ocean or in the woods or resting, and not doing, an insight comes or a truth is revealed, the phone rings but it didn’t when you were staring at it.

Playing helps you live life more deeply.

And have you noticed, the well known spritual leaders of th eworld always have a sense of humore that wraps you in the arms of laughter?

The Dalai Lama floats when he walks. I’ve seen him do it. How does he do it?

He’s light hearted and loves everyone.

So the better I can be at laughing and learning, the more healthy I’ll be.

You can have more fun now in your 50’s 60s and 70s than you did when you were 20.

I thought i knew everything back in my 20s.

Now I’m aware I still don’t know everything but i do know how to kickstart my little kid awe. And how to have fun.

So if you want to join me on this adventure and help support your own growth and get unapologetic hard hitting life advice why not subscribe?