It’s so good to be home!

I was on vacation on Italy’s Amalfi Coast last week for the third year in a row and I got home last weekend.

I stayed in a villa with 11 amazing women in the city of Positano and had adventures every single day.

We sailed on the Tyrrhenian Sea, shopped a little, took cooking classes, did a rigorous hike at a place called The Path of The Gods, and explored little towns and islands.

My photos — and they are beautiful — don’t even do it do it justice.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to attend this women’s retreat this September; it had been a tough year for me in many ways and I wondered it was a time to say I’d do it “later,” but I decided that saying “later” to an opportunity like this might mean “never again” and I didn’t want that.

It mattered to me to be there.

Travel teaches us so much about other countries and cultures, but a lot about who we are as individuals. Even though I met up with my group after a day of traveling, I was on my own until then.

A woman traveling alone and navigating airports and connections across the world to unknown places is not the norm unless you do it for business, which was not my experience.

My memory of what it took to get to Italy had faded since I last traveled there.

I’d forgotten about the flight out of my city and the connection to Atlanta.

I’d forgotten about the connection to Paris, and then the connection to Naples.

Then, when you get to Naples, a driver meet you and takes you on a bus for over a 90 minute ride up a long and winding road (I’m glad I don’t get carsick, but it will make people prone to have a flare-up).

And then there are the steps. Positano is a city of steps.

There are very few places in the city where you can be dropped off at the door of a house or store without having to navigate steps; and let me tell you something — these are straight-up-and-down, and at times, treacherous steps.

My mind remembered the steps, but my body had forgotten about it.

I also forgot about the baggage porters who meet you at the bottom of where your driver drops you and they carry your suitcase on their backs to your hotel or home while you follow behind with your purse and any other carry-0n stuff you might have.

I forgot that I turned into a sweaty mess while walking up and and down those nearly 500 steps (each way) from the villa to the docks and points in between.

It’s the only way to move about — descending and climbing those steps. You sweat, swear and lose your breath, but in the end you know it will take you to board a beautiful boat to Capri or to the something-out-of-a-movie villa where you will eat, sleep and play with your new friends.

Some mornings, I’d descend the steps from my third floor bedroom, stand out on the veranda and look at the sea, the boats, and the houses perched on the hills and openly weep at the beauty.

I brought myself to that place. I went against convention and took a trip without my family for 12 hours to meet up with women I didn’t know.

Women don’t often offer themselves this gift; they will wait until their spouse feels like going abroad or maybe they’ll travel with friends after their kids leave home.

When I travel to Italy, I learn new things about myself and interact with a culture that speaks my emotional vocabulary.

In Italy, the appreciation for life is everywhere — the interactions between people — the cadence of their voices and gestures.

There’s the landscape.

The food (the food! And I didn’t gain a single pound — I’m telling you, it’s the steps).

Yes, the traveling to and from Italy was rough.

Yes, my family had a couple of mini-meltdowns  while I was gone, but I had to let them handle it without me (and they did).

And yes — the steps. Those beautiful, ancient steps.

It was all worth the climb.

***

What are the “steps” of your life?

What’s something you want that’s going to be a climb and you’re wondering if it’s worth the climb?

What’s one small step you can take to get there?

Can you hang in there with yourself and the rough parts to get there? I hope so. I’m in your corner; don’t give up. It’s worth it.

***

And speaking of steps and movement, I have created a workshop that is happening this week that talks about this kind of stuff.

Each month, I try to offer an in-person or online class to help women set goals and better their lives.

As we roll into the fourth quarter of 2018 (October will be here before you know it), I want you to finish strong — mind, body and soul.

This is why I am offering an hour-long online workshop via the Zoom video platform called Get MOVING: 10 Simple & Significant Ways To Create Fitness Success.

Here are the details:

DATE: Sunday, September 23, 2018

TIME: 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET

COST: $29

WHERE: Online in my private Zoom room (you can join via video or phone in to participate – you will receive the link the week of class)

HOW TO SIGN UP: https://laurawagnercoaching.as.me/?appointmentType=6119783

All of this content is presented by me, Laura Wagner, LMFT, life coach, fitness instructor and personal trainer.

I know a few things about fitness success from both my personal and professional experiences, and I’m here to share that with you in this hour-long class.

In addition to what I will teach you, you’ll also get a Get MOVING booklet with the content of the class and exercises designed to help you make solid plans for how you’re going to take care of yourself.

Can’t make the class live? You’ll get a video replay sent to you after the class to catch up and watch as many times as you wish.

If you’ve been interested in working with me and want to “test drive” my content and the spirit in which I help people get results, this is an opportunity to do just that.

Join me!