“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

I really warmed to Mark Twain’s quote as I ran across it today, thinking about how many women get to the time of their lives when they are free from work and other family responsibilities and can finally engage in the travel plans they held for most of their life.  Unfortunately, because women outlive men, many women are faced with living out that dream… alone.  With that in mind, I thought today to encourage women to face that risk, and within reason, sail away from those safe shores and embrace adventure, especially in fulfilling the desire to travel.  The following are safety tips women traveling alone might find valuable.

It is a given that women traveling along must be more cautious and travel with special considerations, disallowing them to simply toss cares to the wind.  These concerns should not prohibit travel  – only serve as reminders of self-preservation.  For example, foreign travel can be more dangerous for women – simply because thieves perceive women as being easier targets.  The alternative to showing up alone in risky parts of town is to tour with groups, dress to not look like a traveler, and be cautious about where you carry your money.  A few more safety tips follow:

• Extremely dark areas support danger!  Be careful of traveling down deserted or darkened streets and carry a flashlight with you at all times.  It is also prudent to travel with a companion at all times.
• Thieves prefer crowds… remain highly alert when you are in bus stations, or moving along the sides of a street celebration.  Don’t carry purses that are easy to grab and keep good eye contact with anyone who may happen to bump into you since this is often a ruse to grab your purse or other items which might be loose on your body; they may be more intimidated by your show of courage and potential to recognize them.
• Save your best quality jewelry for wearing at events in your hometown.  If you absolutely love a particular piece of jewelry that you feel even the least bit compelled to take along – have an imitation copy made of it.  No one but you will know the difference – and you won’t feel the loss when a thief snaps a bracelet from your wrist or tears your necklace from around your neck.
• Safety defense teachers will all instruct you to let the thief have your bag and then yell at the top of your lungs the minute you have released your grasp on it.  The natural response is to open your bag to give them the money so you don’t lose the other valuable items in your bag.  Think again – their first response is to think you might be reaching for a weapon, which would create larger problems for you.  The best action, however, is to simply leave your bag in the hotel safe and take only the absolute essentials along – in the smallest possible bag or body wallet you can securely wear under your clothes. Thieves know about money belts and such, but they are highly disinclined to undress you to get to your money and other valuable documents.  You can check out a few of my standard recommendations for money belts by clicking here.
• Your clothes tell it all.  If you have the time and resources, do a little research, or ask your travel agent, about the best steps you can take to look the least like a tourist.  It may not be to your liking to dress more conservatively, but it is certainly the best course of action. 

The best recommendation I can make is don’t go alone, travel with groups and expand your friendships.   Short of that…

• Look and act confident.
• Stay fully alert and use common sense.
• Always leave the impression you know where you’re going as you walk; not walking in fear or glancing cautiously around you.

Don’t let anything scare you away from international travel - don’t be more disappointed by an enriching, empowering event you didn’t do.  When you get that sense of wanderlust, slip over to Vital Enterprises, LLC and check out all the travel resources I keep there for you.

Some things just stand the test of time – one of them being the Athens Classic Marathon being held tomorrow, October 31, 2010.  Somehow, this epic event conjures up visions of tight tendons and expansive muscles, as young men vied for the epic opportunity to display their manhood and strength.  My mind replaces Nike’s with sandals laced to the knee, thinking about how during the difficult times, we are able to draw strength from such a classical heritage and feel compelled to promote this spirit to the world.  Greece needs our support, in recognition that it’s rich heritage is at the root of much of what we, as Americans, value in our own society today.

The Marathon is a commemorative to the Battle of Marathon – a victory that retained Greek civilization. Although the history of this marathon goes back to 490 B.C., it was only officially dedicated in 1963 – symbolic of democracy and social justice.  The running tomorrow with be the 28^th consecutive event.  Although there are three different distance runs, each ends at the beautiful white marble stadium erected in the exact location where the Olympic Games were held.  One thought comes to mind about the runners… not only are they challenging themselves – they become a part of history.  Results for the last eight years can be seen here…

What does this event have to do with travel, you might ask?          Well… there are many tours that are designed specifically in support of this marathon!  With thousands of runners participating in the race each year, many people “race” to Greece to enjoy not only the event itself, but find reason to enjoy the vitality of Greek hospitality, discover the fascinating architecture and landscape, and learn more about the history and culture.  An avid traveler might partake of a regularly scheduled 12-day tour, such as the one I have planned for May, 2011 and extend the joy and value of the vacation.   Other sports lovers might participate in one of the shorter “sports tours” where the focus is all about the Marathon Start or the commemorative medal and a T-shirt from the race.

Too late to go this year, but… wanted to plant a seed in your mind. “What are YOU doing next year on that most auspicious Marathon day, October 31, 2011?

Have a great day, and think Travel!

Preparing for the Cruise to Greece in May, 2011, has me thinking about living a Vital life at any age!  Enthusiasm, fully enjoying all aspects of your life – are these the keys to feeling vital, healthy and fully alive?  There is a metaphor that illustrates this vitality… envision your life as everything at the bottom of a cliff – the end, the finality.  Or, you can imagine being at the top of that cliff – arms outstretched and face lifted to the sky – embracing every vital breath you will take!

My desire is to keep people thinking “vitality” and doing all they can emotionally and physically to experience the energy and enthusiasm to fully embrace and enjoy every moment of life.  We have a wonderful opportunity to participate in the “Third Act” of living – sidestepping much of the deterioration that is unfortunately considered as inevitable with aging. 

We rush through life – eager for our retirement, but when that day arrives, we seem to have forgotten all the dreams we had along the way.  We are not trained for being retired!  There is no manual that gives us instructions on how to enjoy not being on the clock.  There are no ready instructions advising us how to respond to too much time on our hands, or managing the nuances of a relationship with someone who may have, over the years, become a stranger. Retirement doesn’t have to mean that you sit down in the rocking chair and gaze at the world going on without you… you get to design how you will live each and every day.

When you tap into that vitality, you may decide you still want to be active in many areas of your life.   You may want to create a home-based business, bring a creative thought (invention) to live, write your memoirs or the next great American novel.  You might want to travel and photograph the people you experience along the way, or finally put your heart and soul into a long-unattended hobby.  Life is rich!   Life is vital… experience it!

With that said, what are your thoughts about travel?  How does that fit into how you always wanted to reward yourself for having been a highly responsible spouse, parent or provider?  I would encourage you today to take a few minutes, nestled in that chair if you are so inclined, and explore in your mind the places you would like to travel.  Where would you like to go, how would you like to get there, and how long would you like to stay?  Would you prefer traveling in the lap of luxury or do your thoughts bring visions of hostelling it with the locals? 

The tour to Greece is being designed to fulfill the life-long dream of a good friend to experience the amazing stark white buildings set against an azure sea… to bask in the sun and come alive to the rhythmic sounds of a music that demands vitality!  Her love of history will be sated as she touches the ground and sees the archeological reminders of a culture that defined much of the world in which we live today. And, she will be treating herself for a life well-lived – a life of hard work and personal discipline, knowing the reward will be of her choosing.

I invite you to be a part of a growing group of adults who want to live out that “third act” and embrace each moment of life.   Are you with me?

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The show wrap-up however, was of Bill Britt, standing in front of a palatial home, explaining his key secret for why the Amway business model HAD worked for him!  It was about taking the action necessary to make things happen! Everyone always wants to know the “key secret” to success, and were probably surprised when he replied, “There is no secret. I simply showed the plan to 1200 people. 900 said, ‘No’ and only 300 signed up. Out of those 300, only 85 did anything at all. Out of those 85 only 35 were serious, and out of those 35, 11 made me a millionaire.”

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My first inclination is always to bring people back to basic business principles.  The logic of mentoring a “few good men” prevails.  If you were growing a bricks and mortar company, you simply would not go out and hire 2000 people  in one year and expect to be able to mentor, train or support their endeavors.  Why should that process work any better for a home-based business?  It cannot work, and that it the key. 

• The early bird gets the worm – whoever first gets their product to the public eye will more likely be successful.
• The turtle wins the race – it is not how fast you race to the finish line; it is that you ultimately reach it.
• He who hesitates, loses.  Nothing will happen until you engage in some kind of positive action, strategically designed to move you forward.

• Counting your chickens before they hatch… reminds me of the greed that predominates Network Marketing.  Which is exactly why leaders in the industry so aggressively sought to modify the “label.”  

Enough with the cliches!  Except to focus on the last one for a few seconds before I call it a day.  Let me ask you a question.  If you were making wise decisions about building your business and expanding your staff – how many people who were solely interested in how much money they could make and how quickly, would you actually hire?  Why then, if you wisely build any business on best business practices would you engage as business partners people who are obviously only interested in how quickly they could rake in massive income?  Wisdom would tell you they are only there for the short term, taking the best you have to offer them in support and training  – eager to move on to the next most interesting and biggest offer that comes their way.  Pick and choose your future business partners with extreme discretion – give them ample support, train them well and watch the rewards; rewards that do not come with going crazy trying to meet the needs of too many people who are not as serious as you are in building a well-founded business.

Think over some of these cliche’s and ponder how they might modify the strategy you intend to use to build your business.  What would you do differently … today?

If you are interested in more support with your Network Marketing company, check out the many resources available at Vital Enterprises, LLC.  Not only will you find a plethora of vital essentials to life in general, you will find resources and connections specific to enhancing your business practices and building your home-based business, for example the Income Opportunity Marketplace where you can hold a premier listing for the company you represent, sign up for a 52-week eCourse, and receive weekly tips, tools, resources, and connections to help accelerate the growth of your business.

Jan Vitale, building your Network Marketing business – one great business building tip at a time.

Identity Theft in the News….

According  to the Spokesman Review, two Spokane, Washington women   received over $40,000 in good and services using stolen identity information taken from local vehicles and mail boxes.  One would have to question why the potential risk of 20 years in prison and fines edging $250,000 fail to deter this type of crime.  Instead, the incidences just seem to get more frequent and more colorful.

For example, the story that broke in The Province  about an investigation into a ring of thieves using stolen credit card infor ation to purchase over $130,000 of online auction items.  These electronics and jewelry items were then resold on other online sites for a significant profit.  Imagine the shock of Vancouver police who found six young  twenty-somethings with a plethora of identity-theft  – shall we call it paraphernalia – items, following  an intensive and complex investigation that is still not complete.

My understanding has always been that one of the reasons people buy Mac computers is the safety features far exceed those of PC users… that may no longer be the case as we see headlines today that FaceTime has a glitch that will allow hackers to access FaceTime accounts and steal personal account information.   Does the recent report on CIO mean that Apple will stand side by side with Microsoft in creating online protection? 

No state is exempt from thieves – Maryland AP News reports a Delaware man, under the guise of securing home loans for clients, spent close to three years stealing client financial information to commit identity theft.  Although Carl Gail turned himself in and is out on bail, he is facing over 30 counts in his indictment.   Today’s headlines also include reports from Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and many others.

Continuing a quick scan of today’s news, I have to be even more passionate about the support I offer to counter these ongoing offenses by representing a product offered by Pre-paid Legal.  In LaGrange, Texas, a 34 year old woman received a 10 year sentence for conspiracy to commit identity theft, in Milwaukee, another woman is in court facing similar charges for the part she played in an identity theft scandal, and NewsNet5 reports over 11 million people were victimized in 2009.  The numbers are staggering – the implications are horrifying.

If you want to have further discussion about protecting yourself from identity theft, email me at jan-vitale@cox.net and let me know the greatest fear you might be experiencing so we can talk about how I can provide you the most information and the best protection.