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Speaker 1: Hello, Hello Emily. Here you are listening to five Minute

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Speaker 1: Friday from Hurdle. Happy holidays everyone. I have been really

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Speaker 1: thinking a lot this week, in particular about traditions. I

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Speaker 1: have some that I partake in with my family every

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Speaker 1: year around this time, things like going to Arthur Avenue

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Speaker 1: to do food shopping in all of the best Italian

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Speaker 1: shops in the Bronx before Christmas Eve and then eating

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Speaker 1: at Domini's if you know, you know, going to my

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Speaker 1: grandmother's for Christmas Eve and we're not doing the twelve

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Speaker 1: fishes in proper Italian form, but there is a fish

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Speaker 1: situation happening there, likely muscles for sure. And Christmas Day

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Speaker 1: hanging out with my mom and going to get Chinese

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Speaker 1: food and watch movies. And I do it every year

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Speaker 1: and it brings me so much joy. Last year, my

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Speaker 1: family got a little bit bigger and my dad remarried,

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Speaker 1: and it was really interesting because it was almost as

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Speaker 1: though I took this opportunity with new members of my family,

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Speaker 1: step siblings, stepmother, to ask myself what traditions do we

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Speaker 1: want to create, what do we want to do together?

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Speaker 1: And in reflecting on that, we haven't come up with

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Speaker 1: anything just yet. It's a work in progress. But it

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Speaker 1: doesn't need to be something like that to have an

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Speaker 1: excuse to create a new thing that you do regularly.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't need to be some massive, big event. Although

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Speaker 1: how special it is for us to be to grow

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Speaker 1: our family, I digress. I think about rituals and traditions

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Speaker 1: when it comes to myself. What are things that I

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Speaker 1: want to be a part of my every year, of

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Speaker 1: maybe even part of my every week or every day.

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Speaker 1: A few years back, I started this tradition marrymaking with

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Speaker 1: my friends, and what it is is me inviting girlfriends

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Speaker 1: over to literally deck the halls, to decorate my tree,

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Speaker 1: to eat pizza, sip cocktails and just have a nice time.

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Speaker 1: And now it's a tradition that I look forward to

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Speaker 1: every single year. Last year, I deliberately threw a holiday party.

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Speaker 1: I know this is funny because I am a single

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Speaker 1: person LLC. But I threw a holiday party for myself

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Speaker 1: and I got dressed up and was very intentional with

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Speaker 1: it and took myself to dinner. And this year I

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Speaker 1: was very intentional with doing the same thing. Any day,

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Speaker 1: any week any more is an opportunity for you to

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Speaker 1: do inventory and say maybe I want to make this

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Speaker 1: new tradition for myself. I understand that it can be challenging,

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Speaker 1: especially around this time of year when things are maybe

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Speaker 1: different than how they used to be. There are people

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Speaker 1: that are in and out of your life. Family is

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Speaker 1: always looking different. And what if instead of harping on

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Speaker 1: the things that you are without, you take a step

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Speaker 1: back and you celebrate all that it is that you

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Speaker 1: do have. I read a quote sort of along these

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Speaker 1: lines yesterday, which is going from being worried about what

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Speaker 1: might happen to being excited about what might happen is

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Speaker 1: only a mindset shift away. And so I ask you

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Speaker 1: today to think about this. What traditions do you have

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Speaker 1: in your life that you are grateful for? And where

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Speaker 1: is their room to establish some that are new a

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Speaker 1: fundamental exercise for the holidays. And also, these traditions don't

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Speaker 1: have to just center around this time of year. You

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Speaker 1: can have a tradition for something that you do in

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Speaker 1: February or March or I mean, I could name all

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Speaker 1: of the months of the year. You're following here. You

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Speaker 1: get what I'm saying. And now a listener question. Hey, Emily,

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Speaker 1: I really love your recent posts about traveling alone. This

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Speaker 1: has been a goal of mine for a few years now,

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Speaker 1: and I feel like it will unlock so much for me,

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Speaker 1: but I also have so many fears about it. I

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Speaker 1: know the answer is to just do it and it

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Speaker 1: will all work out, but the realist and me often

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Speaker 1: weighs in a bit too much. One of my biggest

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Speaker 1: concerns traveling alone as a single woman is my safety.

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Speaker 1: Did you ever have this thought and what did you

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Speaker 1: do to get over this hurdle? Appreciate your feedback. Your

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Speaker 1: journey in life has been inspiring. Okay, safety is actually

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Speaker 1: very important to me when I'm traveling alone. The number

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Speaker 1: one tip I will offer anyone is that never share

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Speaker 1: a location when you are there in real time. So

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Speaker 1: although I am more than happy to share highlights of

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Speaker 1: my day and what's going on, it's always going to

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Speaker 1: be a later. Just to be cautious, I will never

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Speaker 1: share the name of a hotel that I am staying at,

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Speaker 1: or an Airbnb or any of specifics until I have

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Speaker 1: literally checked out of that location. Now does that mean

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Speaker 1: that maybe if there's a specific wallpaper or specific carpet

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Speaker 1: that someone won't be able to notice if I share

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Speaker 1: something from inside the property, no, and I understand that,

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Speaker 1: but I really do make it a point to be

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Speaker 1: as considerate and responsible as possible when it comes to

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Speaker 1: my safety. If I meet anyone while I am traveling alone,

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Speaker 1: I will not tell them that I am traveling alone.

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Speaker 1: I actually was at a bar having dinner while I

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Speaker 1: was in Miami recently, and a man asked me twice

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Speaker 1: where I was staying, and I didn't answer him. I

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Speaker 1: told him places I've liked to stay in the past.

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Speaker 1: And then I live and work alone. Like I spend

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Speaker 1: a lot of time alone, and so a product of

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Speaker 1: that is that I have some systems in place so

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Speaker 1: that my friends and family often know either where I

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Speaker 1: am or that I'm okay. When I go out for

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Speaker 1: a run. I have friends that get pinged when I

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Speaker 1: start and stop my workout. I also share my location

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Speaker 1: with some of my close friends. And if I'm ever

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Speaker 1: doing something that makes me feel a little scared or

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Speaker 1: a little nervous, that's my body telling me something that

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Speaker 1: maybe I need to do a gut check, and I'll

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Speaker 1: then send another text being like, Hey, I'm going out

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Speaker 1: to dinner here right now. Just check my location an

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Speaker 1: hour or text me in an hour and a half

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Speaker 1: or insert so many of the tactics that I've exercised

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Speaker 1: as a single woman to date. Yes, solo travel can

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Speaker 1: be intimidating, and I totally understand and agree that there

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Speaker 1: are safety concerns and precautions that you should take. But

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Speaker 1: I refuse to let that be the thing that stops

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Speaker 1: me from getting up and getting out and seeing this

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Speaker 1: amazing planet that we live on. The Other thing is

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Speaker 1: that I used to travel only being on Wi Fi.

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Speaker 1: And while that was really relaxing for me being able

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Speaker 1: to unplug in that way, what I realized is that

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Speaker 1: from a safety pov it didn't make me feel that

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Speaker 1: comfortable as I continue to do it. So make sure

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Speaker 1: you're activating a cell phone plan that allows you the

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Speaker 1: opportunity to stay connected. And then at the same token,

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Speaker 1: I will say this, if you're going on a solo trip,

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Speaker 1: don't sit there on your phone the whole time. So

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Speaker 1: if you're going out to dinner, going out to lunch,

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Speaker 1: going to the beach, whatever, bring books, bring journals. Disconnect

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Speaker 1: to reconnect with yourself in a way that is both

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Speaker 1: safe and responsible and helps you come back to you.

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Speaker 1: I hope these tips help if you have any more

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Speaker 1: questions about solo travel or of course, at any point,

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Speaker 1: any question at all. I'm always here to answer your

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Speaker 1: listener questions. Head on over to email me at Hello

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Speaker 1: at hurdle dot us or DM hurdle over on social

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Speaker 1: it's at Hurdle Podcast. I'm over at Emily a Body,

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Speaker 1: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time. M