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Last week, I visited the utopian land of San Diego to tan my buns and fill my belly with seafood tacos and burritos stuffed with french fries, because that is a thing that people are doing over there. My friend Sara brought me to her gym to show me how to climb rock walls, and I got to try slack-lining for the first time. Trying meant standing up for a few seconds and falling over without taking a step, but in my mind it seemed like something I might be able to do with practice. So, even if I never get another try, I guess I am already halfway to being able to do it.

One night, I found myself standing alone at a bar when a kind person from the magical land of Maui offered to buy me a drink. Then, since socializing with strangers for long amounts of time sometimes calls for breaks, I went to watch the band play in the comfortable retreat that live music provides. When I returned to buy my own second drink, the bartender told me and the girl next to me about the $20 credit card requirement, because $10 per drink with a two drink minimum seems like a reasonable amount to charge when you're also offering the beaches, fish tacos, french fry burritos, tanned people, and whatnot. I decided that two drinks was a good limit for a solo lady romping around a new place, so I offered to buy the other girl's drink. The bartender thought that was very nice and gave me two complimentary shots to show her approval. What a predicament! Now I was $20 down and had three drinks to carry with me toward the magical land of standing by myself. I didn't really want to go down the path of drinking a vodka soda and two fancy tequila shots in rapid succession, so I walked over to a group of smiling faces and asked if any of them wanted to take a shot with me. They did! I discovered that they were from Australia and Switzerland, and our friendly drink exchange earned me some new acquaintances to hang out with for the rest of the night.

I found this whole series of interactions pretty magical since I had the fresh eyes of a traveler, or the blurry eyes of someone mixing vodka and tequila, and wanted to share that if you are nice and generous to people, you might get rewarded or at least meet some other nice, generous people in return.

Namaste.