With Spring officially in full bloom in my hometown of the Washington, DC area, I wanted to take the time to talk about how my relationship blossomed with myself *pun here anyone?! I think yes!!*. If you follow me on Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!), then you know that I have been adventuring ALL around the gorgeous cherry blossoms and blooming flowers around the Washington, DC area. As someone who has fully adjusted to post-college life (for the most part!), I can work on myself in ways like never before, thus, blooming my own relationship with myself into a gorgeous flower.
This past March, I took my first-ever solo road trip Charlottesville, Virginia for a work conference and saw my Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, and cousins Mary, Joey, and Matthew while there (read more about that here!). In this past March 2022, I also purchased my first-ever car – a white Volvo S60 T5 Momentum that I named Daisy, which I have spent several days since purchasing her driving her around and enjoying it. My adventures in my Volvo Daisy have been of both solo adventures and adventures with others, too. I visited the Smithsonian’s temporary #IfThenSheCan exhibit (read more about that here) not once but TWICE and learned to be proud of my career in STEM and being a #WomenInSTEM. At the same time, I have been working A LOT and really starting to enjoy my projects at work and find passions within my own career. Through each of these endeavors, I have really truly blossomed with myself within it all.
My solo trip to Charlottesville was one of the monumental experiences for my relationship with myself. Essentially, I just turned on the 80’s station on SiriusXM and jammed out the entire way. During this time, I learned a lot about myself and simply got comfortable with myself, even in a brand-new place. My first stop on the trip was to the University of Virginia, where I had about an hour to myself before my work conference. I managed to find and pay for parking on my own (the University of Virginia campus is definitely a ZOO it felt like going there for the first time when it comes to parking – HAHA!) and ask others for help navigating the HUGE (well, compared to my tiny campus at Meredith College – LOL!) campus, so that I could see the gorgeous, well-known Rotunda. I was able to successfully take care of myself, my car, and enjoy myself all along the way.
This April and May, I have quite a few *yes, quite a few* plans that are solo. After my solo road trip to Charlottesville, I am super excited to be able to feel comfortable enough with myself to do even more solo excursions on my own moving forward. Even just a few months ago, I felt like I “needed” to go do something as long as I had someone else to go with. However, that is completely the opposite. If you want to go do something, then just go yourself and have a good time. Going somewhere by yourself AND simply enjoying it is a skill that I believe everyone needs to learn as well. I also feel like if I can enjoy myself while doing something on my own, then why bother going with someone else all the time?! Through my solo adventures, I most definitely feel that I was able watch my relationship bloom with myself – a beautiful thing!
Overall, through feeling more comfortable with myself and how I am, I feel like my relationship bloomed with myself in ways like never before.
XOXO – Katie <3
I love this post! I used to do a lot of solo traveling pre-pandemic, and I’m missing it dearly. There’s nothing like trusting yourself so completely to problem-solve and be good company. Such an empowering feeling! Good luck on your future solo trips — I can’t wait to read about them.