Update #51 – Lake George, Albany, NY

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Aug. 29/13 –  Ever since 2009, Vweek, an annual personal growth retreat, has been one of my favorite weeks of the year. This year is my 4th time in 5 years and we have been here for 10 days now.

 

The nature surroundings of Lake George in Silver Bay (4 hr-drive from New York) are as pretty and peaceful as they have always been.  Witnessing the joy and laughter from the 350 people that are here has been beautiful.  But my personal experience of Vweek this year is not quite the same as it was in the previous years.  I am not sure if it has something to do with my 2 years of travelling or if I am just at a different place now.  What caused this difference is something that I can’t put my fingers on just yet.  And I am surprised at myself too especially after re-reading the blogs I wrote about my experience of Vweek the last 3 times I was here.

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By day 5, when I gave up on going to the daily classes, my favorite activity of the previous retreats and when I did not show up to listen to my favorite forums, I knew that this might be the last year for me here.  Then, by day 7, when Deon told me he wanted to skip camp because he was no longer interested in the same activities that were being offered, I realized that he was feeling the same way as I was and that indeed, this will be be our last year here.  It’s TIME to move on and experience other things/places in the world….

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On the other hand, I am very happy to recognize that I am really enjoying the connection and bonding I have been having with the kids (Deon, Katelyn, Kirsten, Samantha, and Javier) over the last 10 days.  I love giving them my mini-lessons on personal growth and their engaging attitude was very rewarding.  This trip simply reconfirms I am totally ready to take 3 kids to Taiwan and do my “Trial Orphanage” as soon as my house sells.  Reaching out to orphans has always been on my “to do” list after I turn 50 and taking 3 kids with me to Taiwan for 3 months could be a test run for me.

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The best part of this trip was getting into a business deal with Maurice, a dear friend I met here 5 years ago.  This is 1 of the 5 deals I’ve heard about this year but this one caught my interest the most.  We are still at the early brainstorming stage.  But regardless of whether or not we will go ahead with the deal, Maurice and I really got to know each other at a much deeper level this year.  I look forward to deepening our relationship in the near future whether it’s on a business level or personal level because I think we can really learn a lot from each other’s strength and weakness.

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We are going home today, then go to Sunshine Coast on Aug. 31st for a long weekend trip with my family before summer is officially over.

 

Originally posted on Amy’s travel blog: TravelwithAmy.ca

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