Take the Trip

Look For Magic and It Will Find You

Sometimes the universe sends you exactly what you need through the most unexpected messengers.

Last Wednesday, I was catching up with a friend over coffee. I'd been in one of those phases—you know the ones. Months of trying to reinvent myself, spinning my wheels, feeling stuck in the same patterns that weren't serving me anymore. The kind of rut where every day feels like a carbon copy of the last, and you start wondering if this is just how life is now.

My friend listened to me ramble about my struggles, then said something that stopped me cold:

"You should go to MEA."

MEA—the Modern Elder Academy with Chip Conley. I'd heard of it, of course. That transformational program in Baja California where people go to reimagine what's possible in the second half of life. But it felt like one of those "someday" things. You know, the kind of experience you bookmark for when life gets less complicated, when the schedule clears up, when you finally have everything figured out.

"You know what?" I heard myself saying. "I really should."

By Thursday morning, I was rearranging my not-so-busy schedule. By Thursday afternoon, I had signed up for a course that would begin just four days later—that Sunday.

Best decision ever.

As I write this, still processing the profound shifts that happened in just one week, I'm reminded of another spontaneous trip that changed my life. Peru, 2013. My friend and I planned that entire adventure just two weeks before we left. Another last-minute decision that felt crazy at the time but turned out to be transformational.

There's a pattern here, and I think it's worth paying attention to.

The Magic of Last-Minute Yes

When we're stuck—really stuck—our minds become echo chambers. The same thoughts, the same routines, the same careful considerations that keep us safe but small. We analyze and plan and wait for the "right" moment, which somehow never arrives.

But there's something about the spontaneous yes that cuts through all that noise. When my friend suggested MEA, I didn't have time to talk myself out of it. I didn't have weeks to construct elaborate reasons why it wouldn't work, why the timing was wrong, why I should wait.

I just said yes and figured out the logistics later.

Getting Unstuck Requires Getting Unfamiliar

The thing about being in a rut is that everything feels familiar, even when it's not working. Our problems become comfortable because at least we know them. Our stuck places feel safe because we've mapped every corner of them.

Taking the trip—whether it's to MEA, to Peru, or wherever your intuition is calling you—forces a different kind of thinking. New environments demand new responses. Different conversations spark different insights. When you remove yourself from the context where you're stuck, suddenly new possibilities become visible.

At MEA, surrounded by people from completely different backgrounds, engaging with ideas I'd never considered, something shifted. The stories I'd been telling myself about what was possible started to crack open. The identity I'd been trying so hard to "reinvent" began to feel less like a problem to solve and more like an adventure to embrace.

The Permission You're Waiting For

Maybe you're reading this thinking, "That sounds nice, but I can't just drop everything and take a trip." Trust me, I get it. There are responsibilities, budgets, schedules, a thousand practical reasons why now isn't the right time.

But here's what I learned: the perfect moment doesn't exist. The cleared schedule, the flush bank account, the ideal circumstances—they're mirages. Life will always be complicated. There will always be reasons to wait.

Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to be irresponsible for a moment. To trust that the life you're trying to build deserves the investment of disruption.

Your Trip Is Waiting

I don't know what your version of "the trip" looks like. Maybe it's actually MEA (and if you're curious, I can't recommend it highly enough). Maybe it's that artist residency you bookmarked months ago. Maybe it's visiting that friend who keeps saying "come anytime." Maybe it's just saying yes to something that scares you a little.

What I do know is this: if you're stuck, if you've been spinning your wheels, if you feel like you're just going through the motions—there's a trip waiting for you. An experience that will crack you open in the best possible way.

The question isn't whether you can afford to take it.

The question is whether you can afford not to.

So here's my invitation to you: Start paying attention to what the universe is offering. What keeps showing up in conversations? What opportunities feel both exciting and slightly impossible? What "crazy" ideas won't leave you alone?

Your version of "the trip" might not be Peru or MEA. It might be that workshop that keeps appearing in your Instagram feed. That friend who keeps inviting you to visit. That course you bookmarked six months ago. That conversation you've been avoiding.

The magic is already there, waiting for you to notice it, waiting for you to say yes.

As Lee reminded me: you might know how to get there, even when you don't know where you're going yet. Trust the calling. Book the ticket. Rearrange the schedule.

Take the trip.

Your future self—the one you can't even imagine yet—is waiting on the other side of that yes.