Cynthia Learns How to Live Large after Leaving Corporate America!

From: Arlington Heights, Illinois

Q: Best Solo Escape?
Australia or England

Q: Biggest Accomplishment you achieved on your own?
Bailing out on the corporate world in order to pursue my dream of being a writer, heading for Australia for a six-month, 20,000-mile solo journey to shake myself free of the corporate mindset and discover who I am, returning home to build that new career, and publishing a book (Waltzing Australia) about the adventure.

Q: Best Place to Meet New People?
Pretty much everywhere I've ever been. Traveling is the best "place" to meet people, no matter where you are. Travelers just gravitate to each other.

Q: Best Bar or Restaurant to go Alone?
Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights. Lovely French food, nice people, and I can take a book and sit in a booth for a couple of hours, and they'll just keep bringing me iced tea.

Q: Have You Ever Been a Victim of Singlism?
I've experienced it, but I've never let myself think of it as my being a victim. I am occasionally frustrated by the single supplement when I travel solo (though I also understand it).

Q: Words to Live By?
You can have anything you want, but not everything you want.

Q: What Do You Love About Being Single?
The flexibility. It's a lot easier for me to make plans--whether for a dinner, a class or a vacation--than it is for my married friends, especially the ones with kids. I don't have to juggle two or three schedules, and I don't have to worry about whether someone else will like what I've picked. After all, not everyone wants to try Ethiopian food, or would enjoy traveling in Mongolia.

Q: Care to Share Any Advice?
The advice would be to believe in dreams but be prepared to pay the price. Figure out what you really want, then treat it like a business plan. How much will it cost? What are your long term goals? What do you need to do to accomplish those goals? It can range from my saving up for the next big trip to a friend of mine who decided to go back to school to become a lawyer after age 50.