It has been almost three months since Tom and I spent most of June exploring the Society Islands of the South Pacific on a trip we have waited too long to take. We set up our businesses to be taken care of by a competent team of amazing and hardworking people, packed our bags, charged our cell phones, and headed on a journey of more than 4000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to a small chain of islands located in the South Pacific. While we have spent most of our time exploring Baja and mainland Mexico over the last four decades, we hadn’t ventured out much further, except when I went to meet my Dad in Tonga while he was sailing solo around the world. We took modest vacations, mostly camping while we raised our three kids in Ojai, CA, venturing out only one time with them to Hawaii. After that, we spent the last several years paying off all of the Parent Plus Loans we took out to help our kids through college. Oh, and did I forget “Covid” took a couple of years as well?
But, as we stepped off the plane in Bora Bora, we realized that we really had waited too long. Decades have passed so quickly, raising kids, raising two businesses, we had forgotten how to really take a vacation. We felt so old as many honeymooners half our age filled the island. I wondered what had happened to all of those years I thought I had so carefully planned. Now back on land after 10 years of living on our sailboat I am having some perspective on time and choices. I never thought I would be one of those “older” people looking back and saying “I wish I had traveled more” but here I am today at my desk saying that. Now, fair enough, we have had some great times and adventures on the high seas, in the middle of Baja, communing with whales in the remote lagoons of Baja … but – I look at my wish list of travel and realize its time to get busy – As we start to plan the next adventure there is something that is ever-present in my mind, making time for travel to faraway destinations is something that (for us) is a necessary element in our life and it won’t happen unless we make it happen. If I can serve over 1.5 million customers a lemonade that I created in my kitchen in Ojai, I certainly can get myself on a plane to our next destination. For me, it is that “life balance” element that takes as much thought, effort, and priority as setting up for my next bottling run of 63k bottles. So, don’t let that time slip, it is never too late to get those personal priorities on the calendar.
And with that, I will get back to planning my next trip and while I am doing that I will make sure that we have enough lemonade to serve our amazing customers. As always, we are here to serve you the most delicious lemonades for you to sip and share. For more information on where to find our lemonades visit us at www.lorisoriginallemonade.com
Lori Volk, Chief Believer – Lori’s Original Lemonade
since 2011
