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Jen A. Miller Consulting

Category: The Single Diaries

  • Lessons in Traveling Alone

    Lessons in Traveling Alone

    What I Learned from Taking My First Trip Alone

    At this time last year I was counting down the days until I packed my bags and headed to Thailand. I booked an 11-day excursion abroad and decided to do it on my own. My trip would take me first to Bangkok, then around the western coast of Thailand, and make a final stop in Tokyo. I was excited and terrified to go.
    Traveling to Thailand had been on my mind for a few years. I wanted to touch every continent (Antarctica excluded) before I was 25, and Asia was the only one missing from my list. Several friends in college had gone as part of study abroad. They raved about its beautiful beaches, cheap massages, and amazing street food. Their reviews convinced me that I needed to experience this land for myself.
    I shared the idea with an equally adventurous best friend of mine; she was immediately hooked. We both had jobs lined up on the west coast and decided Thailand was the post-graduation adventure we needed before we both started our new corporate jobs. That was November 2010.
    Over the next few months as we started planning our trip, life got in the way. The pressures of graduation, the looming cost of moving across the country, and family priorities all took precedence over the grand trip we had imagined. I was disappointed but decided to put Thailand on the back burner for another time.
    Throughout the following year I brought the idea up to different friends trying to find a travel partner to make the trip with me. Most would express interest but ultimately the complexity and cost of the trip would deter them from commitment. I soon began to realize that if I really wanted to go, I would need to find the courage to do it alone.
    I had traveled a lot growing up and through college with family, study abroad, service trips, and an internship with Delta Airlines. Never though had I traveled by myself and certainly not to somewhere as far away as Thailand.  The idea was intriguing particularly at that point in my life. It was my first year living away from home, my family, and my college girlfriends. I was newly independent, learning to take on new responsibilities, and growing comfortable being out of my comfort zone. Taking this trip alone seemed like the perfect test to see just how far I could push myself.
    There were a couple options to consider. One was the obvious—buy a flight, pack a bag, and go it totally alone. That seemed like a bigger push than I was ready for. The alternate option was to find a tour group I could hitch onto. It wouldn’t be traveling with my best friends but it would be traveling with new ones; that felt like a good compromise.
    After some research, I decided on a Thailand tour with Contiki, a travel tour group for 18- to 35-year-olds. For a fixed price Contiki took care of all of the accommodations, local transportation, and excursions. The only thing I had to worry about was my booking my round trip ticket there.
    Needless to say, that trip to Thailand was one I will never forget. The tour turned out to be a great option because it brought together similarly aged travelers from around the world, many traveling alone, to share the adventure together. While I did have to navigate the journey to and from Thailand on my own, for the bulk of my trip I had new friends with whom to share the experience.
    I know it can be scary to think about taking a big trip like that on your own but I would encourage every Single Girl to give it a shot. You learn that you can be independent, that being alone sometimes is actually nice, and that new friends can be made anywhere. If you are considering a solo trip, read on for a few lessons I learned that you might find helpful.

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  • FRIEND-ly Ways to Change Your Mood

    FRIEND-ly Ways to Change Your Mood

    Catherine uses classic FRIENDS moments to help you find your mojo.

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    Even the superbly single girl may need a little extra encouragement from time to time… after a fight with a friend, after a tough day at work, on a quiet Tuesday night, or when your love life’s D.O.A. Ritual is a way for us to feel control over some small part of the universe’s ways. We use it to celebrate tradition, but we also use it in our daily lives when we get ready for work or wind down for bed. I’ve found small things I can do with purpose that have the same effect of calm and contentment that longer rituals can have. Take it from our favorite friends; you can do any one of these acts or a combination to quickly feel superbly sexy again.

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  • Single Girl Budget Building 101

    Single Girl Budget Building 101

    How to Build and Track Your Personal Budget

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    Budgeting: we all know it’s important but most of us dread having to do it. Let’s face it, spending money is much easier without having to think about where it’s going or having to acknowledge that we spend that much on happy hours with the girls.

    At the same time, spending money without direction can leave us feeling a bit anxious. Have you ever found yourself wondering if you’ll be able to pay the next credit card bill or nervous that the last check you wrote is going to bounce?

    Not knowing where out money is going can leave us feeling out of control. When approached with the right attitude, keeping track of your budget can actually be a liberating exercise. When you know you’ve got your expenses covered and have dedicated specific amounts of money to clothes, dinners out, etc., you lose the guilt of spending the money. You’ll even find that your money starts to stretch further because you’re in control of where it’s going.

    When I graduated from college my parents gifted me with a financial planning course—a set of books on tape and a workbook to teach me how to spend my new paycheck wisely.  Though not as glamorous as a new car or exotic trip, it was one of the best gifts I received. Taking the self-guided course taught me the fundamentals of creating and tracking a budget. Using the basic principles the course taught, I established a system that worked best for me.

    Being able to manage your personal budget is a skill I strongly believe every Single Girl should be equipped with. For that reason, I’m sharing with you my personal budgeting process and budgeting template. If you haven’t already found a system that works for you, give this a try!

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  • I Quit My Job to Follow My Dreams

    I Quit My Job to Follow My Dreams

    Jen Makes the Big Jump to Pursue her Passion

     

    “For all the single girls reading this I hope we can all look back at our lives and know that we’ve had the courage to make the tough decisions that bring us closer to our dreams”

    I quit my job to follow my dreams

    It’s almost too hard to believe that I am writing these words but today marks my last day in my job with Procter and Gamble.  I’ve chosen to quit in pursuit of my dream job and more importantly my dream life.

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  • Single Girl Reads: To Kill a Mockingbird

    “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee)

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    Fall has officially arrived… even in L.A. where the temperature has dropped 10 degrees (laugh all you want, East Coasters… I took my cashmere out of storage). The change in the air brings with it nostalgia for good ole fashioned school days. My cure? Reading a literary classic—one that calls for concentration and a good classroom discussion. I chose To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

    Enjoyment was my only objective, but I came out of it with a renewed desire to learn. The issues that Lee tackles are historical, but many of the insights into race and society continue to affect our world today… and the lessons in growing up and becoming oneself are unchanging.
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