Hiya, friends!

Today is my 4th aikido anniversary! 🥳

4 years of training is short for some, long for others, but it has been incredibly healing, welcoming, and meaningful to me.

I’ve been reflecting on how I can give back to this beautiful community with what I’ve learned in this time, especially after our town hall last weekend, and wanted to share my thoughts with the class.

What I did not expect upon walking through the dojo doors on my 1st day was the immediate and incessant encouragement to turn around and head out to saunter down so many jet bridges!

I think I’d been training for a month before someone casually invited me to go to ECUADOR one day at Open Mat (to which I thought, "I'm never traveling with you people").

I then spent the next 4 months begrudgingly walking past our travel sign-up board and watching it fill up with everyone else's names but mine for something called Winter Camp.

FOMO finally made me sign up. Secretly, I felt very proud of myself when I did.

I’ve shared with some that Winter Camp '22 (my first away game) was very overwhelming for me –

It was expensive. I missed my flight. I didn't know what was happening. I cried on the mat. I was barely a 6th kyu in a sea of Yudansha, and I thought I was disappointing everyone. Not entirely a fun time.

BUT, I had our group to guide me around the old haunts, and I got to see Binh's Sandan test, which helped me understand that the community had worked together toward his success and, more personally, that I was part of this community.

Against all odds, I’ve returned to Winter Camp each year and have grown to love it. Genuinely!

This growth has inspired me the past couple of years to help arrange the lodging (a.k.a. the Sweet Suite™) for some of the gals at Ocean Sky and to create BINGO cards for everyone to enjoy and hopefully take the edge off of a trip that can be kind of scary on a first foray.

Reflecting on all the Peachtree adventures I’ve joined in on since Winter Camp '22, I’ve realized two things:

1. We're a fun bunch to travel with and

2. I would love to help make every trip a little less scary.

So, at Blue & Mark Sensei's request, I’m extending an invitation to everyone here (and beyond!) to let me help you plan your next adventure – Aikido related or not.

I’ve become a certified Travel Advisor and have already enjoyed helping some of you with lodging arrangements in Japan as well as with our weekend getaways in Charlotte, Boston, and Houston this year.

And, of course, Winter Camp is coming around the corner again, so the irony of my initial stubbornness has really come full circle.

Allowing me to book your stays is completely optional and free of charge. It's an act of service that I feel good about extending because I want to help make traveling possible for everyone, especially if we can go together and learn a little along the way.

I can book hotels, homes, rental cars, excursions, cruises, safaris, and more. I can also create itineraries and plan full trips for a planning fee.

Check out my advisor page and follow my IG to learn more. (My travel advisor alter-ego is named Evelin, heehee.)

Additionally, Peachtree will soon have a formal travel etiquette guide. Blue and Mark Sensei and I have been brewing this guide based on group trips we've taken. We hope it encourages you to join us on some adventures – traveling is a wonderful opportunity for growth and connection, and I would love to lower the bar to entry so everyone can join our field trip fun. (Equally important, we need more pins on our map!)

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk and for starting year four of this adventure with me!

Tabi wa michizure, yo wa nasake. 💜

xx Sarah

aka Evelin