Guten Tag!

Cindy Donaldson, Director of Marketing & Personal Lines Sales - Founders Insurance Group

By now it isn’t a huge secret that I romped around Europe for a couple weeks – I think I told everyone, and then some!

I have a hard time relaxing, it is simply not in my nature to sit still. I can’t watch TV for hours, play on Facebook all afternoon or just lounge around on a beach for a week. I get antsy. The only thing that might slow me down is a really good book – beyond that I’m a mover.

Now that you have insight into my psyche, you can probably guess that my jaunt around Europe was a busy one! We toured Germany, The Czech Republic and made a quick buzz into Austria. I ate Brats, drank Bier, tried to speak German, didn’t even try to speak Czech and lived without Wifi for almost 3 weeks. It was heaven. We were up almost every day by seven – in Prague we rose when the sun came up to avoid the heat and crowds. We ate when we were hungry and went to bed when we were tired. We took over 2000 pictures, toured castles, went to a Frankfurt vs. Chelsea futbol game, drove fast on the Auto Ban and the list goes on. It was definitely a go-go-go vacation – again, it was heaven.

The amazing thing is, I wasn’t tired when I got home from across the pond. Sure, it took me a few days to get back into the swing of things but I surely didn’t need a week off after I got back to

Picnic in Prague!

recuperate. Why? Because my soul was rejuvenated while I was away. I was unplugged from my daily routine, my job, Twitter, Facebook and the drama of it all. My biggest decision to make on any one day was Brats or Schnitzel. How hard is that?

I love the European way of life. They work to live, not live to work. They shop at the local market every day, they walk or bike everywhere when at all possible and they definitely enjoy their vacation time. From what I experienced, Europeans just don’t seem as stressed as we do. They stop and smell the roses.

I have a new outlook on life. I’ve never really been a materialistic person, but after my vacation I’m even less materialistic. Things don’t make me happy, experiences do. My family and friends do and all the good things that come because they are in my life.

What’s your outlook on life – what really makes you happy? Something we all should ponder.

Tschüss!

Cindy