I turned 28 on September 3rd this year. To treat myself I went to Paris alone. Yes I asked friends and family if they …
I turned 28 on September 3rd this year. To treat myself I went to Paris alone. Yes I asked friends and family if they were interested in coming, but after a while rejection gets tiresome and its easier to plan for one. Most people including Parisians thought it was strange that I would spend my birthday alone, but I never had a lonely moment in Paris. I also went alone because most of my days are filled with interacting with people. I wanted a week of time alone to introspect, enjoy solitude in the City of Lights, eat delicious food, read books, roam the streets filled with people I didn’t know, and walk through museums and be inspired everyday by artists and influencers who were generations ahead of me.
As a woman turning getting older and 28 is supposed to be some big deal. To me the big deal was being able to nap under the Eiffel Tower, eat a giant steak for lunch, chocolate cake for dessert, and not have anyone to answer to for that day.
The night of my birthday I decided to walk through the bar in Marais where I was staying. Not knowing much French I ventured into an Australian bar thinking that at the very least I could strike up a conversation with the bartender. I ended up making friends with a femgineer in the bar, and she invited me out the next night with a group of her friends. We had a fabulous evening of dancing on a boat until 5am under the Eiffel Tower!
I’m telling this story not because I’m some big party gal, which I’m not. But because I think too many people out there are afraid to take chances, meet new people, and experience what is out there… alone. Its easy to say: “Oh I don’t speak the language”, “I’m waiting to go with someone”, “Oh I heard the people in X city are rude”, “Traveling alone as a single woman is dangerous!” The list is filled with endless excuses. I’m a first believer in pushing your own personal boundaries both professionally but also personally. I’m also an optimist and try to envision the best outcome in any given situation and then try to make that happen.
When I came home a few of my close friends planned a surprise birthday dinner for me. My little brother told the following story as a nice tribute to how my personality has remained untarnished after 20 years:
“The summer Poornima was 8, our tv broke, and unfortunately it was the same summer our dad lost his job. Knowing that he wouldn’t fix it she went to the public library and started reading book after book. By the end of the summer she had won every reading award! When life gives her lemons, she definitely makes lemonade.”
