I’ve always dreamed of being a world traveler, but until now, most of those trips took place only in my mind.  As a young girl, I was an avid reader and took long journeys in my imagination.  I envisioned myself growing up to live among the gorillas with Dian Fossey or teaching peasants in China with Pearl S. Buck. Later, movies like Out of Africa left me yearning for a life of adventure and romance, but instead I settled down and became a law professor, writer and entrepreneur.

My first and only real trip to foreign shores was when I graduated from law school and did a whirlwind tour of Western Europe, hitting the highlights of London, Paris, Venice, Nice and Rome in 10 days—all for less than $50 a day.  In those days, I was content to rely on Frommer’s tour guides and a Eurail pass to explore unknown territory.  Instead of booking ahead, we would arrive in town and start calling the list of budget accommodations until we found one with an available room.  We would follow the maps in our guide to authentic local restaurants where we could sit down to eat with real residents instead of a bunch of tourists.  Usually, things worked out just fine, but every once in a while we would have trouble finding decent accommodations, or would get hopelessly lost wandering the streets of a strange city at night.

It has been nearly 30 years since that first European adventure, and every year since then, I have vowed to visit Athens sometime soon.  I wanted to stand at the top of the Acropolis, feeling the ground beneath my feet where centuries of Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and others have traveled through– leaving their marks on the city’s history, culture and architecture.  I wanted to see the ancient temple where people worshiped Athena, goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice.  For years, I talked and dreamed and fantasized – but something always seemed to get in the way of actually planning the trip.

So, when I made a commitment to actually making the journey for a milestone birthday, I wanted to make sure that the real trip lived up to my imagination.  I’ve always prided myself on being flexible and going with the flow, but somehow I just did not dare to risk that approach with so much at stake.  Besides, I knew that some things that worked in my 20’s — such as walking for miles without a sure destination or staying up all night without a place to stay – might not work as well for me today.

Fortunately, the strategies I used to prepare for this trip culminated in an amazing vacation that far exceeded anything I could have imagined.  And now that I am back at home, I have come to realize that the strategies work equally well for stepping into any uncharted territory – from starting a new business to transforming your lifestyle.  And I am going to share them with you in three easy steps.

Step 1:  Shape Up Before You Ship Out

One thing I knew for sure about this trip – there would be a lot of walking, climbing and strenuous exercise involved.  There is no elevator to the top of the Acropolis.

So several months before the trip, I put a plan into place to build up my immunity, stamina and endurance.

I started an interval walking program using Prevention Magazine’s Walk Off the Weight book and MP3 player.  By the time I finished the 8 week program, I knew that I could not be deterred by the 100 steps we would have to take to reach the ruins of Pompeii, or the steep hill that leads to Mary’s House in Ephesus, Turkey.  I trained in the Teva’s I would be wearing on the trip, to make sure my feet wouldn’t break out in blisters.  I ate a healthy diet and took my vitamins to  bolster my immune system.

All this preparation paid off. I reached the summit of the Acropolis without losing my breath, and took a 3-hour moonlight Segway tour of Rome with a group of adventurers half my age — all without blisters or sore muscles!

The same strategy would work for any new endeavor. Want to start a new business? Here’s your training regimen–

• Take an online class or go to your local SBA office to learn how to write a business plan

• Learn the basics of business finance – at a minimum, you need to know how to read and write a P&L statement,  balance sheet and financial projections

• Study the market and learn from your competition

• If you’ve never been in business before, apprentice with someone who has or hire a business coach

• Dip your toes in the water with a low- risk, low-investment part-time business. When you start making a profit, you will be ready to tackle your dream project.

• Save up enough money to cover at least 6 months of expenses

• Pitch your idea to a small group of friendly investors-think family members and close friends.  If you can successfully communicate your vision, you are ready to move on to bigger investors, like banks and angels.

• When you are ready to take the plunge, bask in the confidence that you are well-prepared to rise to the challenges.  Now that the groundwork has been laid, follow your passion and intuitions and enjoy the ride!

Step 2:  Don’t Go It Alone

I love to read travel guide books and magazines.  Back in the 1980’s, I wrote notes in the margins and lugged them with me to find the best hostels and restaurants from London to Rome and Paris.

But with the advent of the internet, travel has gotten a whole lot easier.  Although I bought a few books to absorb the history of Greece and Turkey, I planned most of the trip with the help of my friends on the world wide web.

Two personal friends who had cruised the Mediterranean helped me avoid a near-disaster.  I was planning to do a land-cruise package on a smaller cruise line, but they let me know that the land accommodations were sub-par, and the small ship was likely to leave me sea sick in the choppy Mediterranean waters.  I barely felt the waves in our larger vessel, but was grateful on those nights when I could see the whitecaps from my cabin on the 9^th deck.

Cruise Critic was invaluable in helping me choose not just the right cruise line, but the best cabin in my price range.  I even knew how many electrical outlets it had and what chargers I needed to bring with me for all my gadgets.

There were so many excursions to choose from, I don’t know how I could have done it without Trip Advisor.  Not only did I learn that private tours were generally less expensive and more fulfilling than the cruise packages.  I also got advice about who were the best tour operators, what was the best time of day to visit, and which were the “must-see” attractions in each destination.

Here is a photo we took with our awesome private tour guide, Kemal, in Istanbul.  He guided us through the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Sultan’s Palace, and the Grand Bazaar all without standing in any lines.  He even took us to his favorite restaurant and ordered a feast we never would have ordered on our own (since the menu was all in Turkish)!

No matter what your next venture, there is no need to go it alone.  Let’s say you want to write a book for working moms.  Here are just a few places to get some good advice:

• Sign up for free newsletters like WorkingMomsOnly and see which articles attract the most attention.

• Join a membership group for working moms and join the conversation.  Ask people what their biggest questions, concerns, hopes and fears are…and make sure your book addresses them.

• Scour Amazon.com and other online shopping sites to see what people are buying on your topic.

• Join a free writing class or writer’s group at your local library and get instant feedback on your ideas.

Once you have absorbed all the free advice, tap into your creativity to write a book from your heart … one that expresses your unique knowledge and experience in a way that taps into the emotional needs of your prospective readers.

Step 3:  An Ounce of Prevention

It was exciting to fantasize about all the beautiful places I would see and the people I would meet, but I took the time to also attend to the boring details that can make the difference between an enjoyable trip and a trip to the first aid station.

The Mediterranean is known for its beautiful bright sunshine, and my skin is as pale as a bar of soap.  As a teen-ager, I oiled my body with baby lotion and spent hours just to redden to the color of a pink rash.  I once spent the class trip to Ocean City lying down in the bus with sun poisoning all evening while my classmates were out enjoying the amusement park.

So, I took all the precautions I could to make sure this trip did not end in the nurse’s station.  Fortunately, I like hats, and the cute derby I am wearing has SPF sun protection built right into it.  By the way, I bought it at a local shop called Wheel Clothing, so I can feel good about supporting our local economy here in North Beach.

Instead of baby oil, I slathered myself with suntan lotion religiously.  I brought acupressure wrist bands for sea sickness, and took probiotics and digestive enzymes to keep my stomach in shape.  Most importantly, I must have spent 100 Euros buying bottles of water at every stop.

Prevention may not be glamorous, but it should be a part of any new endeavor.  Let’s say your dream is to complete a Century (100 mile) bike ride.  You’ve done the training, you’ve learned a lot of tips from the pros, and you feel like you are ready to go.  Here’s a few final steps to consider to make this the adventure of a lifetime:

• Make sure your bike is tuned up, the brakes and tires are sound, and the gears are changing smoothly.  Losing a chain in the middle of a long ride is not a disaster, but you will miss out on the fun of keeping up with your friends and hitting the finish line together.

• Always pack a spare tube and inflation tools (pump or CO2 cartridge).  Being stopped in your tracks by a flat tire is both unnecessary and embarrassing.

• Outfit yourself with the right gear.  It may be easy to do a 20 mile practice ride in shorts and a t-shirt, but your butt will thank you if you wear padded shorts when you are going to be on the saddle for 100 miles.  And cotton is not the fabric of choice for wicking away sweat on a sunny day.

• Stay with the pack if you can, use hand signals to let drivers know where you are going, and always obey traffic signals.

• Avoid bonking by nibbling easy-to-digest snacks and drinking water before you feel thirsty.  By the time you feel you are hitting a wall, it may be too late to recover for the rest of the ride.

It’s as easy as 1 -2 -3

No matter what your next adventure entails, taking these 3 simple steps should make it more successful:

1. Get your mind, body and life in shape for the challenge
2. Absorb as much knowledge as possible from those who have paved the trail
3. Expect the best, but prepare for the worst to ensure smooth sailing

I would love to hear what your next challenge is, and how you can follow these three easy steps to get the most out of it.  Please leave me a comment or follow me on Facebook and I will be glad to follow you back!

Happy trails!