How it all began...

It was the summer of 2007. I turned on the tv as I was tying my tennis shoes, getting ready to go and play a match. The first words I heard were:

“We must let go of the life that we planned in order to begin to live the life that is waiting for us.” 

This moment was an ephiphany, marking the end of my years of mourning my singleness. It initiated a new season of my life.  One where I began to embrace life as it was and to celebrate it.  One of my first thoughts was, "I am a family of one and it is time for a family vacation."  Less than two months later, I found myself landing in Burlington Vermont and traveling to The Essex, which housed the New England Culinary Institute and the New England Tennis Holidays (Now called Vermont Tennis Vacations). I enjoyed tennis by day and long, delectable meals by evening with my 3 new friends, Delyth, Paul, and Steve.

Delyth and Paul have the most delightful British accents. Delyth hails from a town called Gloucestershire in England but she and Paul now reside in Connecticut.  Steve and his wife live in Rhode Island and Marco Island, Florida.

Each afternoon we were treated with a tray of lemonade sweetened with Vermont Maple Syrup and Fresh Blueberries...

My room was picture perfect:

The house and gardens, lovely:

Too bad it was too cool to swim (Late September)

Coach Rob Barr gave us great pointers:

The little town of Burlington reminded me of Asheville:

Except Asheville doesn't have Lake Champlain which borders Burlington and New York:

So...would I do it all again? Absolutely! 

In fact, while I was in Vermont, I got a call from my Manager at the company where I was currently employed. We received news that our jobs would be ending on April 1st of 2008. I had heard of a tennis camp in Tuscany and I had been wishing that I could get there in April. But being end of quarter, I knew that I could not get away from work. As soon as I heard that my job was ending, my first thought was, "Tuscany, here I come!" I celebrated with champagne toasts later that evening with my new friends.

What I learned on this trip, is that a tennis camp is an excellent beginning to travelling solo.  One has the comraderie of new friends and the shared fun of an activity together.  It makes the adventure that much sweeter.