The Twenty-four Hour Run Away or TRA

Introducing – The Twenty-four Hour Twifties Run Away
Travel Alone, Return Deeply Refreshed

A Twifties Treat
by Lauren Traub Teton

My Goal was to Reach a Deep State of Relaxation!

My sister doesn’t even know it yet, but after I finished my visit with her and her family this weekend, it was approaching dark, and being on my own with a 3 hour car ride ahead, I thought “how nice it would be to continue my idyll in the Pioneer Valley another night.” My husband was not at home, and I opened myself to the possibility of a relaxing overnight somewhere new, on the road, if the right opportunity arose.

Driving on the country roads instead of the highway, I eventually spotted a sign that said “Fine Country Dining” and followed it, thinking that it might be an inn with rooms to let. Indeed it was, almost in the middle of nowhere, but located at the exact high spot of its hill. Passing a huge replica of a milk bottle before finding the inn just seemed like a sign that a lighthearted Twifties adventure was at hand!

The Inn did have 4 rooms that they rented, and all were empty on this Saturday night, though the parking lot for the restaurant was as packed as opening day at the Red Sox or Yankees. I got one of the rooms, and found that there was both an outdoor porch over the front of the restaurant, and a little deck on top of the fire escape, right next to my room where I could stretch and watch the sunset.

My 24-hour runaway was devoted to rest, yoga and stretching on my own, good food, and sleep. I perused the menu of what it turns out has to be one of the best restaurants in Massachusetts. I went to my sunset porch and stretched, then took a little nap before having a late dinner.

I slept 'til 9 the next morning, then took my time, ambled downstairs for some coffee, sat outdoors on the rattan swinging loveseat, did some stretching and yoga outdoors, rested a little more, then had lunch in the dining room, and finally hit the road to come home. My TRA or Twenty-four Hour Run Away (TRA-La La!) was less than 24 hours, but left me deeply refreshed, and cost no more than a few co-pays for the doctor or pharmacy, which now I won’t need!
And the next day, back home, I am totally refreshed and re-energized.

Re: the Inn where I stayed.
I will love to share the name of this wonderful and relaxing country inn with you. I plan to do a feature on it on TwiftiesTV on Youtube later.

You can sign up for my mailing list on www.Twifties.com to be notified when TwiftiesTV goes live.
Or if you can’t wait, email me for the name of this inn, put
“Franklin County Inn” in the subject line and mail to Lauren@Twifties.com.

Tips for your Twifties TRA

A destination 3 hours or less from home is ideal.

Driving farther doesn't mean a place is more relaxing.

Choose a place that is quiet and surrounded by nature.

Try to go alone.
That way you can have the luxury of being completely on your own time schedule. Being “scheduled” all the time is one of the greatest stressors of Twifties and is a new way of life.

Pack light.
Less stuff means less choices, less clutter, and more relaxation on your Run Away.

Leave the newspapers at home.
If your TRA is really about relaxing, think about leaving all the reading material at home, and bringing a meditation tape or relaxation music instead. And forget about TV. You want to rest and sleep and give your body what it needs on this trip!

Have your responsibilities at home covered so you won't spend valuable relaxation time fretting about them.

Bring a blanket from home or use the bath towel to spread on the floor for stretching.

Remind yourself that this is YOUR TIME for relaxing and release any guilt about it.

Visit your favorite snow resort - in Summer and Fall!

Visit your favorite snow resort - in Summer and Fall!

Get a head start on those great mountain feelings!

Stratton Mountain, and Manchester, VT

by Lauren Traub Teton

We snowboard and ski enthusiasts are counting the days ‘til we can boot up again. But there’s a way to get a head start on the good feelings that come from our favorite downhill sports.

Why not visit your favorite mountain off season and take the chair lift or gondola to the top? Last week I had the opportunity to ride the gondola to the top of Stratton Mountain, in Vermont. I have had many happy times snowboarding there, and while sitting at the summit looking out over the green valley ,with the blue sky above, those good-time feelings came flooding back to me, even without snow!

It was so interesting to see the topography of the mountain without its thick blanket of snow, and to see the trees with leaves dangling instead of icicles.

Being after Labor Day and before foliage season, we had the place to ourselves and that was a big change too, from the well-attended snowboard events I’ve covered at Stratton for my other website, SnowboardSecrets.com.

It is wonderfully refreshing, enlivening, and calming to breathe in the fresh mountain air and enjoy the view from the top! Visiting the mountain even in “off” season makes you feel good, especially if it invokes good times you’ve had there in the past.

Of course if your favorite mountain is an airplane ride away instead of a car ride, this plan is not so easy. Maybe you can drive to a local mountain or hill that has a chairlift and dream your winter dreams!

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Manchester, Vermont is a Great Town

If you’re in Southwestern Vermont near Stratton or Bromley or Route 7, don’t miss the Manchester Designer Outlets! Last week was my first visit, but not my last!

Manchester, Vermont is a charming well-groomed old New England town that also has some of the best shopping in the state. I visited two inns that I can’t wait to come back to for dinner and an overnight, The Reluctant Panther, and the Inn at Manchester. Both have tiny pocket drink bars tucked into living room areas of overstuffed sofas and very inviting bedrooms.

And I saw the most beautiful, tasteful looking designer outlet buildings that I’ve ever seen. A quick stride through Giorgio Armani and Escada assures me there is plenty there to revisit. Anichini is a lux linen and textile purveyor and I saw some colors of sheets and tapestry pillows that made my eyes pop and my mouth water. Anichini is a Vermont company, believe it or not.

Also mouth-watering was the delicious stuffed organic pepper we ate at Ponce Gourmet next door. The owners lovingly supervise every morsel. And the coffee is real free trade organic coffee where the buyers of the beans cultivate a beneficial relationship with the growers. My first sip of their iced coffee caused me to run inside and ask the owners all about the delicious robust blend.

The Manchester Designer Outlets was a fantastic wrap up to our weekend in Vermont.

It’s nice to take your time!

It’s nice to take your time! Twifties need their relaxation.

by Lauren Traub Teton

I was getting ready for a road trip to visit my old dad out of state. I had been rushing around for days, and my body told me to slow down, even though I knew he was waiting patiently for my visit. I like to travel in the daylight, but I just needed to move slowly that day in my trip preparations.

Finally, I was ready and I hit the road. It was Labor Day weekend, but by the time I started driving, I found a wormhole with no traffic! Darkness fell during my drive, but I was pretty close to my destination by then. Gazing at the road straight ahead, suddenly I saw an explosion of pink and red colored stars in the sky far ahead, above the asphalt. Fireworks! I was treated to a 3 minute fireworks display directly ahead of me. My timing was perfect, after all.

I felt that the beautiful fireworks display that I passed at the exact right moment was a confirmation of my decision to move slowly instead of forcing my tired self to rush some more.

A few days later on the way back home, I also let the “flow” dictate my departure time and pace. Stopping the car for a quick rest and stretch, I heard thunder, and it led me to get out of the car to look at the sky. I gasped aloud as I found myself standing in the exact center of a perfect delicious rainbow. I could see almost the whole arc!

I arrived home and unpacked the car, and just as I closed the door of my house behind me, gentle rain began to fall. I was glad to be safe inside, finished with my trip.

Timing... excellent again!

If you have the luxury of not being on a tight schedule, it is so nice to take your time. If you don’t have the luxury, try to plan ahead for a little block of unscheduled time.
Wonderful surprises may come your way!

Twenty-four Hour Run Away!? Sound Good! You bet!
Find out what it is in our blog article 4/20/09.

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Want more positive inspiration?

Want to share what you know to make other's lives easier and better?

You can have your own blog on Twifties.com!

Trying Something New – The Benefits

Trying Something New – The Benefits
Chairboarding on the SkySki (It’s like an Air Chair) Part Deux
by Lauren Traub Teton

When you try something new, you become like a child again. Most things are new to kids. That is why kids have “childlike wonder.” If you, as an adult, keep doing the same familiar things, your sense of childlike wonder will go dormant. If you're Twifty, you want to try new things to stay fresh.

For example, yesterday I got to try riding a the SkySki chairboard. It was a little scary, it was new, to me, and my child mind said to me “I’ve never done this before, I don’t know how.” But my adult mind overruled it and said “you can learn this, you just saw people do it, they survived, you have the skills, it’s not that hard, and the downside and chance of injury is relatively low.”

I tried it, and had good success! I am thrilled at how that success at something brand new yesterday has flowed over into every aspect of my life today! I feel strong and invincible and successful and full of childlike wonder!


Once You’ve Ridden the Halfpipe,
There’s not much in an Office or Boardroom that can Really Throw You


One of the most exciting sports experiences I’ve ever had was learning to ride the halfpipe in snowboarding. Riding the halfpipe is a relatively safe area of freestyle snowboarding. Snowboard instructor and author Chickie Rosenberg, who is a fabulous snowboard rider and an over-60 Twifty says that the halfpipe is “like a baby’s playpen” and as a beginner there’s just no way for you to fall out. Chickie is the author of Snowboarding for Women: a guide for the Betty Shred wannabe and Snowboarding for Men: a Guide for Guys

Nonetheless, the first time you stand on your snowboard looking into the pipe and contemplating dropping in, it is a breathtakingly exciting prospect. Picture this, you’re on flat land, looking into a hollowed-out pipe in the snow, and getting ready to slide down the wall. Chickie Rosenberg says “the only scary part [of riding the halfpipe for the first time] is actually entering, sort of like going off a diving board as the surface drops from under you.”

In fact, it was a breathtaking experience for me for a couple of years. I have to say now it’s gotten kind of common for me, and in the last couple of seasons I’ve even found my mind able to have other thoughts while riding the pipe.

But the confidence that conquering the walls of the halfpipe gave me is immeasurable, and a real gift at this stage of my life. I’ve often said “once you’ve ridden the halfpipe, there’s not much in an office or boardroom that can really throw you.”

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Want to go on a snow vacation with the Fun People, Twifties this winter? We're going to Winter Park again this year.

We had a great time last year. Come with us Feb. 11-15, 2009. This trip is for snowboarders, skiers, and anybody that wants to give it a try. All ages but the emphasis is on Twifties!

Want to learn to carve, on a snowboard or skis, old-school surf style, almost lying down on the snow as you glide down the hill, with your hand in the wave?! We will be riding with the newly founded ACA - American Carving Association this winter and we're all gonna learn to do it like our incredible athlete friend Ron "The Carvefather" Maita. We hope to have him join us in Winter Park on Feb 11-15.

You'll only have to watch the first 3 seconds of this 1 minute long vid of Ron's incredible carving on the snow to know that you're gonna want this for yourself, baby!

(Ron is also one of the 2 people I know who rides the SkySki -and does a rodeo on it - footage coming soon!

Your Expectations, and Riding the SkySki for the First Time

Your Expectations are Everything
Riding the SkySki for the First Time

(pictured, Ron "The Carvefather" Maita, founder of the American Carving Association, on his SkySki)

Yesterday I tried something kind of wild and new. I was with my Wednesdays Off crew on the lake, and after my wakeboard run I had a chance to ride a thing that doesn’t even have a generic name yet. But it’s a water ski with a chair on top and a hydrofoil on the bottom. The hydrofoil is like the one you might have seen Laird Hamilton ride under his surfboard in the awesome movie Riding Giants.



Two companies make this thing, that I know of, the brands are SkySki and Air Chair (Both great names btw and I should know cause I’m in the business of product naming in my other life. The name Air Chair rhymes and is easier for me to remember.)

The idea of the chairboard (let’s call it that) is that you can rise up and down like a merry go round horse on the hydrofoil, using the height that you hold the handle as the controller. Before you learn the up and down motion, you work on smoothly crossing the wake, back and forth. They tell me the chairboard crosses the wake like a hot knife through butter, but I wasn’t quite at that point yet. My friends do it, and even fly up in the air, landing jumps on the surface of the water smoothly. Amazing to watch!

But the point I want to make is that I tried a brand new sport that I had little background info on. I had seen 2 people ride it, both riding like champs. They made it look easy, so I tried riding it with the expectation that I could do it, and guess what! I had very good success from the first try!

On the other hand, my friend had seen these same 2 guys try to teach 15 people before me, on the thing, and most of them had not succeeded easily. She had a different experience set to make her judgment from, and her judgment was that it was hard to learn and would be hard for her.

By the way, I suspect the chairboard is a little easier for women to learn, because our center of gravity is right over the chair, whereas men’s is in their shoulders, making them top heavy.

Do you see how profoundly your expectations can influence your outcome?
Be aware and present when you think about your expectations. Expect the best! You deserve it! And when things go well for you, there is a pleasant ripple effect all around you!

Guitar Hero and Packing Cubes

Guitar Hero and Packing Cubes
by Lauren Traub Teton

Traveling gives us a chance to try new things. This week my travels allowed me to play Guitar Hero for the first time, and to use my beloved packing cubes inside my suitcase. Guitar Hero is a hoot and a half, and the packing cubes kept my goods neat and pulled together for travel.

Guitar Hero - you don't have to KNOW how to play the guitar to have fun!

Guitar Hero is a video game where you and your opponent wield toy Gibson guitars and compete for who can play the most correct notes in a song. I had seen it played by teenage boys before, but I hadn't previously noticed that you don't actually have to KNOW how to play the guitar to play this game. The 5 fret keys on the neck of the guitar are color-coded and you hit the guitar keys as the colored notes scroll toward you on a video pathway.

We played the song “Surrender" by Cheap Trick. Playing this game made me laugh out loud! After each round you receive instant gratification or mortification with a detailed point score breakdown, and your rock star avatar bows proudly or slinks offstage depending on how you did. Fun! Can't wait to play the new Aerosmith version they made for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, and Wii.
Guitar Hero was first released on the PlayStation 2 in November 2005, in case you've been wondering why you haven't played it yet.


Packing Cubes

I've been using my Eagle Creek Pack-It Cubes to organize my suitcases since my last trip to summer snowboard camp in the Alps. These soft-sided mesh topped zipper cubes are a fantastic way to keep your suitcase or duffle neat, pack plenty in, and best of all, find it.

Packing is almost fun now; just roll up your small clothing items and stuff them into a zippered mesh cube. Unpacking is a snap because you can just throw the neatly packed cubes into a drawer at your destination. Luggage inspection at the airport is a breeze too, because underwear or lingerie items won’t be dangling around in plain sight and your suitcase innards will look civilized. You can fit more in your suitcase too.

Other manufacturers make the cubes besides Eagle Creek, but I think Eagle Creek invented them and they have a large variety of shapes and colors and some patterns. Most importantly, their cubes have handles, so when you need a little bag to carry your book, sunscreen, and key to the pool on your trip, they’re really handy to use for that too.

Besides the cubes, the Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder is a miraculous way to compress a pile of neatly folded clothes so you can fit plenty of shirts and pants in your carry-on and have them arrive still spiffy. It looks like a large envelope and opens out flat. It comes with a folding board so you’ll be able to fold your clothes as neatly as those tees stacked at the Gap. Just stack your clothes, wrap up the edges like a square old-school diaper, overlap the Velcro, and you’re off!

We Twifties Spend Money!

We Twifties Spend Money!
Twifties are overlooked in the marketplace.

More about the Wednesdays Off Club
by Lauren Traub Teton

Last night I was at a party with the expanded version of the Wednesdays Off Club and I can't tell you how impressed I was with these active Twifties. They ski or snowboard every Wednesday in the snow season. They also surf, bike, swim, dance, slalom water ski, heli ski, do yoga, and Zumba classes, a little skateboarding, wakeboarding, and certainly a few other things. They travel with a vengeance! They dine and they shop too. And they obviously take good care of themselves so they can enjoy life with a passion.

These people at the party were mostly over 50, and several over 60. Vibrant, fit, relaxed, cheerful, good looking fun happy people!!
Wow!
Even I didn't know groups of people like this exist. Twifties.com is about getting the message out to the general population and the marketing machine that we exist!

Most products are seemingly marketed to males 18 to 34 years old. This is proving to be a dated, worn, false marketing paradigm.
Twifties are not represented in ads. Fun products are not marketed to us.
We have money, time, and desire for recreation and fun.
HELLLOOOO?????!!!!!!

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Are you a Twifty?

Twifties are people in their 40's, 50's, and 60's (and beyond) who are full of fun and living life with a passion.

If you're Twifty, then go to Twifties.com where you can:
* post your profile and share what works for you.
* Read or write some Twifty Tips, offer them for free or fee on the site.
* Find an activity companion who enjoys the same activities as you, nearby.
* Take a meditation break on the site (coming soon - contact me if you want to work on this with us!)(Lauren@SnowboardSecrets.com)
* Open a store on Twifties.com selling your Twifty product.