A woman must treat herself well.

That’s why I ordered 2 cups of tea on the plane headed toward Bangkok, unwrapped the shiny foil of a decadent chocolate bar that Mr. King packed for me, busted out my kindle and watched the clouds creep backwards.

I’m headed on a solo trip to further expand the King empire and do a little shopping…by myself. Alone. Something I haven’t been in over 6 years.

I considered a nap, but chose to memorize my Pin number instead. Over 1000 days of traveling and I haven’t had to use the ATM once. That puts me in the league of sheltered, kept women – completely codependent on my husband to know the process of how to extract money from bank machines.  My feelings of independence  returned as the numbers cemented themselves in my brain. 3 cards-3 sets of numbers. I memorized 2 because I had chocolate waiting and one must not occupy themselves with too much thinking when eating good chocolate. Chocolate should only be a sensuous activity.

Off I go. Alone to reaffirm what it feels like to be an individual Sabina (that’s the S in S King). Reidentifying, shopping, clarifying goals and most of all, enjoying myself. Alone in Bangkok.

Every woman who has multiple roles in life (hello?…every woman) should get away and rediscover her own individual essence- alone and without girlfriends, husbands, children or, for lords sake, parents.

So far I’ve:

• Eaten when I’ve wanted to and with random strangers. Like having fried rice at 6 am and sitting down at someone’s table because there are no others available. I’ve  met some interesting people.
• Spent ludicrous time perusing an awesome bookstore that had 1 copy of a book I’ve been searching for for months. I bought it.
• Stared at myself in the mirror pleased with my awesome do it yourself hair dye job. Yes, the kind that comes in a box that includes plastic gloves.
• Bought lip gloss. I don’t wear makeup any more, but a little lip gloss makes me feel pretty.
• Slept with all my stuff strewn about the bed, which would drive Mr. King nuts.
• Walked on the same elevated pedestrian bridge several times trying to get to the other side of the road…don’t judge.
• Totally redesigned my products pages AND wrote incredible copy for them.
• Had time to write this post…even on an iPad, with its hunt and peck typing style.
• Successfully used the ATM!

Things shift when it’s just you. I no longer have a partner to lead, ask questions to, yell at when we get lost or debate how to get somewhere. It’s just me. There’s a freedom and an “oh, shit” feeling that I rather like.

I have one small backpack, an empty carrying suitcase to transport all my goods and my bikini – in case I get invited to a pool party. Because if you can’t get into a little trouble in Bangkok…well?