My Goals for Tackling San Diego Alone

My company sent me on a press tour around California this week. We started in San Francisco, spent a day in Los Angeles, and then ended today in San Diego. Since I never am on the West Coast, I decided to stay behind for two days. After shooting our last interview this morning, hitting up the San Diego Zoo, dining and shopping in the Gaslamp District and then finally checking into my hotel, my two days alone have officially begun.

I am anxiously excited for my two days of loneliness (wait, if you're excited to be alone, is that loneliness? I beg to differ.). Anyways, everyone's been asking me what I planned for myself this weekend. And you know what, the answer is pretty much nothing. However, I have set some goals, which I think is as close to plans as I'll end up having. In the hopes that making my goals public, I'll actually do them, here they are:

• Run along the harbor. Oh. My. Gosh. What a glorious view that harbor is. I simply can't wait to take myself on a long, water-inspired jog alone that site, especially after the food I've eaten this week and the fact I've only worked out once.
• Dine alone in public, confidently. This is actually one of my biggest fears, ever since I was a child. We were once on a family vacation, at this pretty nice restaurant, and there was this man sitting near us dining alone. He looked so incredibly sad, my heart hurt. And selfishly, I felt uncomfortable in his presence. I want to dine in public in a way that doesn't force pity, but the sentiments of, "She looks happy, and is dining unapologetically alone."
• Brunch. Because duh.
• Go to a bar alone. So yes, a theme here is consuming things alone in public. But this one stems from my roommates and I talking about what bar we'd go to if we had to go alone. And then thinking about what it would be like to drink at a bar alone. In a city where I know no one, there's no better time to test it out and see what happens.
• Read. Relax. Breathe. Tan. Doesn't that sound too simple to be on the list? Yerp, but I need it to be on the list, because I don't do that enough for myself. And with all my alone time, I mine as well focus on it.
• Be a really good date for myself. There's this Lifehouse song with lyrics that have stuck with me for years since first hearing them, and they go, "You've got to love yourself first before you can ever love me." And while that's not entirely what I'm looking for in this trip, I want to feel comfortable being alone and love spending time with myself. I want to be comfortable being my own company, and be my own entertainment. I am never alone (usually by my own design and desire). And I just want to feel good about doing something by myself and doing things that make me happy, with just me.

Cheers to going outside of your comfort zone, and I'll see you on the other side, hopefully with some good memories to share!