This fall, Air Canada had a crazy, unbelievable sale on tickets to Paris from Ottawa, like, less than $400 return.

My fantastic, beautiful, wonderful friend DoubleBias sent me some links. She said, “You deserve this.” She said, “You’d love it there.” She said, “You need this.”

And she also provided me with a full itinerary based on her own recent trip there, and many inspirational photos, and frequent pep talks, as I am not a confident or experienced traveller.

So I was left with a decision: what kind of person am I?

Am I a person who jumps on a last minute flight deal to spontaneously jet off to Paris? I have to admit, that does not fit the picture of Historical Lynn. Historical Lynn is careful, nervous, requires a long lead time to the new, lots of planning and panicking in advance.

But maybe Historical Lynn isn’t who I am anymore. I recently had a great chat with an old friend who also recently went through a divorce. He said that it seemed to him, lately, that those who knew him as a teenager or young adult were the ones that really knew him; that he was rediscovering those friendships and finding they made him feel like his true self.

I’m not sure I was a fully formed human back then but I see what he means. Back in the days before I knew how to conform, how to be responsible, how to present a pretty picture to the world, I was a little rougher, a little (LITTLE) more spontaneous, a little (LITTLE) more daring.

So in a nod to Prehistoric Lynn, I did it. Little Miss Sunshine (not so little any more) came along for the ride.

We had a marvelous time.

Coincidentally, we went during the week of my 53rd birthday. It was a banger way to celebrate, gotta tell you. Coming full circle, integrating the past Lynns, and figuring out what that means for the future – it’s been a good year.