Ditched and Ditching It – Life Update 2019

It’s been a big year. I’ve hardly posted here since returning from the Netherlands and diving into my fourth year at Queen’s University. You know how it goes – once in a daily routine at home, it’s hard to write. What is there to write about? Plus, after a full day of classwork and then another half day of paid work, I have no creative energy left for my hobbies. The burnout has been real, friends.

Life has been nuts. I hardly know where to start filling you in.

Long story short, almost everything I had used as an anchor in my life came to an end within the same month. I graduated and suddenly had more time than I knew what to do with – fun at first and then slowly frustrating. My relationship of almost six years ended a week before graduation – his call to get to know himself better. Two of my biggest clients finished their projects simultaneously. My lease is up in a couple of weeks and I have no idea where I’ll be living, and then dealing with chronic pain on top of it all.

It’s like the floor dropped from under me.

None of it is necessarily bad, I’m coming to realize. Growth isn’t easy. Sometimes it can feel like two steps backward, when in reality I’ve simply grown out of the clients, the relationship, the educational phase, the lease. This is my evolution. But OOF, you know?

I spent two weeks at my Grammy’s beautiful log cabin, watering plants and battling endless weeds while she flew to BC on vacation. It was my chance to reflect, to do some good old garden meditation, and to sort it out. I sat down every afternoon with my pen and notepad to wrestle with the problems.

Okay.

So everything feels crazy.

What am I going to do?

Screw it. I’m going traveling.

If we flip this whole situation on its head, I’m not in the depths of despair. I have more freedom than I ever have.

My lease is up – so I can put that money towards whatever I want. My relationship is over – I don’t have to worry about long-distance and can focus on ME alone for the first time literally ever. My clients have moved on – I can take my own work to the next level. I’ve graduated – I can book a one-way plane ticket.

This is the perfect time to focus on self-development and fun and see where it takes me. That doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. I’ll still feel frustrated, let down, and yeah, even a little betrayed. But I’m not going to wallow.

So here’s the plan:

I was offered a job in urban planning, pushing paper and working as an intern. I said no.

I’m going to start seeking out new jobs in the gap year and travel industries, on top of my current work. Hit me up if you have ideas.

I’m headed to Bali in September to lead a teen program at the Family Adventure Summit in early October. Come see me there! I’ll stop in Hong Kong for three days on the way. Then after the month in Bali, I’m bouncing from Bangkok to Athens, and finally to Porto, where I’ll start to travel slow and a bit more eco-friendly.

I’ve chosen Portugal as my home base for a while. I’ll learn some Portuguese, walk over to Spain, maybe check out Morocco, and possibly never come back to North America. I keep looking at my wall-mounted map and finding new countries in the area to check out.

You’ll be hearing from me more often.

You might have noticed the revamped look of the site? I’m planning on using this as my travel journal again, to document the realities of solo travel, life on the road, and my own growth process. Get in touch whenever! I love to connect with you all.