The Blog Post I Never Published

When I first returned to Canada, I wrote a blog post about coming home.

I never published it.

It was negative. I didn’t have any answers, and it didn’t really have a message. It felt more like a journal entry from someone trying to make sense of a life that no longer fit quite the same way.

Coming Home

Coming back initially was challenging for me, which I entirely expected.

I had just experienced different cultures, met some of the most incredible people, and felt a kind of freedom I hadn’t experienced before. Somewhere along the way, I also let go of the anger I’d carried with me through every season.

Yet most people weren’t interested in hearing what I had learned and lived. They wanted to know what was next.

In a way, it felt like the trip had never happened.

The world I returned to hadn’t changed at all.

But I had.

So I decided to take some time away from writing. Instead, I let myself settle into this new chapter rather than trying to explain it.

Breaking News: I Haven’t Booked Another Flight (Yet)

I was lucky enough to find a beautiful home backing onto a golf course, surrounded by tall trees, birdsong, and butterflies drifting through the yard. 

My return to work was surprisingly seamless.

And I prioritized my health through massage, chiropractic, yoga, friends and family. All the simple things that hadn’t been a part of my life while living out of a backpack for six months. 

As the days went on, I started to notice a shift. 

I somehow stopped obsessing over future possibilities, and started to feel utterly satisfied with the present.

I Accidentally Learned to Slow Down

Don’t get me wrong, I plan on having many more “once-in-a-lifetime” trips. But right now, for the first time in two-years, I am completely okay with not having a plan. 

Since May 2024, nearly every decision I made revolved around travel. Australia. Costa Rica—twice. New Zealand. Europe. Africa. Everything was building toward the next flight, the next country, the next experience. 

Now, it feels incredibly comforting to have no idea what’s next.

To have a safe place to land.

To simply be here.

If this trip taught me anything, it wasn’t how to navigate foreign cities or surf new coastlines.

It taught me that uncertainty isn’t something to solve.

Sometimes it’s something to trust.

You don’t always need to know what’s coming next and believe it or not, you don’t always have to be in control.

Sometimes the next chapter begins the moment you stop trying to write it before you’ve had the chance to live it.