Six months into this journey, one week before I leave Latin America behind. Bittersweet doesn’t quite cover it. My heart swells and aches at once. I laugh. I cry. And all of it feels strangely right.

Seven months ago I stood at the edge of the unknown, unsure even of where I wanted to go. Never, not in the wildest corners of my imagination, did I picture ending up here. And yet, thank god I did.

When I close my eyes and think back to the start boarding that boat, overflowing with a restlessness I hadn’t yet named, it feels like a different lifetime. The distance I’ve traveled isn’t just geographical. It’s cellular. 

Since then, I’ve sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, learned Spanish with a local family in the highlands of Peru, stood in awe at Machu Picchu, hiked a volcano as it rumbled beneath me, and surrendered myself to an intensive love story.

But the biggest shift? It wasn’t external. It wasn’t even visible. It was internal. I’ve had at least two emotional breakdowns. Not because something dramatic happened, but because I finally felt how long I had been running on empty. The irony? I didn’t even realize it at the time. The grief of that hit me like a wave. How had I not seen it sooner? How did I become so disconnected?

It took me about four months to regain my energy fully. And then another month to process that I hadn’t been taking care of myself the way I thought I was. But this last month… it feels so good to say: I feel great. Truly. There’s a harmony inside me I hadn’t felt in a long time. A sweet delight I didn’t even know I was missing.

Funny, isn’t it? This should actually be the norm, but I believe in our society, in reality, it is not standard practice.

What does this sweet delight feel like?
It’s the quiet hum of inner peace.
It’s a mind that doesn’t spin.
It’s falling asleep with ease, and waking rested.
It’s a body I feel proud to inhabit.
It’s a hunger for curiosity.
It’s a spaciousness that lets me listen, truly listen, to others.
And, most of all:
It’s clarity.

I know what I want.

Every time I ask myself: “What excites me most?”  the answer arrives, clean and bright.

This first half-year of traveling has helped me recognize and process my past. And now I’m gathering the building blocks for the foundation of my future. The next chapter? I believe it will allow me to plant my feet firmly into that foundation and shape it exactly how I want it to be.