My Summer of Travel and Other Life Updates

With Fall just around the corner, it’s pretty hard to believe we’re two-thirds through 2017. How is that even possible? As crazy as that seems, I’m pretty astounded with the challenges I’ve overcome and the experiences I’ve gained so far this year.

My Globetrotting Season

This summer, in particular, has exceeded my expectations. I’ve seen more new places than I could have imagined. Starting in May, I went to Denver and reconnected with my best friends, then I took my solo trip to Cancun in June, followed by a July Fourth lake trip, Austin on the weekends, South Padre with my lovely Texas ladies, a spontaneous trip to Puerto Penasco with great friends in Arizona, and a mountain trip to Colorado for a change of scenery. Next on the list: A mommy-daughter trip to New Orleans at the end of the month – woot 🙂

So you might be wondering how I can afford these trips or why I even have a desire to travel when I live in a city I love so much. To me, traveling is an opportunity to open my mind and gain insights and understandings I otherwise wouldn’t have. What I mean by this, is that I thrive on meeting new people, different cultures and diverse sceneries. I can’t explain how enlightening it is to go outside your comfort zone and step into the shoes of another culture or even taking in a different landscape. To experience new places and meet unique people along the way is sure to give you fresh perspective and put a kaleidoscope of color in your world.

For me, it’s extremely important that I set traveling as a priority in my budget – (and honestly, the trips I take are very budget-friendly.) I truly believe traveling is one of the most insightful expeditions you can take in life. It unravels beauties of unfamiliar worlds, ones you never thought possible. It holds a host of possibilities and releases momentary bliss. These feelings of hope and adventure are rarely found outside of unfamiliar territories and I encourage every twenty-something to expand their horizons!

Young Business Expeditions

Quitting my 9-5 in the beginning of the summer was definitely one of the scariest things I’ve done to date. But with the way things worked out, I know that’s what I was meant to do. I quit my job, launched my online business (www.DigitalSucculence.com), gained a client within the first week and am continuing to learn and build my client list.

The quality of life this brought me the past few months is inconceivable. It’s exactly  what I needed after working a job I wasn’t exactly fond of, while simultaneously figuring out my emotional state.

Is this forever? I have no idea. But for now, I’m going to continue learning the ropes of being a Solopreneur and see what next steps the man upstairs has in store for me.

A Fresh Perspective

As a person who wears their heart on the sleeve, it’s really not difficult for me to talk about emotional events in my life. (I’m terrible about expressing my emotions, but talking about events and what I’ve learned from there is somehow something that comes natural to me.) On that note, I will tell you it is still a challenge to put it up on social media for the world to see, so bear with me.

I have officially been single for eight months. During these months, I’ve learned so much about myself but there’s something I learned within the last month that I believe to be the most important: I’m still healing. Learning this about myself was truly a revealing event in my life and it took one particular conversation for me to get there.

I was casually talking to someone who I ended up catching feelings for (how appalling, I know!) It got to the point where we were hanging out pretty frequently which unfortunately, led me to run. After explaining the situation to the person who knows me better than I know myself (sup, ma), she told me I was still healing. Immediately, I declared I definitely wasn’t and that I’ve been working on myself and I just “don’t need no man.”

When we hung up, everything kind of hit me. I was definitely still healing and I then recognized how angry I was. I was so adamant about being single and never wanting kids that I didn’t notice how I was affecting those around me. It was a brutal lesson, but also one that’s helped me heal the most!

I’m now in a state where yes, I still appreciate and savor the time to myself, but I am no longer closed-off to possibilities. And frankly, it feels so good! The anger and resentment I felt before is dissipating each day and I feel as though I’m truly moving forward.

Remember this: If you’re going through a rough patch in your life, the most meaningful thing you can do is practice self-awareness. Without self-awareness there’s no self-improvement and, like in my case, healing. Create a daily habit of self-reflection and ask for feedback and advice from a variety of trusted people in your life. As always, you got this! 🙂