Stress Less For Health

Sometimes the journey changes you in ways you don’t fully understand until you return home. When I left home for my road trip, I knew I wanted an adventure. What I didn’t realize was how much the experience would remind me of who I am when I step outside the routines, expectations, and patterns of everyday life. For two and a half months, I explored new places, discovered beautiful beaches, visited lighthouses and waterfalls, wandered through state parks, and experienced the freedom of not having every moment planned. I travelled more than 10,000 miles with my dog, Zen, in a 20-year-old vehicle. There were unexpected detours, challenges, moments of uncertainty, and plenty of reasons to change plans along the way. And there were moments when I simply had to trust that the next step would reveal itself. What I discovered was that I felt more like myself than I had in a long time. I Wasn’t Waiting for Life to Happen At home, it can be easy to fall into familiar routines. We tell ourselves...

I don't think anyone gets through life without things going wrong. Plans change. Cars have problems. Keys get locked inside vehicles. Weather doesn't cooperate. People disappoint us. Unexpected expenses show up. And sometimes, despite our best efforts, the day simply doesn't go the way we pictured it. My summer road trip gave me plenty of opportunities to practice this. And one of the biggest things I came home with wasn't a souvenir or a photograph. It was a reminder: Even when something goes wrong, there is usually something good happening at the same time. We just have to notice it. The locked keys One day, I managed to lock my keys in my vehicle. Not exactly what you want when you're travelling. But where was I? At the ocean. And Zen was with me. So yes, I was waiting for a tow truck and dealing with an inconvenience—but I was also sitting at the ocean with my dog. The situation wasn't ideal. But the entire experience didn't have to become only about wha...

I didn't leave home this summer thinking I was going on a weight-loss journey. Actually, quite the opposite. Before I left, I had been frustrated. I felt like I had hit a plateau. The scale wasn't moving the way I wanted it to, and there were even times when I wondered if I was gaining. I was thinking about my weight. Watching the numbers. Wondering what I was doing wrong. And then I left. I packed up my car, loaded up Zen, and headed out on the road. What happened next surprised me. I started living differently. I wasn't following a strict workout program. I wasn't spending hours in a gym. I wasn't counting every step because I was trying to reach some magic number. I was simply moving because there were places I wanted to explore. I was walking through state parks. Walking along beaches. Exploring new towns. Hiking around campgrounds. Walking because I wanted to see what was around the next corner. I was outside for much of the day instead of sitting inside watchi...

For a long time, I was really good at living in my head. Thinking things through. Analyzing. Planning. Wondering what could go wrong. Waiting until I knew the right answer, the right time, or the right next step. And honestly? Sometimes our minds are helpful. They help us plan. They help us prepare. They help us make wise decisions. But there comes a point when thinking becomes overthinking. And that's when we can miss life. This summer, I decided to do something different. I left home and travelled through North America without having every detail mapped out. I had places I wanted to see and a general direction I wanted to go, but I didn't have an exact plan for every day. I chose to allow the journey to unfold. And for me, that meant something bigger than travelling. It meant learning to trust. To listen. To be willing to change direction. To say yes to an opportunity that wasn't on the original plan. And sometimes, to simply see what was around the next corner. Getting o...