100% the best thing I did was move out of the USA. I left a toxic environment where extreme views on both sides are constantly thrown in your face, friends and family divided by political ideology, people stressed 24/7, waiting for the next disaster, scared to be canceled, poisoned with chemicals in their food, stuck in a medical system meant to keep you sick, in debt up to your eyeballs.
I left for my mental health. I knew I could not handle the extremes on both sides and the intense hoops you have to jump through just to be someone’s friend or part of a group. I was often alone and hung out with my same 4 people because it was just too much for my nervous system to deal with the rest.
For a long time I thought there was something wrong with me, but no. I was just in the wrong environment.
The connections I’ve made here in the first three weeks are more and better than the connections I’ve made in the last 10-12 years in Austin. Women who want to be friends, want to connect, have lives, careers, businesses, and also like to have fun. I’m so glad I’m back in an environment where there’s no either/or, it’s just both/and.
As someone who didn’t grow up in the USA I understand others see it as their home. I don’t & never have. It’s my default country because I happened to be born American. It’s a great country for a lot things, but a terrible country for just LIVING LIFE & having a community with friends from all over the world with different points of view.
So thankful for this life that allows me to travel, live the life I want and meet people who see you the person first, not you the race/religion/political affiliation.
If you’re having a hard time connecting with others and struggling to find people you enjoy being around, it’s not you. It’s your environment. Change your surroundings, change your life, you’d be surprised how fast everything else will change. Your people are out there, and they’ll find you.
Why nature is such a powerful tool
Something special happens the second I get out in nature. Less stress, more present, less vulnerable to the elements and more comfortable just being.
Nature has such strong healing powers. I’m so glad more studies are coming out and more subjects about grounding, energy, natural medicine and more are becoming more mainstream. Everything that we need to heal, nature already provides.
I’m so thankful I get to spend my time enjoying the incredible beauty that this world has to offer. The USA is a beautiful country with breathtakingly gorgeous mountains, beaches, lakes, canyons and waterfalls. I have so much more appreciation for this place than I did just a few years ago. Likewise the more I travel the world, the more thankful I am to live this life and be able to experience as much as I can through travel and exploration.
As much division and frustration and sadness there is around us now, one thing we can all agree on is how blessed we are to live in a beautiful world, or to be in the USA, a massive country with plenty of space and beauty for all of us.
And if you haven’t seen it…I suggest you go out there and give it a try!
Freaking out over solo travel
When the “WTF are you doing” thoughts creep in…
Every time travel on my own there’s a moment when the plane is taking off and I freak out.
“What have you done this time?”
‘What am I getting myself into?”
“Why do I always do this?”
Blah blah and all my anxiety takes over.
When I travel I never know what to expect. I have a general idea of how I would like the trip to go, but then I leave it in the hands of the universe and allow myself to go with the flow.
Yes, it’s lonely at times. No, I don’t know anyone at most destinations. But in exchange, I discover a whole world would I never would have been privy to had I not left the comfortable walls of my house. I meet new people, make friends all over the world and discover that my journey is not only an outward journey, but inwards as well.
When I travel I learn new things about myself, about the world around me, and how so many things we are made to think are important really do not matter at all.
I learn how small I really am, how finite life is. I realize that in every spot in nature that I stand…I will be gone one day, but this will remain. The mountains, the river, the rocks… and someone else will be sitting on it, taking photos, talking about their adventures and enjoying their travels as well.
It’s experiences like these — finding yourself in magical places you never thought existed, unexpectedly meeting and connecting with new friends, or witnessing the hustle and bustle of life going on as usual around you—that make me so thankful for this life.
I discovered that the best way to find lost parts of myself is to remove myself from all the things I think make me who I am and who I think I should be. It’s a stripping away of all the outside accolades and fronts, to where it’s just me, nature, and strangers. It’s a fresh start in life, to be the person you I am without the stifling comfort of familiar surroundings. It allows me to show up for myself in exactly the way I want in that moment.
How do you show up for yourself in your life? Is there a place you want to go but don’t know how or where to start?
Plot twist: There is no right way to start. All you need to do is show up.
#sereneearthtravels #mysereneearth #worldwanderer
When taking the risk works out
This goes for anything, really. But especially when you start doing something out of the norm, many people will start to tell you why it can’t be done or why you shouldn’t do it.
The amount of times I was told I’d be bitten by tics, trapped by a bear, murdered by a serial killer, die in the desert, get COVID, my dog would die from a snake bite or get eaten by a bear, I’d be kidnapped, and all other sorts of things…wow if I listened to even half of these I wouldn’t have left the house!
So instead, I didn’t listen to anyone but myself, packed up my car and drove around the country living in it for six months, and came home perfectly safe. Franklin too.
Also, I did everything I said I was gonna do, and more. And I did a lot of it naked. And I’m still alive to tell the tale and share the photos.
If there’s something you want to do but you’re getting swayed by other people’s opinions of it, just stop listening to them. Or better yet, don’t talk about it until you’re well on your way and can’t be dissuaded by others. The outcome will be well worth it.
#mysereneearth #sereneearthtravels #nakedagain #nudainnature #solotravel #girlswhotravel #soloadventures #nakedinnature #nakedlifetruths #nudaisnormal #nuda #faerie #faerielife #nakedfaeries #faeriefolk #forestbathing #toyota4runner #toyota4runnersr5 #toyota4runnerlife
Here's what helped me heal from trauma
Healing from traumatic events comes in many forms. First you acknowledge that you need to heal, then you begin the process. The good news is that it's not all sorrow and pain and grief. While that is a huge part, what comes after is the joy of beginning again, experiencing life with new meaning, learning who you really are, what you love and what lights you up. This is what this video is all about.
2019 and 2020 were two of the hardest yet most transformative of my life. It helped me create the life I have today, a life I truly I love. 💛💜
#traumarecovery #mysereneearth #freedom #traumahealing #traumainformed #peacebeginswithme #justbreatheletitgo
How nature became my greatest teacher
I escaped the madness of civilization to learn from nature, our greatest teacher
“Whenever the light of civilization falls upon you with a blighting power…go to the wilderness. The dull business routine, the fierce passions of the market place, the perils of envious cities become but a memory. The wilderness will take hold of you. It will give you good red blood. You will soon behold all with a peaceful soul.”
—George S. Evans, 1904
I posted this poem on my Facebook in 2015 and it came up as a memory today. Little did I know that six years later I would literally follow those words when I packed up my car and drove around the country for six months, staying as far away from civilization and as close to the wilderness as possible. George was right. That trip brought me peace, forever changed my view and understanding of the world and made me realize that as much as we may think we’re all different, as much divisiveness in the world, we are all connected. We are leaves from branches of the same tree, and at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. To be loved and seen.
I ran to the wilderness to escape civilization and find who I truly am. There I found not only myself, but the importance of nature as a great teacher.
Nature taught me the importance of connection. Connection taught me the importance of community, and community taught me the importance of civilization.
So back to civilization I went.
If you haven’t seen my Adventure Travel series on YouTube (40 episodes!!), click on the link in my bio and watch it! The Adventure series is now done but there are many more travel videos ahead!