Annnnnnd, We're Back!

Barcelona, Spain | Photo by Ollie Vasileva, IG: @nu_olka

Last year, I dropped the blog. I never stopped writing, no I could never do that. Writing is thinking. It’s how I tidy my mind and make sense of my circumstances. But, I couldn’t bring myself to post publicly, to publish. At first, I delayed posting an end-of-the-year or holiday post because I suffered a case of (what I affectionately named) the “Balkan Blues.” Almost like clockwork, after two weeks in a charming Greek village, I’d begin feeling confined, constricted. Once, in the Amazon, I saw a boa constrictor wrap itself up a towering, waif-like tree.  When the Balkan Blues would hover over and around me like a fog, I could relate to that tree–simultaneously swaying flimsily and being squeezed at its center. 

Sunrise journaling at a friend's oasis-like home in a nearby yayla | Elmalı, Türkiye

Then, I delayed posting because I needed to sort out the logistics of moving from said village to Antalya, a seaside city along the Turkish Riviera. Too many unknowns! How do I explain a third international move in a year’s time?

I nearly felt ready to post in June to mark my 28th birthday. However, the timing for when I sat down to digitally sift through photos coincided with mysterious health symptoms and an alarming hospitalization. How do I write a comprehensive update about something I don’t even understand myself?

At last, as the “Year of High Highs and Low Lows” sputtered to a discouraging close, I realized: The mess is the beauty. The travel newsletter format no longer aligns with my reality – this chapter is untidy, unknown. I can’t promise you this space will chart an algebraically linear progression (towards success? perfection? completion?). But, it will be honest. It will be real. It will be ours. 

There are some “lost letters” I want to share with you. Posts I drafted but never shared about Christmastime in Denmark, a month in Cape Town, traveling Spain by rail…

And, of course, there’s all the good, messy, yet-to-be-understood stuff happening now. 

I hope each time you come here, you feel like we’re sitting down with a sweet treat to catch up a bit. And, when you do, you smile. 

Thanks for hanging with me! 

A Moment of Zen at Home | Antalya, Türkiye