You may have noticed things are looking a bit different at The Road Linds Travels. This is because I’m gradually merging my author and portfolio website with my blog. Life is hectic enough, and I just thought, why hassle with two different websites? It’s also symbolic of the meaningful transformation and changes (external and internal) happening in my life. Growing pains are a welcomed occurrence where I come from. It’s inevitably a sign of better things to come.

I also wanted to focus more on what I set out to do when I developed The Road Linds Travels so many years ago: Write about travel through the distinct lens of my life experiences. And as they say, there’s no better time than the present. I’ve got some very exciting moves and travels in store for 2025, and I very much look forward to sharing these via this platform.

I know I’ve come on here before and said I’m going to post more regularly and this and that and well, life, am I right? Things have been consistently shifting, as of late, though, and I feel the pull to get back to sharing and writing more than ever before. Starting…now!

GROWING PAINS, LASTING GAINS

I’ve been seeing the same therapist for the past twelve years, and a recurring theme in our sessions is how lonely growth is. There has been no time in my life before now that this was as painfully evident as it is today. Yes, I have lost many to death but I’ve also been losing a lot of people in life, as well. That is to say, I’ve lost numerous friends within the last year.

The thing about losing friends, too, is that there’s no “breakup.” You don’t sit down and have a farewell conversation. The relationship just sort of dissipates for one reason or another. Your story is probably different than her story, and you just have to accept that. My story is that I was so busy filling everyone’s cup and not establishing boundaries, I forgot to fill my own. These individuals got so used to me filling their cup that they forgot that a friendship takes two. That’s the simplistic way of explaining a lot of messy emotions and realizations.

But with this grief also comes peace. I’m taking care of myself, filling my cup, establishing boundaries, and no longer giving anyone more than I give myself or more than I am given. I can actively see and feel the peace I wasn’t familiar with before. And if I have one goal in life, currently, it is peace.

A GRIEVING SOUL & A CURIOUS HEART

One of the recurring sentiments I’m often left with at the end of the day is how I’m certain my dear mother experienced much of what I’m experiencing today. How I wish I could converse with her, pick her brain, hear her story, and be privy to her insight. A mother’s wisdom is unparalleled, and I know there are things I could expeditiously learn with her comforting company.

The price of love is grief, and my curious heart will continue to search for the answers and revelations that make traversing this Earth, despite loss, bearable. I find meaning in many places, be it in the fifty minutes of a therapy session, the lyrics of a song, or another corner of the globe. And I’ll always choose growth over complacency, even if that means losing things and people along the way.