Over time, I have learned the importance of supporting your outer world to reflect the highest expression of your inner world. And, to allow that to change and evolve over time, as you do. For a very dark and pivotal period of my earlier life, home was not a happy place in the traditional sense. I think this outer environment, at the time, was what motivated me to create a strong sense of home from within. Essentially, a place where I could let my guard down, exhale, listen, create, and be honest with myself. This manifested into many songs, drawings, late night drives, and dreams of travel.

For me, the connection between books and travel is inseparable. It is through books that I became emboldened to dream and imagine myself into other experiences. Places far beyond anything I had ever known. Seeing the artwork, reading the stories of others and their adventures abroad--these were the seeds that planted the beginning of my own journey as a traveler. I like to think of books as navigation tools, in opening doors within us and beyond us. They help us chart the course of our own journeys, and inspire us to take the next step.

What is a journal? To me, it’s a tool for expression that breaks through resistance. The kind of resistance we experience when launching into a big dream or idea. Through journaling, we can be vulnerable, bold, imaginative, and boundless. Honesty and clarity emerge with the practice of writing our stories. Through this act of reflection, a kind of revelation unfolds and we learn more about ourselves, on a deeper level. We become more familiar with what we truly want, and free to openly exercise our voice.