After finishing up the school semester, I left my new resident state in the south and took a convoluted, entirely inefficient roadtrip to my old stomping grounds in the north. I traveled highways and byways, slept on couches and in tents, and followed only one golden rule: If there’s a friend nearby, ask to visit.

It took me 2.5 weeks to travel from Tennessee to Wisconsin; yes, by car. But I took a lot of pitstops: I ran in the mud with friends from Kilimanjaro, found classmates and former teachers, watched my nephew become a high schooler, visited 5/6 of my college roommates*, hugged sisters and niblings and parents and friends…and even dogs.
*(number 6 was 2,000 miles out of the way; even I couldn’t find a way to work that into the itinerary)

I called this six-week, eight-state adventure my “Relationtrip”. And boy, is it just what my soul needed.

I’ve experienced a profound amount of change in the past three years, in all realms: vocational, physical, relational, emotional, spiritual. Resigning my 10-year career and diving headfirst into a new field; experiencing the highs and lows of organ donation firsthand; breaking old stoic norms and truly exploring my emotions for the first time in thirty years; building new community and subsequently losing it, then starting again; selling my home and pulling up roots to move south; crawling from rock bottom to the Roof of Africa. The past 10 months in particular have been a heavy period of change and growth.

So when I say this Relationtrip is “just what my soul needed”, I don’t mean it in a campy, poetic, sell-it-on-a-tumbler way. I mean it as the profound panacea that it was; the balm that filled in and smoothed over the cracks of a soul worn raw by a journey fraught with change, upheaval, and – at risk of sounding dramatic – despair.

This is what life is all about. This is what brings me purpose, joy, and eagerness to face another day. I am so privileged to have a community to Relationtrip for. Thank you for inviting me into your hearts and homes.

And a disclaimer/warning: If you give me your address, the risk of an uninvited visitor is very high. Ask my Kilimanjaro roommate, who thought I was a wandering grocer.

I look forward to visiting with you soon. ❤️