Why I’m Letting Travel Take a Backseat This Year

Sweater: Revolve; Jeans: Agolde; Hat: Lack of Colour

So we’re 2 months into 2019, and while I usually share my new year goals with you at the beginning of the year, I wanted to talk about an anti-goal.

In this post, I talk about the importance of slowing down. 2018 was an insane year for me, where I experienced the worst burnout of my life. In 2019, I’ve been doing my best to slow down and find balance. So for the first time in 5 years, I have no travel goals. I don’t have an X number of cities I want to visit, I don’t even really have any 2019 bucketlist destinations. Sure, I want to, and will continue to travel this year, but it’s just not the centre of my existence.

The irony here is that I’m writing this in the Notes section of my phone while waiting to my flight to take off. I’m on my way back to Toronto after 4 amazing, whirlwind days in New York. To be fair, going to New York hardly feels like ‘travel’. I mean, it’s a 50 minute flight. But I digress. Let me tell you why travel isn’t a goal for me this year:

1. My business goals have shifted

With The Dream Bigger Podcast and a couple of projects in the pipeline, I feel like I can’t just disappear for weeks on end on the regular. I want to prioritize other aspects of my business instead of putting all my eggs into the travel basket.

2. I miss having a routine

Lame I know, but it’s true. Last year, I was only home for 3.5 months, and I got really tired of living out of a suitcase. I missed the simplest things like going to Whole Foods, curling up in my own bed with a good book, and making (NOT buying) a smoothie every morning. Sure, I try to bring some semblance of a routine to wherever I travel to, but it’s never the same as when I’m at home!

3. Burnout, burnout burnout

Last year, I traveled close to 30 cities, and like, 20 countries. It was amazing and everything I ever wanted. But I remember coming back from Vegas in October, feeling like I had nothing left in me. I didn’t want to get out of bed, yet I couldn’t sleep (and I’ve never suffered from insomnia in my life). I just felt so exhausted! Travel is usually something that helps me feel inspired, but it got to a point where it drained me of every bit of energy. Travel is something I’ve always looked forward to. It’s one of the things I value most in life. But because of the frequency in which I did it last year, I began to resent it.

My biggest priority this year is to find ways to address burnout. Yea guys, it’s a real thing and something I’ve been dealing with a lot. It’s the reason why I hired my brother as my assistant who I’ve been delegating so much responsibility to, and a graphic designer as well. I talk about self-care a lot, and taking on more than I can handle is like the opposite of self-care. So this year, instead of stressing out about travel, I’ve decided to dial it back a little and really enjoy my trips. I don’t want to rush from one city to the next. And I don’t want to put pressure on myself to see a whole bunch of new places.

What about you guys? Do you deal with burnout and how do you address it?

PS – if you like this post, check out how to be productive while traveling and why you need to start writing morning pages.