I began this blog in 2009 because I was unsure about a lot of things in my life but I knew two things: 1) I needed a change, and 2) I needed to write about it. Writing helped me process my thoughts and capture whatever moment I was in, even if that moment was foggy and hard to see through. As I began writing, I learned that other people were coming in and out of similarly foggy places, and that it was comforting for them to hear about someone else processing their journey.
At the time, it was also becoming clearer to me that what I wanted in life wasn’t going to just fall into my lap. First, I’d have to figure out what exactly that was (easier said than done). Then, I’d have to really fight for it, crawl on my hands and knees to get it and cling to it even if it was being wildly shaken from my hands. One constant was that I wanted to write, and in 2009 I decided that I wasn’t going to wait around for someone to tell me if and when I could.
When I started TwT, I had no idea that I’d get a dream job to move to Ecuador and work as a travel writer, which would turn into an awakening of some sorts when I realized it wasn’t what I wanted anymore. I had no idea that I would eventually change careers completely and work my butt off to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. But through it all, I kept writing. Even if it was just for me.
Thanks to that decision to capture my journey in words, images and conversations along the way, I have a collection of blog posts to look back on and continue to learn from. As a tribute to my TwT days, and a nod to where it has all taken me, I have decided to repost some of my favorite and most significant blog posts below.
If you feel compelled to read about one person’s indirect path to a career, or if you just need a little comfort because you’re unsure about what’s next for you, then here are some of my favorite posts from that time I was there too (and wrote all about it).
Happy New Year, and please remember to be true to you and the life you want to lead this year — no matter what.
In the order they appeared on the blog:
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Living The Dream (In The Fetal Position)
From my first month living in Ecuador, when I got really, really sick and realized this fantasy of an exotic life as a travel writer was going to be, well, a little more… gritty [June 2010]
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Purple Thread
My response to another attempted robbery when someone sliced my bag open with a razor blade while I was carrying it on a crowded bus in Quito [August 2010]
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Couped Up In Quito
What happens when the police attack the military, there is gunfire and looting just outside your door, and your stomach rumbles because you need a snack [October 2010]
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Pain In The Cotopaxi
What it feels like, emotionally and physically, to get lost on a horse (while fighting a parasite) at the base of one of the highest active volcanoes in the world [November 2010]
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Galapa-Gone: 5 Days, 4 Nights In The Galapagos
The magic of ending my challenging adventure in Ecuador with a trip to the Galapagos Islands, captured as best I could [November 2010]
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A New Yorker’s September 11 (In Maine)
Reflecting on who and where I was on 9/11/2001, 10 years later [September 2011]
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Two Brides, One Dress: The Story Of Something Blue
Possibly my favorite TwT post, about my sister marrying her wife just after gay marriage was legalized in New York [December 2011]
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Grit
The unbelievable sense of relief, gratification, and temporary release after achieving something you’ve had to work harder than ever to obtain [November 2012]
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One Week In Boston
When you almost go to watch your friends cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon (but you don’t, because you have a midterm), and terror takes over [April 2013]
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Try
Turning 30, and celebrating it with your first triathlon [September 2013]
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At Last
When the transition from travel writer to Doctor of Physical Therapy had been completed – a look back, and a look around, with a heart full of gratitude [June 2016]
Travels with Tavel 