How making radical change healed me

So rewind to October 2023, I was in the midst of a trip around Canada in my fitted-out Chevy Van. I had traveled BC (and some of Alberta) from June, and by October I had ended up on Vancouver Island and was navigating my way around, from Nanaimo up to the North, back down and over to the West Coast.

What an amazing place! I saw Sea Lions in huge groups sleeping out in the ocean, stayed in some incredible camping spots (and a lot of them free and isolated) and did some incredible hikes. I was truly embracing the adventure and loving every minute of it (mostly). Yes there were times I was lonely, sad, scared and questioning my life choices.

I had no plan, I had packed up my life 4 months prior in Australia and moved to Canada with a 25kg suitcase and a vision to live and travel in a van around Canada and the USA, how long no-body knew.

What I do know is this massive change in my life completely changed me, for the better. It changed my perspective on everything. It’s taken me a while to reflect on this and figure out why exactly I went from feeling stuck, depressed and very sad to feeling excited about life again. During this trip I continued with therapy, reading, self-growth, journaling, yoga, and practicing meditation. I truly disconnected from the life I had become so “comfortable” living, (you can also read an article I wrote about how comfortable is sometimes not so comfortable) and embraced nature, no cell service and isolation sometimes. I traveled mostly alone for 5 months by the end of it, I did meet people along the way and had the occasional night sitting by a campfire with others, but for the most part, I was alone.

I would like to reference an author I discovered last year, “Caroline Myss”. I read her book “The Anatomy of the Spirit” multiple times and gained a lot of insight. I came across a paragraph in “The Anatomy of the Spirit” that I resonated with that read;

“Becoming conscious means changing the rules by which we live and the beliefs we maintain. Our memories and attitudes are literally rules that determine the quality of life as well as the strength of our bonds with others. Always a shift in awareness includes a period of isolation and loneliness as one gets accustomed to the new level of truth. And then always, new companions are found. No one is left alone for long.”

It made me realise that my outlook on life had changed due to a combination of making the choice to change up my life and the rules by which I lived, and the inward journey of traveling and being in nature completely alone for months. Yes I am somewhat an introvert and thrive on time alone, but like all humans I also get lonely and crave human connection. There were times I was camping in a completely isolated place, and just craved someone to “protect me”, but coming across this quote has made me realise the alone time and massive change was absolutely crucial to my healing and allowed me to step into a new level of truth.

I feel happy, alive and ready to tackle the next phase of my life. Yes packing up your life and traveling for 5 months through nature alone is radical, but as humans I truly believe we all need to do radical things to fully embrace living. We have one life, and the best thing I ever did was to pack mine up and make a radical change.

Thanks for reading, now go out there and make the change!

Lauren