Post - Kara Folkerts

it’s been a jam-packed year full of continual movement and global travel. relying heavily on my google calendar to remind me which country I’ll be in at any given week, making sure I have my flight details correct, a heavy international guiding schedule, and squeezing in personal time for play and rest in between. from the caribbean to south and north america, hopping over to europe, back to north america, a quick hello in hawaii, crossing back over to africa and now nestling in mexico until december.

the theme of this year has naturally become centered around saying yes to new opportunities, diving in head first, and trusting the process. opening myself up to new experiences, job transitions, new countries and continents, new faces, and wild places. it’s been a totally surreal year doing what I love most, but also with this sense of catching up with my life. it feels fitting to reflect on the idea of catching up, given that I haven’t written a blog since my time in colombia at the beginning of the year and have travelled to 8 countries since.

with this wild journey comes a handful of paradoxes. feeling purpose-driven, in love with my work, connected and adventuring around the globe, but also flying by the seat of my pants as I move from one place to another. as someone who has loved living in countries for multiple months at a time, the quicker turnaround I’ve had with travel and guiding lately has made me hit points of exhaustion. but instead of resisting it, only making it harder on myself, I’m learning to welcome the challenges and change of pace and stay open to the lessons in this season of life.

before I would feel immense guilt about the travel fatigue I was facing, feeling this sense that I couldn’t possibly complain about it because I was off in some whimsical new country, doing what I loved... but now I’ve given myself so much more grace and acceptance. knowing that while the travel and guiding work is truly surreal and overwhelmingly joyful - feeling tired or off for periods of time, is okay and totally normal. in fact, it’s perfectly human and has allowed me to accept so much more of myself than I could have ever known. it’s let me sink into moments where I need rest instead of trying to resist it and keep pushing forward. learning to accept that not all travel days will be the best days, has let me see the joy in the balance of life. it’s allowed me to soften and be overwhelmingly gracious with myself.

having literally jumped from one continent to another for this entire year and taking time now to write, reflect and slow down I still feel like I’m mentally catching up and processing all the experiences in the previous months. the times of pure joy and fulfillment and the harder parts I often don’t share. all those pieces of the puzzle are unique and a true gift of stepping more into myself and shaping the woman I am and who want to continue to become.

when I think of catching up with my own life, it really is feeling grateful for the experiences I’ve had, softening into where I am now with presence, and continuing to keep my heart and soul open. and honestly, trying to individually process all the reflections and experiences I’ve had while bouncing between 10 countries in 2022 feels like I’d be compartmentalizing pieces of this journey instead of knowing they’re all a part of the greater makeup into this journey.

so whether I feel like I can catch up with my life or not, may not be the point. maybe it is really about being aware of the impact of these experiences, connecting deeply with the people I cross paths with, learning to love myself more deeply along the way, and being present to each day as it comes.

as always, thanks for taking the time to listen to the never-ending thoughts in my head and from my heart.

xoxo.

playing catch up