Mid-June, I headed home to London for a long-overdue visit. It was fun to watch the World Cup opening ceremony in a pub with a pint, surrounded by football fans. I spent the rest of my trip having a leisurely lunch in the sunshine with family, dancing at a day party and exploring my favourite city.

By the time I got back to Brussels, I was completely wiped out. It took me a couple of days to get back into work.

As it turned out, everything didn’t stop just because I did.

My portfolio career is taking shape

Last month, I wrote about my tendency to build several things at once, a habit from my over-functioning corporate years that I’m unlearning after burnout. In June it was about less effort and more patience.

After I returned from London, I managed to publish one post on my solo travel blog, about what to wear in Portugal this summer. By the end of June, it had earned $44 from people buying the items I recommend. It’s not going to pay my rent yet, but I’m happy. After a tough start to the year, traffic is finally increasing again - it’s up 25%. A post I published in April on the best destinations for first-time solo female travellers is now in my top 10 most-visited pages. It feels good to know my writing is helping people, even if I can’t publish as many posts as I’d like.

CareerBreakTravel.com remains the most experimental part of my portfolio. I built the site on Systeme.io using templates from Hayley’s Digital Hub, so I’m not starting from a blank page every time I want to try something new. For now, I added a new post on how to afford to travel full time without being rich.

Act 1 of my memoir, three chapters, is now fully written. I’m sure I’ll keep editing, but I’m writing a chapter a week and the pace is working. I have a feeling this book will be the linchpin that pulls all my other work together.

What happened in June

My personal brand building is going well. I now have a second article published in Business Insider, about why I moved to Brussels and what surprised me most about living here. I updated all my social bios to say clearly that I help people take a career break to travel and knew I then needed to back that up with content.

So I experimented with carousel posts on Instagram and TikTok to tell the story of my career break to travel. I’m so pleased with the response - my TikTok post got almost 7,000 views and I’ve gained 18 new followers. This is an important sign to me that I’m moving in the right direction - even if it feels a bit ‘fake it until you make it.’

On a personal note, in June I went to see British comedian Emmanuel Sonubi perform in Brussels. He had the whole room laughing with stories about his life, including how he almost died. What stayed with me was how openly he spoke about those dark times, and how many years it took him to feel comfortable sharing something so vulnerable on stage.

What I learned

These small successes in June proved that consistency doesn’t need to look like constant output. My energy fluctuates sometimes and I don’t need to feel guilty about it. The work compounds in the background the whole time.

Being more intentional with what I create and setting realistic goals is what helps me keep momentum without burning out.

I still get distracted by the next new thing. As a creative person that’s part of who I am. But I trust now that not everything depends on what I do in the moment.

Looking ahead

As part of scaling back my ambitions, I’m building on what’s already working. That means two blog posts in July: another ‘what to wear’ guide, this time for Tulum in Mexico, and a solo female travel guide to Italy.

I’m working out what needs to happen to turn CareerBreakTravel.com into a resource hub that helps people - I have a lot of ideas to be organised into a plan.

Aside from this and continuing the momentum on my memoir, my goal is to feel positive, happy and healthy.

I hope you had a great June too ❤️

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For anyone building a coaching or digital products business, Hayley is currently running a 30% sale on her online funnel templates.

May kicked off with a fun open-air party here in Brussels. A giant guinguette has opened next to Gare du Nord and they hosted a huge DJ party. It was magic to dance as planes flew overhead and the sun set behind the silver office towers.

I was lucky I could go to this as only a few days earlier I could barely walk.

How I launched my portfolio career

Since I quit my corporate job and went self-employed, I've been building a few things at once which is both my superpower and my problem.

I’ve been running my solo travel blog, BackpackingBella.com, since I went on my adult gap year. My top post right now is about What to Wear to Niagara Falls - there’s a lovely photo of me drenched after the boat ride that sums it up nicely. As I mentioned in my first month update, I have (too) many ideas for new posts. The next one will be about what to wear in Portugal this summer - let me know if you’d find that useful!

My new site, CareerBreakTravel.com, is finding its feet and I’m continuing my training to be a certified travel coach. I have lots of resources in mind to help people considering a career break to travel. Join the waitlist to be the first in line!

I’m also writing a memoir about my solo round-the-world journey and will publish it as a book. What has helped me get the structure right is Wendy Dale’s book The Memoir Engineering System: Make Your First Draft Your Final Draft.

As you can tell, I suffer from shiny new object syndrome, so all of this is a balancing act that I don’t always get right.

People have told me it can take five years to break even when you start your own business, which is scary. I’m managing my income, expenses and taxes with Accountable, so I don’t need an expensive accountant. It’s showing me that I spent more than I earned last month, so the pressure is on!

What happened in May

In the first days of May, I threw my back out. This is unfortunately a long-term ailment that strikes when I overdo things. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t walk, so I had to take an Uber to fulfil my Vinted orders (check out my profile selling pre-loved clothing for tall women here). The rest of the week I was mostly horizontal with a USB heat pad to ease my muscles, unable to focus on much.

I did get a second article commissioned by Business Insider. This one will be about my move to Brussels and how it defied my expectations - what it’s like to build a life somewhere few people romanticise and why that’s part of its charm.

My back was better in time for the week’s holiday my partner and I planned mid-month in Ibiza. We took the ferry up the coast from Ibiza Town to Es Cana, a quieter part of the island, where we found a great hippie market and enjoyed the wonderful Namaste opening party at Las Dalias.

By the end of the month I confirmed the full structure of my memoir - how many chapters and what will happen in each one. A big part of the challenge is deciding what to leave out. After years of having all the material and none of the architecture, I finally have a complete blueprint for the book.

What I learned

I have to keep reminding myself of my lesson from April - that it’s not healthy for the post-burnout version of me to judge my days by how productive I am.

Ticking things off a list gives me immense satisfaction, but it took a back injury to show me that I can’t keep pushing through all the time. Rest is as important as action.

I’m one of life’s ideas people and, while this is great, I’m simply not able to complete everything I want. Sometimes it’s more important to finish the long-term projects than to start yet another new task.

Perfectionism and worry about money lead me to constantly tinker with things I’ve already created. But spending time on this at the expense of the memoir is the wrong trade-off. My book won’t write or publish itself and no amount of blog posts will change that.

Looking ahead

Other than delivering the Business Insider piece, June is about making real progress on the memoir. I’m committing to finishing one chapter a week.

This weekend I’m going home for a long weekend in London to enjoy the city in the summer and catch up with my family. Later on in the month, there will be a weekend with friends deep in the Belgian Ardennes forests.

Being patient with myself is the hardest part. But if I can stay healthy, maintain my focus and keep on having fun, then June will be an epic month.

I’m now a month into being a part-time solopreneur. Starting something new after a long period of burnout means doing it differently. My old operating system isn’t compatible with this new life.

What my portfolio career looks like

People are asking me what I’m doing now I’m self-employed but it’s hard to describe in a quick sentence. My portfolio career comprises a few areas.

There’s my travel blog, BackpackingBella.com. I’ve also launched a new site, CareerBreakTravel.com which, as the name suggests, is designed to help people considering taking a career break to travel. As part of this, I’m training to be a certified travel coach. This isn’t like a travel advisor who books your flights, but someone who helps you get clear on what you want from your trip. The kind of person I wish I could have spoken to when I was busy talking myself out of exploring the world.

Finally, for more years than I care to admit, I’ve been saying I’ll write and publish a book. A memoir about everything I experienced and learned on my solo travels. I’m a lot closer to finalizing the structure.

What happened in April

Since I posted that first LinkedIn post, I’ve been steadily building my new personal brand. As well as securing an article in Business Insider, a Substack article I wrote about my adult gap year was spotted and republished by Australian women’s digital media company Mamamia. For anyone creating something from scratch, this kind of external validation matters more than you expect.

I repositioned my travel blog to focus more on solo female travel, which represents who I’m really speaking to - and who I was when I first fell in love with travel. I’ve also hit 700 subscribers on Substack, so thank you for reading!

On a personal note, April was also a great month. My brother visited me in Brussels over the Easter weekend. On the sunny bank holiday Monday I went to the beach and saw seals from the local Sea Life centre being released into the sea.

My birthday was going to be a low-key affair until friends organised a wonderful celebration at their place, then my boyfriend booked a surprise birthday dinner at a nice restaurant.

A few days later, I went with friends to the Floralia display in Brussels where a million bulbs are planted of over 400 types of tulips.

What I learned

I need to tone down my ambitions. I’d planned to write eight new blog posts for my travel blog in April and only wrote two. While my personal life was rich, my energy fluctuated and I needed to rest a lot.

Discipline is another big one for me. My best work happens when I have a clear focus and a framework to work within. Instead of large targets, I need smaller, scheduled commitments.

The reality is, I keep a monthly report of my ‘wins’ and learnings - but no one needs it except me. I no longer have the structure of corporate life - no management team waiting for my updates and results. Now I set my goals and I’m the one deciding whether I met them. This is what freedom feels like.

The post-burnout me can’t keep falling back on productivity as the scorecard for whether I had a good day. It needs to be a balance between my work and my wellbeing.

Looking ahead

In May I’ll build on what worked, but with rhythms and routines to protect the times of day I operate best.

I will start writing the final manuscript of my memoir. Publish one blog post a week. And keep this momentum going with my personal brand.

If I feel relaxed and healthy by the end of May, it will have been an epic month.

And after the year I’ve had, that’s everything.

The last few months have been a lot. After twenty years in various corporate roles (plus my adult gap year), I quit my job and announced my new freelance status to everyone on LinkedIn. The anxiety of that is settling now and I’m slowly easing into this new chapter.

This birthday has me thinking about where I was this time a few years ago. Well, quite a few years ago now.

A midnight celebration

It was 2013. I’d been travelling alone for a couple of months and had just arrived back at my favourite hostel in Kuala Lumpur after a side trip to Borneo to see the orangutans. It was the eve of my birthday and my last night in Malaysia as I had a flight to Bali the next day.

I realised I’d probably have to spend my birthday alone, as I didn’t know anyone. While my first instinct was to feel sad and lonely, I decided to reframe it.

I was finally on the round-the-world trip I’d dreamt of for so long. I’d just qualified as a scuba diver, against the odds. I was having the greatest adventure of my life. So with all that in mind it was already the best birthday ever. I had more than enough to celebrate - I could at least go out for a cocktail.

“You should go to SkyBar,” said the hostel manager. “It’s at the top of Traders Hotel.” He kindly booked me a table so I could treat myself to a birthday cocktail at midnight - the moment I would turn 34.

In the end, I wasn’t alone. Far from it.

When the others in my hostel dorm learned it was my birthday, they insisted we all go for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I was so touched that they wanted to mark the occasion when we’d only just met. Then the restaurant staff surprised me with a cake and a song.

The true gift came when Kate and Tiffany arrived - two girls I’d met during my Malaysia trip . They’d flown in from Borneo to celebrate with me.

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

We walked to the Traders Hotel and took the elevator to the 33rd floor, entering the glamorous SkyBar, with its luxurious pool and floor-to-ceiling windows.

As the clock struck midnight, we raised our glasses. Now I was a year older - at least in Malaysian time. But I couldn’t stay out too late. I had an early flight to catch.

Birthday in Bali

The next morning - my actual birthday - I flew to Bali alone. From the airport, I took a taxi to Ubud, the same place Elizabeth Gilbert went to in Eat, Pray, Love.

We passed ornately designed family temples with intricate stonemasonry and decorated statues of Hindu deities. Small offerings wrapped in palm leaves dotted the pavements. Boys ran along the road holding kites with ribbons streaming behind them.

We pulled into the guesthouse. A tranquil, leafy garden surrounded a small pond. Statuettes wrapped in checked fabric were adorned with flowers. The hypnotic tinkling of the traditional Balinese gamelan instrument and delicate fragrance of frangipani flowers floated in the air. It was divine and exactly what I needed.

The host opened the French windows to my room. The stylish bedroom was filled with feminine furnishings and a private, open-air bathroom with an ornate framed mirror and a large, luxurious bath.

Suddenly, I felt like I was at home. Any remaining anxiety melted away. Smiling, I stretched out on my bed, taking it all in.

That evening, I took myself on a solo birthday date. I put on my make-up and a backless red dress I’d bought at Kuala Lumpur Central Market and went for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Single and alone, yet perfectly content.

I felt like I was in my own version of Eat, Pray, Love. It crossed my mind that maybe, like Elizabeth Gilbert, I would be swept off my feet here by a gorgeous Brazilian man.

Reflections from Brussels

This year, I’m no longer living out of a backpack. I still have that red dress but Belgium in April isn’t quite warm enough. I won’t need to go on a solo dinner date for one, as my boyfriend will come out to celebrate with me. Maybe there will be surprise guests again - who knows.

That 34-year-old version of me dining alone in Bali is way calmer than I’ve felt recently. She was out there in the world, all by herself, and loving every minute. If she can do that then I can handle this latest change.

Own it, she’d say. Treat yourself as well as you deserve. The best gift you can give yourself is to celebrate how far you’ve come.

I’d smile back and tell her: you do meet a handsome man on your travels - but he’s French, not Brazilian.

And - believe it or not - you will bring him back to Bali with you in a year’s time.

Thanks so much for reading, it means so much to me. Next week I will tell you what happened in Bali with the French man! Until then, take care everyone 💕