How I learned travel isn't the miracle answer to everything
You need to do the inner work too
In this story, Thailand has tempted me back - but this time, travel wasn’t the fix I truly needed.
Stepping off the boat at the Thai resort, the sun warmed my skin, as yogis and nomads sat at low tables, chatting over lunch. I expected the familiar bliss and connection to wash over me, just like before.
Three days later, I was crying in my beach hut, journalling until my pen ran dry and feeling worse than when I arrived. This was supposed to be my paradise - the place where I could heal. But this time, I felt like an open wound.
I had done everything ‘right’ - paid off my debt, found a great new job and returned to the one place where I thought I’d be happy.
Yet here I was, more miserable than ever.
Back home
A few months earlier, I'd returned to London, still beaming from the joy I’d found in Thailand. Then, the chill of the winter air hit me.
It was January 2012, and Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’ was topping the charts. Meanwhile, my own Eden felt distant.
At work, things seemed to be improving—my boss surprised me with a double bonus for my efforts the previous year. I was finally able to pay off the loan that had been hanging over me like a dark cloud. It was a relief, but my heartbreak still lingered.
With my debt gone, the pressure should have lifted, but it didn't. So, I tried to maintain the inner calm I'd discovered in Thailand by taking up yoga.
Namaste... or nah?
At my local yoga classes, the teachers talked about opening our heart chakras. I was more focused on not snoring during the meditation.
Suddenly, chakras were everywhere. My flatmate suggested an online course to ‘align my chakras’ and ‘live more soulfully.’ She swore by it. I wasn’t convinced, but I needed a change, so I signed up. More soul, less shopping - it sounded like a plan.
Turns out, chakras are like little spinning pinwheels of energy inside us. When they get stuck, you feel stressed, burned out and insecure. That was me in a nutshell. I hoped I could get my positive energy spinning again.
Meanwhile, I wasn’t just seeking balance on the mat. My job stress was still weighing on me, but I was about to catch a lucky break.
