From the heart

My brother Josh is moving to North Dakota.

My sister Mia has already moved to Spain. 

And my husband and I are moving to Nashville in 11 days.

My other two siblings? In Nashville and Austin.

There are many changes happening. It’s exciting but also hard to process. There is joy, and there is also longing. But if there’s one thing I know from life so far, I know that these two things can coexist. And they often do for many of us.

Joy because of new beginnings. Longing because of leaving behind things, places, or people who bring a sense of familiarity and comfort. What inspires me though is how my siblings are courageous, and we tend to face fear head on. We always have. It’s truly our super power. Tough luck to anyone who tries knocking us down or standing in our way.

Moving is not new to me. I moved quite a bit growing up. And, I always forget that I moved to New York around 2018 for business school with maybe $500 saved up from working as a part-time barista at Starbucks. I also knew no one in the city, but I made it work. One thing about me is I will challenge myself, more than is sometimes necessary, because I refuse to let life pass me by. From exploration to experiencing life fully - the good and the bad.

Thankfully our upcoming move to Nashville is different from my previous experiences. To start, I have much more than $500 to my name which is nice (insert laugh). I also have a truly incredible husband who makes the challenge of moving states so much more enjoyable and lighthearted. He makes everything more enjoyable and I often think how lucky I am to have met someone who could bring so much light into my life. 

You may be wondering - why Nashville? We chose this city for many reasons. We wanted to have more access to nature and snow (my request). We also wanted to still be somewhat central to all major cities, while having space to build the next phase of our lives. In the early stages of moving preparation, we considered New York, Boston, Austin, and a few other locations. We thought of all potential options in depth - considering aspects like cost of living and quality of living. After much discussion, we finally landed on Nashville -  and not just because my sister already lives there. I did try to convince Vincent to move abroad, but we like the idea of only traveling to different destinations for now.

With this move, I will be slower to post content over the next few months (slower than I already am). As of now, consulting work, preparing for the move, in-person engagements, and co-building a business with my husband is my primary focus. However, once we’re settled, I want to share more content around languages, sustainability / social impact, lifestyle, and music (and of course travel highlights here and there). So, stick with me.

All of this to say, don’t let fear hold you back. It’s really not worth it. Don’t overthink so much that you forget to let go and look up. Don’t give up on yourself or your own journey. It’s easy to discredit your process or situation because of comparison with someone online, but sometimes you have to endure or go through things to become the best version of yourself. Life gets busy, really fast. And you can get swept up so quickly. But remember to breathe, and trust that you will get to where you need to go.

Life is challenging, but it’s also so incredibly beautiful.

Everything has a way of working out how it needs to.

With love, 

Sophie xx