Hey friends. I know we’re in the middle of the Southern Series currently, (and hey! Let me know what you think about the look-back posts! I’d love to hear feedback if you’re into reading those), but I’d really like to pause and reflect on Habitual Balance as a whole and a little about what I hope to accomplish this year for you guys. So, thank you for sticking around, for following even on slow weeks, and for supporting this weird journey as a fellow human being in a world of billions.

I appreciate you. 🫶

My Habitual Balance

If you’ve been following for a while you’ll know that HB started from an idea just a few short years ago, about wanting to spend more time on my health and wellness and less time being stressed about things out of my control. Meaning, less worry about the job I was in, the endless problems in the world, and the people around me telling me what I should or shouldn’t do on a daily basis. And, in turn, additional time spent focusing on what brings me genuine joy, getting out into nature more often, and doing what I can to ensure my decisions regarding my health and wellness started taking the front seat instead of the back burner.

So often we fall into these traps where we can’t seem to figure out what our underlying issues are, but yet they’re usually standing right in front of us. We forget how to be humans, and start just fidgeting through everyday life like we’re on a hamster wheel. Every now and then I come back to this thought, when I feel stuck or when something starts to feel mundane. Which is why I’m writing this post today instead of another travel one.

Habitual Balance is quite simply, learning how to balance your habits by building systems and routines over time that make sense to repeat. Sure, that could be considered mundane I suppose as well, but the difference is that those routines are ones that should be intentionally selected and implemented into the parts of our days that make sense biologically, emotionally, mentally or even physically.

Ways to Balance Your Life:

• If you find yourself struggling to sleep at night, try moving your workout routine from evening to morning, or setting your bedroom up for relaxation.
• If you find yourself not understanding your own emotions, try doing inner work with a therapist to bring those feelings forward and learn about them.
• If you find yourself strung out or just fighting to get by each day, perhaps your mental load needs to be unwound and less full.
• If you find yourself becoming something that doesn’t feel right or struggling to become a morning person when you’re actually a night owl, maybe you just need to reset your clock and figure out what time of the day you perform best.

But every so often, those routines are broken up by travel and lifestyle, which ultimately is also a huge part of HB. Habits get adjusted based on new schedules, systems get switched up when a partners work times change, or maybe your habits have just not been front and center for a little while too long. Either way, it’s important to reflect on these things regularly so that we can bring our focus back to the things that truly matter and stop riding the loop that begins to inevitably happen after time.

How We Learned to Travel on Purpose

As we move through the first quarter of 2026, I’ve been thinking a lot about the epic travels we’ve done these last few years. We’ve been to the Grand Canyon multiple times, The Napali Coast of Kauai, basically all of the eastern coast with our last trip (The Southern Series), Mt. Whitney in California and Yosemite, Angels Landing of Zion in Utah, all throughout Arizona, Bryce Canyon and more.

For so long I thought I’d travel the world. Before getting into a relationship, I knew this was something I longed to do. It took years before we were able to appreciate travel however the way I believe that it should be, which is slightly bothersome. I’ll explain.

We’re shown on social media and news stories the cities and fun places to go, so that’s exactly what we did at first. We spent too much money, visited places a billion others did, and unfortunately, nothing really called us back there. It was only after beginning to really get into hiking that we discovered our truest selves, and learned that the best places on earth are usually those that aren’t talked enough about.

We love to travel now, and are sure to prioritize it as basically our second highest expense behind food. Since life experiences are what we yearn for, we make sure to spend wisely throughout the year so that we can enjoy the great adventures outdoors. When I say that it’s been life-changing, it is significantly an understatement. We now travel to small towns barely on the map, meet locals and try their food, camp in remote locations where all you can see is the stars, and drive four-by-fours on miles of dirt road just to get to our next backpacking location where we’ll go even more miles into the wilderness.

These are things I wouldn’t change for anything in the world. And although I thoroughly enjoy sharing these adventures with you, I also truly enjoy writing posts about my feelings on them as well, and why it’s so important to put down the devices and immerse yourself more in what’s really happening. Writing at its core is my true passion next to traveling, and I’m so grateful to be able to do that with and for you. But, even though going off grid has become more widespread, it’s still not uncommon to see more people on their phones more than ever. (Yes, even in those remote places).

No Time But Our Own

Seeing that makes me a little sad, because unlike having a newspaper to read decades ago, you can’t just put it down when you’re done. There’s an infinite amount of scrolling to be had, and there’s no timer (unless you set one) or end of page coming soon that will tell you to get up and go do something else.

Sometimes even when we’re backpacking, I notice this happening where people pay for extra services to be able to still text/call/etc. I understand if you need it for capturing moments or jotting down notes, but after that, perhaps we could all do a little better at being more present, (myself included).

And because very soon, my lifestyle posts will be changing a little, including the travel ones as well, I’d like to mention how appreciative I am of those following this road because I genuinely love each and every moment of those experiences and can’t wait to share more of them with you.

Lifestyle may be a bit more chaotic, and travel may be a few more road trips and a little less plane rides, but I promise I’ll still be here to share those moments with you and encourage you to do the same. It’s important that we look at longevity, and not just what’s in front of us here and now. Anything can change the course of your life in an instant, and I’m looking forward to bringing you along with those changes throughout mine.🫶

Check Out: Roots: The Posts That Started Habitual Balance

Thank You For Reading Growth, Travel, and What’s Next For Habitual Balance

Thank you for being here, truly. Whether you’ve been following since the early days of Habitual Balance or just recently found your way here, I appreciate you. This space has grown and shifted just like I have, and I’m so grateful to share the lessons, the adventures, the quiet realizations, and even the messy in-between moments with you. Your support allows me to keep writing, keep exploring, and keep encouraging a life that feels intentional and full. I’m thankful we get to walk this road together.