Why I Stopped Traveling {For Now}

It’s been three days since I stopped traveling to come back to America and I couldn’t be happier.

No, really. I am the happiest I’ve been in awhile because I finally did the thing that I knew would make me the best version of myself: I came home.

So many people reached out to me asking how I managed to “live the dream” by traveling Asia for three months.

So many people looked at me in awe when I told them I was traveling around for however long I wanted (at the time I thought it might have been 6 months of travel straight!) and working at the same time.

Was living in Asia for 3 months one of the best experiences of my life? YES. Have I been blessed to have these opportunities? YES. Would I take anything back? NEVER.

I am now a full-on travel addict. I love it so much, and I can’t wait to go back out there next year for another trip.

But there are many other things I experienced on my travels. I was put in positions that tooka lot of energy out of me on a daily basis.

I had to make on-the-spot calls about things as little as “left or right?” when it came to what direction to wander down a street to find lunch, to as big as “this country or that country?” when it came time to decide where I wanted to go next (I felt challenged by this since I didn’t really have a plan after Chiang Mai. I just wanted to wing it!).

I had to walk to every meal, sometimes walking 10 miles a day just to get my basic necessities. I had to pre-plan transportation, flights, people to meet, places to eat, areas to go to, areas to stay away from, packing my bag, where to get a SIM card, where to find an ATM, how to communicate with people who lacked English, getting my visas, where to get my laundry done, where to fill my five-liter water jugs and so much more.

It took a lot of energy.

And while it was all amazing, I realized that I started to want to keep going out of pursuit of the glamour of living a non-stop traveler’s lifestyle. I could have continued to beebop around the countries, but what I truly wanted was to be creating new content, settling into a home and working on my business.

Traveling had served its purpose and I was tired and ready to focus more energy on doing what I love (without so many WiFi struggles!).

I wanted to be near the beautiful Flatiron mountains, I wanted to call up my parents and have a spur-of-the-moment lunch, I wanted to wake up in my own familiar bed and drink tea and not have to wonder if I was going to continue to travel, or to go home (a question I pondered often).

So I decided to come home for this reason: I want to show up as the best version of myself every single day.

I never want to present myself as Half Maddy because Half Maddy isn’t nearly as in her element as Full Maddy.

Half Maddy does things because they sound cool but might not be 100% what she needs at the moment. Half Maddy allows herself to lower her vibration as a person in order to keep moving. Half Maddy lets herself be put in positions where she is spending just as much energy in decision-making mode as she is in grind-mode.

Full Maddy on the other hand knows what she needs and gets it. Full Maddy shows up to podcasts, videos, coaching, courses, retreats, and her laptop every single moment present and in-the-zone. Full Maddy eliminates distractions so that she can truly focus on what’s important to her at any given moment: helping people, having fun, and being the best person she can be.

That’s the best way for me to describe what was going on in my head the last couple weeks of my travel. And you know what? I have nothing but positivity to share about my travel. It taught me the above lessons, plus so much more. It taught me how to be decisive, how to slow down, how to stop stressing and worrying over little things, and how to make the most use of my time.

What does Half Version of you look like versus Full Version of you?

Are you doing something that isn’t fulfilling you right now, even though you know it fueled you to the stars and back a month, 5 months, or 7 years ago? We are humans who change on a moment to moment basis. What you need now in your life might not be what you needed a week ago.

I needed to stop traveling for now, but I have no idea where I’ll be in a year or five years. I may need to go on another three month travel excursion, or maybe a year one. I can’t predict the future, all I can do is listen to the present. And so can you.

What do you need to do in order to show up every single moment of your life as the version of you that is the most authentic? Need to pick something up? Need to let something go?

I challenge you to call yourself out on it.

And if you want help with it, you can apply to my 1:1 coaching on THIS page.

You can also apply to the Forever Free retreat I’m hosting on September 29th – October 2nd in Boulder, Colorado HERE. There are still 5 spots left, and I would love to have you join us for a weekend of becoming the FULLEST version of yourself.

Have you already applied but something is holding you back from making the leap and filling one of those spots? What is it? Go to my contact page and shoot me a message letting me know.

Lastly, HERE is the link to this week’s podcast episode called 4 Keys to a Freedom Mindset. Enjoy!