Catching Up + Lessons Learned

Is this thing on?

Welcome to the latest version of my blog, traveleatlove.me. It has been a crazy six months since I last blogged, and I am excited to be back in this space, even if it’s not quite the same as it was before.

What happened to my old URL?

Funny you should ask. New motherhood and running a business have been more exhausting than I ever could have imagined, and in that exhaustion and constant go-go-go until I pass out at night, I overlooked renewing my domain name. Someone else snatched it up and now claim they’ve been in that space for a number of years, which simply isn’t true. But, I suppose finders-keepers. . .

If you have my blog linked anywhere, please update to traveleatlove.me and please spread the word. It’s beyond frustrating that someone else gets the traffic for the work that I put in all those years!

I am hoping the latest rendition of blogging for me is a space where I can still share travels, food, and my love of wine, along with occasional snippets of family stuff and motherhood and work. We plan to do our best to raise a citizen of the world, so expect to see a lot of family travel, including recaps of past trips to Ireland and New Orleans and our upcoming first trip to Puerto Rico as a family.

While the last 10 months have been extraordinarily busy, tiring, humbling, and many days extremely frustrating, I have learned some lessons worth sharing. Some might be no brainers, such as, take a maternity leave when you have a baby. As a self-employed workaholic determined to grow my business I had severe anxiety about taking time off, and instead I worked from the recovery room, really only taking the first week of baby’s life off, then going back as full speed ahead as I could with him by my side. Working from home is a huge blessing, but when there is no boundary between work and life (and some people REALLY take advantage of that) it can be a curse. If I could do it over again, I would have taken at least two months off and really just let me myself be. I read a quote recently that said “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” I gave myself some really unnecessary stress during those newborn days, and it’s had an affect on me ever since.

I really wish I could Control ALT Delete myself! I need a reboot!

If I could turn back time, I would also have gotten help with the baby right away. With my husband at a client in central MA, I spent many, many 12-14 hour days alone working, caring for a baby, and paying zero attention to anything I needed. The summer was extremely hard and a bit of a tearful blur, if I am being honest. I am glad to have that season of life behind me.

One major thing I would have also done differently is to unfollow a lot of new moms on social media. Everyone seems to have had an easier experience with X,Y, and Z than I did. . . I have found things to be HARD, in case I haven’t mentioned it. I’m not perfectly coiffed or made up, I haven’t lost most of my baby weight, I don’t feel constant bliss, and I am generally a mess a lot of the time! I basically have (not enough) time to work and take care of the baby, and that’s it.

I know that social media is a highlight reel, but to be honest, even my highlight reel feels like a mess a lot of the time lately!

Lastly, before I wrap up this post and get started writing about travel again, I would say that I have learned to start cutting out things that don’t bring me joy. I haven’t gotten into the Marie Kondo stuff, but I have realized that life is too short to keep experiences and people that bring you down, and it’s also too short to get upset over these things. As long as my family is happy and healthy and safe, we are doing okay.

If you’re still reading, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. It feels like to have even taken a few minutes to write this post and to have hope for my blog coming back to the fun space it once was for me, and hopefully for you!