As I sit here in our little campervan, literally in the middle of Queensland (state of Australia) in a town called Barcaldine I’ve realised something.

We all really do need to stop and smell the roses.

While I don’t mean literally stop and smell every rose that you walk past, I mean really learning to just chill out from the world.

We’ve worked hard all our lives, my husband did a lot of travel with the company that he owned, and now we’ve decided to semi-retire, me in my early 50’s him at 60 (actually turning 60 on this little trip).

It’s actually difficult to ‘switch off’.  In this day and age of everything at our fingertips on our phones, our poor brains just don’t get a single moment to just be.

Our van has no TV (loving it) and at night we just sit there looking up at the stars, watching satellites going past, waiting for a shooting star and really just chilling out.

I’m still working!

In the morning when we are at a place with internet, I’ll check my emails, do emailed readings and all the bits and bobs associated with work, like this blog!

But I’ve learnt to switch off.

I’ll read a book, well a kindle because that’s lighter and easier to pack than a whole stack of books.

I’ve learnt to turn off my phone and even if it’s on, I’ve taught myself in this first week on the road to not look at my phone every 5 minutes.

It’s the most relaxing thing.

Now, while I know a lot of you aren’t able to just go out and purchase a campervan / caravan nor can you take unlimited time off to go travelling, I want to share some things that I believe you could start to implement in your life to help you:-

  • Destress
  • Connect with your soul
  • Listen to your soul
  • Relax and enjoy your life more

So, here’s my top times that I’ve discovered within my own life.

  • Turn off your phone. I know it’s a bit of a lifeline, but seriously.  Learn to put it down and not look at it again.  If you can’t turn it off, then put it in a drawer where it’s an effort to get up to look at it.
  • You really don’t need to be looking at your phone every 5 minutes! (I know, it’s a shock, right?)
  • If you work from home. Do whatever work you need to in a block, for me, it’s in the morning, I get it all done, then again in the afternoon. Then turn off any device that is to do with your work!
  • When you have a tea/coffee just relax, enjoy the flavour, sit on your veranda and just watch the world go by.
  • Take time out to get in nature, even if that’s just walking on your lawn with bare feet! It really does connect your soul.
  • If you don’t live in a big city, then sit outside at night and look at the stars. I find it comforting in some way to think of all the different life forms out there on their planets maybe doing exactly the same thing!

Well, there’s some things that I’ve learnt.

Our souls don’t crave busy, they crave calm, so you need to create calm so you can listen to what it’s telling you.

Hate your job? Then start studying to change careers or look for another job.

Don’t allow fear of the unknown stop you.

We personally sold up everything and moved to Queensland with no idea if we’d like it or not.

We love it! Go figure.

We also bought a campervan after discussions of one day and decided to hit the road for some trial runs because we’d like to do the big Loop (around Australia) next year.

We figured that if we didn’t like it, we could sell it.

We love it! Go figure.

We wouldn’t have known these things if we hadn’t listened to our souls.

Life isn’t perfect but then, hey! It’d be pretty boring!

So, start some new habits that will bring you more into alignment with your soul.

Then listen to it.

Take a risk.

Enjoy the ride, wherever it takes you.

Love & light

Katrina x