“Sometimes you need a break…even from the things you genuinely love.” Me
Hello! Long time, no blog post.
Before diving into this next story, I wanted to give you a little update about my unexpected hiatus from the blog. Quite honestly, I was exhausted and completely burnt out from writing so much. Plain and simple. I discovered that sometimes you need a break…even from the things you genuinely love. Has that ever happened to you?
Apparently, too much of a good thing can be hazardous to your health, too. Who knew?
So, I took a necessary step back to recharge my batteries and be more present in my day-to-day life.
Over the last few years, balance has been one of the biggest things I’ve been working on in my life. Fortunately or unfortunately (I’m not quite sure), I’m an all-in or all-out, go-for-it or go-home kind of gal – or as the Christmas card I once read said: “Jingle all the way…nobody likes a half-assed jingler” – which, it turns out, also applies to my writing habits.
Out of curiosity during my brief downtime, I did a little research to see how often other Substack bloggers post. According to ChatGPT, the average seems to be somewhere between 12 and 52 posts per year.
Then I looked up my own stats.
417 posts over 3.5 years = roughly 119 posts per year…almost 10 posts a month!
Honestly, people, that’s a lot of bang for your five bucks a month if you ask me.
On a side note, I paused the financial portion of the blog during this brief pause so all paying subscribers were not charged time or money for their subscription. Thanks to those of you who’ve hung in there and did not unsubscribe during my much needed break. I appreciate your support and patience.
I apologize for disappearing so abruptly without warning or explanation, but I needed (and wanted) some time to simply live in the moment instead of constantly feeling the need to immediately share updates online. The upside? You’ll get many fun (and sometimes funny) updates in a short amount of time. I now have a lot of catching up to do before my next big adventure, so keep an eye on your inbox.
Even though I wasn’t posting, I was still traveling, exploring, and making memories – and yes, I took plenty of notes and photographs along the way, so hopefully we won’t miss a beat.
Here are a few of the upcoming stories you can expect over the next several weeks:
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Picking up where I left off from my trip to England (my first time!) in October 2025 to visit James and his mum.
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Bucket list ✅: A fun post about one man’s dream, many bowls of cereal, and a Wheaties box.
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Olympic Rings: Another return to one of my favorite countries in the world: Italy. 🇮🇹 I went back in January to help with the Milan Olympics and arrived just in time – my 90 days in the EU had finally reset after hiking 900 miles on the Via Francigena (the ancient Road to Rome) across Italy from the border of Switzerland to the boot heel, last summer.
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And finally, I had another wild (and slightly chaotic) adventure in Norway, visiting my friend Ingeborg and her family for Easter. This trip included getting lost on a mountain hike after a blizzard, my first attempt at cross-country skiing, testing out her new camper on wheels, and crabbing in the fjords from a tiny boat. It’s truly never a dull moment with Ingeborg.
I’m excited to share all of it with you.
But for now, let me pick up where I left off visiting my friend James – whom I met while hiking in Patagonia in 2024 – and his mum, Ros, in Leicester, England. If you missed the beginning of this trip, you can click here to read the first post.
And now…back to our regularly scheduled programming.
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*These events took place in October 2025.
*This post is very long, so if it is cut off, be sure to click “View Entire Message” at the end.
James had big plans for us this weekend. Road trips to Warwick (pronounced: war-ick) to visit Warwick Castle on Friday, and another day trip with his mum, Ros, to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Let me tell you, these Brits know how to show a traveler a good time.
At first glance, Warwick Castle is overwhelmingly huge and absurdly picturesque. Honestly, I felt like I’d wandered straight into a fairytale. I briefly considered pretending to be a damsel in distress, waiting dramatically in one of the towers, but James would probably just toss me out the window, though, and wish me “Good luck, old girl…break a leg” on the way down.
I also love a good motte-and-bailey castle entrance. Nothing says “medieval experience” quite like crossing a bridge into a fortress that once existed specifically to keep people out…probably the Americans at some point – but not this time!
Inside, the castle was filled with ornate furnishings, grand halls, and enough dramatic architecture to make you wonder why buildings have become so bland and boring. There were even life-sized waxed figures of Henry VIII and his six wives (not all pictured) – Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Remember the rhyme? “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” Someone should have beheaded him for his cruel treatment of women, if you ask me.
James wanted to hike every single tower to catch a glimpse of all the different views. I figured after just walking 900 miles across Italy, I would be in decent shape for this, but climbing spiral staircases in oxygen-deprived medieval towers is a different beast. I’m not sure anyone is ever in “good enough” shape to not be out of breath at the top of a several-story tower. As I huffed and puffed to catch my breath, I couldn’t help but enjoy the stunning views of not only the castle grounds but the countryside landscape. England is beautiful in autumn with the leaves changing color.
No medieval castle visit is complete without live demonstrations involving giant weapons and birds of prey.
We watched a falconry show featuring trained birds, including an American bald eagle (it felt like home) making a surprise international appearance, and a trebuchet (catapult) demonstration where they launched a massive projectile into the jousting arena because, apparently, medieval entertainment was built around the phrase: “What if we catapult something enormous or cut someone’s head off? Just for funsies.”
Fun fact: Warwick Castle is home to one of the world’s largest working trebuchets. Check out the video.
Honestly, the British know how to commit to a theme.
Next up…Stratford-upon-Avon
On Saturday morning, I woke up to an out-of-the-blue email from my friend Elizabeth from Brisbane, Australia. It read:
Subject: Leister
Am I seeing correctly?
You’re in Leicester?
Here I am sitting up in bed in Stratford-on-Avon, just 40 miles down the road.
Another night here, then up to Manchester for 1 night before flying to Amsterdam.
Elizabeth xx
Neither of us knew the other would be in England.
The Universe works in strange and wonderful ways.
The day before she contacted me, I had posted a few pictures of our trip (in real time) on my personal social media (not The WW), and Elizabeth happened to see them. Coincidentally, James had planned for us to be in Stratford-upon-Avon on her last day in town.
Bashert.
We ended up meeting for a quick coffee in the middle of the day at the coffee shop inside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. James snapped a cute photo of us together under a bust of old W. Shakespeare himself to remember this special occasion.
This is not the first time a run-in like this has happened. In 2011, Elizabeth and I crossed paths on the streets of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and ended up having dinner together. Global travelers, unite. 🩷
Before our coffee meetup, our first stop upon arrival was Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. No, not that Anne Hathaway, the other one, the original one, W. Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway.
From the website: Anne Hathaway’s Cottage is the family home of Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife-to-be. It is here that Anne was born and raised, and where the young Shakespeare would have visited her during the early part of their relationship. Built in 1463, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage was originally a farmhouse and known as ‘Hewlands’. See original furniture, including the Hathaway bed, and uncover five centuries of stories in this picturesque cottage and 13 generations of the family who lived there.
The home and grounds were incredibly charming and looked and felt authentic. They have done an excellent job preserving the property, so it truly felt like being transported back in time. It also served as a solid reminder that modern plumbing is one of humanity’s greatest achievements.
William Shakespeare’s eternal resting place is located in Holy Trinity Church near River Avon. Surrounding the church is a centuries-old cemetery filled with weathered gravestones that somehow felt both eerie and peaceful at the same time.
Inside the church, things felt slightly more touristy than I expected for a place of worship – there were souvenir tables set up throughout – but the historical artifacts were fascinating.
I also don’t think I’ve ever seen a grave displayed quite like Shakespeare’s. In many old churches, graves are marked flat into the floor where people walk across them daily. Shakespeare’s tomb, however, is roped off and marked with a commemorative plaque alongside the graves of several family members.
I noticed a statue on the wall that I later discovered is called Shakespeare’s Funerary Monument. It was quite detailed and had a beautiful inscription.
Fun fact: Stratford-upon-Avon also has two gold Royal Mail postboxes.
Normally, postboxes in the UK are red, but gold ones are painted to honor local Olympic or Paralympic gold medalists. These twin goldies are in honor of James Roe (ironic), a rower who won gold at the 2012 London Paralympics.
As we walked through town toward Shakespeare’s birthplace, we passed yet another monument dedicated to him.
The locals clearly take enormous pride in one of the most influential writers in history, and honestly, I love that they’ve preserved his legacy everywhere you look.
Here’s what we’ve all been waiting for and the last stop on the tour – drum roll, please -the birthplace of William Shakespeare!
I’ll admit: it somehow felt surreal standing inside the home of someone whose words are still studied more than 400 years later.
I think the house looked even better once James and I were added to the photo, personally.
On the left is the bed/bedroom where William is believed to have slept as a child/teenager. On the top right is his (and his siblings’) bassinet from when he was a baby, and below that is his parents’ bed. The bassinet was in the same bedroom as his parents.
If you’ve read anything about his birth home, you have most definitely read about this famous window – The Birthroom Window.
People love to leave their mark on things. Visitors (even famous people) at Shakespeare’s home used to graffiti the walls and even etched their names with a diamond ring into this window pane in the room where he was born.
As you exit the grounds, you must pass through the bookstore and souvenir shop (you can thank Kansas City native Walt Disney for this little marketing strategy), which has tons of trinkets that nobody needs, but they do have books, and everyone needs more of those in their life. If you purchase one of William’s pieces of literature, make sure to ask them (you must ask, otherwise they don’t do it) to stamp your book with the official stamp as a fun souvenir or gift to take home with you.
Stratford-upon-Avon itself feels almost unreal. The entire town is so perfectly preserved that walking through it sometimes feels more like wandering through a movie set than a real place.
Thankfully, we had beautiful weather…no rain! Even though it was chilly enough that Ros kindly loaned me an extra coat, the sunshine made it a perfect afternoon to wander through town.
It was wonderful spending the day exploring another new place with James and his mum…and getting to unexpectedly reunite with Elizabeth too.
Bucket list item officially checked off – Shakespeare’s Crib.
Much love & gratitude. Namaste 🙏
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James has been wanting to put my head in a medieval torture device for years. Friendship comes in many forms.
There was also an archery game where you could test your aim like a proper medieval warrior. 🏹 🎯 Unfortunately, it had closed by the time we reached that section of the castle, which is probably for the best considering my competitive streak – we would have been there all day.
Interesting fact: John Shakespeare, William’s father, was a glovemaker.
And yes, there is at least one photo from this trip that will absolutely come back to haunt me someday. I can already feel it.
