The best of intentions often don’t go according to plan, am I right?
My last post was in late 2024, and I was sharing about my stint in New Mexico and Texas. Yikes.
Needless to say, I’m not there anymore.
Since lots of life has happened in between then and now, here’s the TL; DR timeline to catch you up.
June 2024: While I was in Seattle, I put an offer in (sight unseen) on a lovely townhouse just down the street from my old apartment. Ballsy? Yes. Worth it? Also, yes. I love my new home. ❤️
July 6, 2024: I completed my 3-month U.S. road trip. Over 11k miles were driven. I look back and still can’t believe I did it, but wow, what an incredible experience. We live in such a beautiful country…it’s hard to put into words.
August - October 2024: Just months after I closed on my townhouse, we were hit with a tropical storm and two major hurricanes. I was very fortunate and didn’t have any major damage to my house (only power outages that lasted less than 24 hours).
March 2025: My role at JOANN sadly ended, as the company closed. What a run. I built a $100M+ affiliate marketing program during my tenure, made so many friends, and learned more than I could ever imagine. I still greatly miss my employee discount. Fortunately, I landed another gig at General Assembly before the company officially shut down, so the timing couldn’t have been better.
May 2025: I finally took my trip to Panama City, Panama 🇵🇦, that had been my planned destination for the Spring. But with the job situation being up in the air, I delayed it just a bit. I was in Panama City for about two weeks, and it was incredible. I’ll share more about it in another post.
October 2025: Quick 36-hour trip to Key West 🌴 — another new destination!
January 2026: The entire Weinheimer clan jetted off to Oahu and Maui for our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary (State #44 for me!). 🌺 We all had a blast, and it turns out my niece and nephew have quite the knack for boogie-boarding!
February / March 2026: Off to Spain and back to Portugal 🇪🇸 🇵🇹! My two-month stint included visits to Barcelona, Mallorca, Valencia, Malaga, Porto, Costa Nova/Aveiro, and Lisbon. It was pure heaven, and I definitely didn’t want to come home.
June 2026: Bye-bye General Assembly. Layoff #2 in two years. Ugh.
August 2026: A birthday trip to Zurich and Milan.🇨🇭🇮🇹 It was a much-needed change of scenery, and I had a blast!
Present: figuring out what’s next. I taught throughout the summer at St. Bonaventure University (13 years and counting!) and continued working with clients in a fractional marketing consulting capacity.
“The one constant in life is change” is so cliché, but still annoyingly true.
So back I go to the blank space of rebuilding again. The cycle that always winds up on repeat. But as the fabulous Liz Gilbert once reminded a crowd of eager-to-learn-her-ways women back in 2024, “you learn far more about yourself and grow in the midst of having the rug ripped out from under you.”
Growth doesn’t have to be enjoyable — and good thing because I sure as hell don’t enjoy it. But the silver lining is that I’ve been working under the radar to breathe life back into my solo travel content—and I've been loving it!
🎙️ I’m thrilled to announce The Belong to Where You Are Podcast is launching on Tuesday, October 13, with the trailer coming out Thursday, October 8. What does a security expert, shark diver, creative entrepreneur, and Camino pilgrim have in common? Tune in here on Substack to find out.
The Substack is BACK! I’ve recently joined a very fun 30-Day Substack Challenge with other incredible writers to breathe life into the platform and share our experiences with the world through long-form content. I miss writing and I’m pumped to get back into it.
📖 But wait, there’s more! After a very, very slow process (like 2.5 years in the making), I’m finally writing a book. BELONG TO WHERE YOU ARE:
A Journey of Solo Travel, Self-Discovery, and Starting Over, coming out in early 2027. I’ve dragged my feet long enough, so now it’s time to give it a deadline. So please, hold my sorry ass accountable!
If I know one thing about myself, it’s this. The magic breaks out in the moments of challenge and uncertainty. I can’t wait to use my voice and share more of “me” with the world.
Love & Light,
Meg
P.S. — If you’ve hung around as a subscriber for the last 2.5 years…THANK YOU! ❤️
Welcome back and it looks like it's been a busy time away from substack.
I had trouble this morning using my charge card to become a yearly supporter but I will try later.