I haven’t done one of these reflective posts in a while, but for some reason, as I sit inside by a warm fire and the snow blankets the trees outside, I feel compelled to write. As with every year in life, 2025 was one of plenty of highs and lows. Yet, it was also a year of immense change and transformation, as I transitioned from being the matriarch at home to an empty nester. Combine that with a lot of travel and another new hip, and it certainly has been a year for the books.

Just as it has been physically tiring (with the hip replacement surgery and lots of hikes), it has also been emotionally draining. With painful complications following my hip surgery to my mother’s unexpected illness, which nearly brought me to my knees. My daughter’s last few months at home until she left for college on the other side of the country, and my own deeper dive back into my career. Then last but not least, the emotional distress that this last year has caused me to be angry, deeply sad, and devastated at the direction that our country has taken. One filled with racism, misogyny, and entitlement, and greed, along with everyday violence, including a school shooting killing two innocent children right down the street from my home. It is easy to curl up in a ball and cry, but that is the easy way out. Not doing anything, letting this happen, would be a hypocrisy to everything I believe in. So I fight. At least we still have the freedom of speech (somewhat) in this country and the ability to protest and stand up for what we believe in. At least for now. I’ve been to many countries where it is not possible, and I feel fortunate to have this basic human right still.

It has been a lot, but I feel this time around, I’ve taken the highs and lows in stride and grace. I’ve learned after all these years how to manage my emotional anxiety that has come and gone throughout the years, and I have found ways to ground my racing, wanderlust soul. It hasn’t been easy – but then again, perhaps now at age 54, I’ve gained some wisdom throughout it all. As much as I miss the hustle and bustle of the kids, having more time to myself and less stress has been amazingly therapeutic. I’ve finally learned to calm down, embrace the day, and take walks with no phone, no sound, and just spend my time noticing. With all the chaos in the world (not to mention the 24/7 news frenzy of horrific daily news), it is a must to slow down. Turn off the noise and dig deep into the fleetingness of life. For each day, each month, and each year seems to go faster and faster.  It is up to us to take a breath.

While it is hard to share such personal beliefs and insights into my life, I feel as a travel writer who is only seen through my Instagram posts and writing about travel, that I need to be transparent. Yes, I am quite fortunate, but like everyone else, life is filled with ups and downs and struggles. It is especially now when so much in the world is falling apart- the climate, humanity, kindness, appreciation, and respect for human beings (we are all humans, aren’t we?). As long as you are a good, honest, caring human being, then why on earth should anyone else care what color your skin is, how rich or poor you are, who you love, what your gender is, what your religion is? Isn’t it a personal choice? Although I will never understand why there is so much hatred in the world for our differences, I will never choose to hate another human being for their beliefs. Sadly, I don’t know how much hope I have for humanity, as it always seems to be the same story since the beginning of mankind. But I will choose kindness, I will choose acceptance and respect, and I will treat others as I’d like to be treated myself. With dignity.

Above a small collection of some of the people who have graciously welcomed me to their home.

I am filled with gratitude for this space, this blog that I’ve shared for over 15 years now. For those who have stayed with me, I appreciate your friendship and support. Here’s to a wonderful new year!

January

On November 20, 2024, just a few days before Thanksgiving, I underwent my second total hip replacement in less than two years. While people have asked me “what had I done” or “is it genetics,” there never was an answer. It is what it is. My second hip failed after a summer hiking trip to Italy, and after living with so much insane pain from waiting for my first hip surgery, I promised myself I’d never go through that again. When my hip surgeon said, “It looks like it is ready to be replaced. How about next month? I scheduled it immediately. And for that I was grateful. Everything went smoothly, much better than the first one, and I was recovering faster than before enjoying Mr. Ice (my ice machine) that kept the swelling down. I was walking longer each day and improving dramatically until I flew out to Virginia for Christmas 2024 and had a three-hour flight followed by a three-hour drive, which put my new hip over the edge. I had swelled up so bad, my pants didn’t fit, and I went to the ER thinking I had a blood clot. Thankfully, I did not, but the bad news is that I was stuck with some serious, excruciating inflammation. I was miserable going into the new year but had a plan to visit my parents in sunny, warm Tucson, Arizona.

Tucson

I flew out for what was supposed to be a long weekend in Tucson to visit my parents and heel my hip, and instead of five carefree days on the trails with my dad, I found myself trapped in the sterile halls of Tucson Medical Center. Out of nowhere, my mother had contracted C. diff, a severe and life-threatening infection. C. diff infects around 500,000 Americans annually, and kills 30,000.

After two anxiety-ridden weeks going in and out of the hospital, my mom miraculously recovered. It was a terrifying experience and I am so grateful I happened to be there visiting to help her and my dad. I wrote about the story here to build awareness of this disease that I had never heard of before and wish I had.

February

San Diego

Back home for a few weeks in Minnesota before setting off to visit my son, who was doing an internship in San Diego. San Diego has become a well-known destination for our family, as we used to visit often after spending Christmas at my parents’ home in Tucson and driving to San Diego to spend the rest of our holiday break. Little did I know that San Diego would become even more meaningful in the coming months.

Photos left to right: Me at my daughter’s last ski race, my daughter painting in her room, and me and my son hiking in San Diego (my husband ironically hurt his back and had to stay back at the hotel). 

March

Chile

In mid-March, I set off for my first major work trip with GLP Films, an award-winning, full-service content marketing agency dedicated to sustainable tourism. I have been working at GLP Films for the past two years as a Content Editor. I was in Chile (Icalma, Cochamó Valley and Huilo Huilo in Chile’s Lakes and Volcano region) for the film shoot. It was an incredible trip and I am still awaiting for the stories to be published on the Chile Tourism blog. Here is a link to the three films we published as well as one story I wrote on Mountain Biking in Icalma.

Photos below from Cochamó:

Nine months after the trip, we heard the incredible news that Cochamó Valley – a story we have been working on –  will finally be protected thanks to the incredible work of local, grassroots organizations. Check out this article in the Guardian. My story will be published soon, as well along with the film documenting it.

Meeting Mapuche Chef Isabel Naguil was a highlight of the trip for me.

Also, I published my story on Isabel Carrea here.

April

California, Chicago

April was crunch time for deciding on my daughter’s college. She applied to several University of California schools, and these schools, which don’t let you know if you’ve been admitted until mid-late March. We had a May 1 deadline to decide on what school she would attend, so we had to revisit a few schools to make sure it would be the right fit.

It first started with an 8-hour road trip to University of Illinois – Champaign, a major big ten university in the midwest. We had visited it with my son but my daughter never saw it so it was important to do the tour. It is a very impressive university but it didn’t feel like the one for her. We ended the trip with an overnight in Chicago, a place near and dear to my heart, as it is where my husband and I lived right after college and got married there 25 years ago.

Next stop was a short four-day visit to California to revisit UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, two colleges my daughter got admitted to. It was really important to see them since we did a very fast tour of all the UC schools a year ago and it was a big decision and investment to make on a school. While my heart was definitely in the beautiful UC Santa Barbara my daughter fell in love with the strong academics of UC San Diego. By the end of April she committed to UC San Diego studying Neurobiology and would start in September. While of course I was proud, it was also bittersweet as it would be a very far way away from home and I would miss her dearly.

Around this time, my daughter had developed some unexplained health issues which would make the summer very stressful as we tried to get in to see every kind of specialist to try to figure out what on earth was wrong. She had (and continues to have) severe lightheadedness, dizziness, headaches, and brain fog. The next three months would be a series of stressful appointments at the cardiologist, neurologist, ENT (for ears), ophthalmologist (for eyes), a new pair of glasses, and lots of dead ends. I was extremely worried about sending her across the country on her own to college with her condition and no help. Yet, she would prove to be a fighter.

May

Graduation, Japan

May was filled with emotional ups and downs as my daughter graduated from high school, ending my years of raising my kids. Soon she would be moving far away from home, and I would become an empty-nester. While I was super excited and proud of her, it also left me feeling sad about how those years of devoting myself to my kids were now done. There would be no more sports events to watch them at or cheer them on, no more drama about the theatrics of high school gossip. It was done, and my home would soon feel very empty. I knew it would be a difficult adjustment.

We also went on a very special two-week trip as a family to celebrate my husband and my 25th wedding anniversary and my daughter’s graduation. I wrote about our trip in this blog series. It was very special as it was the first time we had ever had two weeks together as a family on vacation, and as adult children.  The highlight of our trip was our hike in the Kii Peninsula doing the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage. We also enjoyed our time in Kyoto and Tokyo as well.

June

Home

After returning from Japan, the rest of June was spent mostly in Minnesota, enjoying our beautiful summer here. My parents decided to spend the summer months up on the North Shore of Lake Superior, another place near and dear to my heart. We went up several times to visit and do some of my favorite hikes. Then the rest of the time was spent trying to navigate my daughter’s health concerns. My son was home for the summer doing online coursework so that was a wonderful surprise. As our kids reach their college years, it is a constant coming and going at our home and every chance we get to have them here is a gift. Soon they will be off living on their own, so I embrace the time I get to have with them whenever they are here.

July-August

Peru

Towards the end of July, my daughter and I went on a special trip together to hike the Salkantay trek in Peru. As you can imagine, I was extremely concerned about taking her on this trip given her health conditions. In fact, it wasn’t until the very last day before departure that I realized we would actually go. All of her tests for everything had come back clear. We still had no idea what was causing her issues but I had purchased all the travel insurance I could and got it approved by her doctors to go. So at the end of July, we set off for Cusco with all the precautions necessary. She had altitude sickness medicine, a plan B if she couldn’t hike and me by her side worrying of course.

It ended up being one of the best things we could have ever done together. While she didn’t feel well, she made the entire 7-day trek, even crossing the Salkantay Pass at over 14,000 feet. We were both amazed and grateful that we were able to do something so meaningful together before she set off for school. When we returned home, even her neurologist had no logical explanation as to how she could have done it. But it made me feel reassured that if she could persevere through this hike, then she could persevere through her challenging course load and studies away from home, despite her illness. That brought some of my anxiety and worrying down, but not fully. (I am still writing about this trip now on the blog here).

September

California

September was a beautiful month in Minnesota but it dragged on a bit knowing that at the end of the month, we would be packing up Sophia’s belongings and preparing for the big move to UC San Diego. My heart was filled with emotions but I did my best to remain strong and try not to worry too much about sending her so far away with her health concerns.

She even felt sick the day before we were supposed to pack up her things, so I ended up doing it. It felt surreal packing up her life of 18 years in our home into 6 large airplane-ready duffel bags. Of course, a lot had to stay behind as her dorm room would be very small. But still, going through everything in her bedroom brought back a lot of priceless memories.

By the third week of September, me, Sophia,and my husband were on the plane to San Diego. We moved Sophia in to her dorm the very same day after many stops at Target. Two days later, we left her there with her new life and drove to Yosemite National Park for our first trip together as empty-nesters. It was a beautiful three days hiking and staying at the lodge in the park. I remember meeting a man around our age at the time of Yosemite Falls, and he said something I will never forget. We told him that we had just dropped our daughter off at college, and now it was just us. He told us, “these are the golden years” and I realized that he was right.  After dedicating 21 years to raising our children, now it was time once again for us. I am so grateful that my husband and I have kept a strong friendship and relationship together for so many years. This is the time when many marriages falter. Yet, he continues to be my best friend. I am lucky.

October

Lake Superior, MN and Virginia

We returned home to a very quiet, empty house. My son Max has left for another internship in Huntsville, Alabama and now Sophia was in California. Since I work from home, it would be a lot of alone time for me during the day. Thankfully, I had realized a few years ago that I would need to find a new life for me too once my kids had left home and I went back to work. Instead of feeling lonely and having no purpose without the kids, I dedicated this month to reinvent myself. I had read an article about this years ago in my 20s how one of the greatest things about life (especially here in America) is how you have the ability to reinvent yourself, and try something new. I took it to heart and began diving back into my career – writing, travel, marketing, philanthropy –  and into my own self with yoga, return to nordic skiing, and volunteering. While I am still continuing to navigate this new life in my 50s as an emtpy nester, it is going better than I expected it would. With that thought in mind, I planned a random last minute trip to Morocco in November.

Before that, however, I did a last weekend visit to my parents on the north shore of Lake Superior to see the fall colors. Then, my husband and I did a quick trip out to Virginia to visit my in-laws and see family. I was suddenly finding my life busier than I expected.

November

The Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Feeling the fleeting flurry of time, I headed out for a week’s trip to Morocco to hike the Atlas Mountains. I found an incredible deal through a UK-based company, and was able to also take advantage of the new direct flight from Atlanta to Marrakesh, making the journey much easier.  It would be my third big hike since getting my second hip replaced, and for some reason, I felt like I wanted to prove something to myself. I was turning 54 in two weeks and it was scaring me how fast time has been going.

Photos left to right: Hiking, in Marrekesh with my new Irish friend Sarah, and drinking freshly squeezed orange juice in the middle of the Atlas Mountains. More posts on Instagram here.

I set off on my own, joined a group of 12 others, and had a fantastic time. I still haven’t had the chance to write about it yet here but will when I can. What really struck me was once again, how being in the middle of the mountains with no heat at night in our basic accommodations, not hot water, or luxury, made me feel so incredibly happy. The realization that there is truly not much you actually need in life besides food, water, friendship, love, and nature. It was a humbling experience that helped give me the necessary reset and focus on what is important in life. What I stand for, what I want to do, and how I want to show up and help others. Especially now, as life in the US gets darker each day.

December

Tucson, home

As December rolled around, I realized I still had an unused ticket from my January trip to Tucson when my mom was sick. It was going to expire in a few weeks, so it was now or never.

I flew out to Tucson a few days before my birthday, planning to have the trip I wanted to last January before my mom got sick. I was tired from all the travel and busyness of life. Yet, it ended up being a wonderful five days with my parents in the desert. My dad and I went hiking, my mom and I had lunch together and did some shopping, and we watched the sunset below the desert mountains. It was beautiful.

I flew back home just as the ICE agents had arrived in my hometown and realized that there was no way I could stand back and say nothing. Yes, anyone who is a violent criminal should definitely be deported, but what is happening here in Minneapolis and around the country is inhumane. Every single one of us – unless you are an Indigenous person – is an immigrant. No one here is a native American. We are all immigrants.  The inhumanity, lack of legality, the cruelty and hate, and racism I have witnessed in this country make my stomach churn. The disgust in how the current administration is “making America hate again”  and installing censorship and removing our basic freedoms makes me wish I could leave this place. But that would be a cop out especially for all those people who are standing up and fighting. I have traveled to so many places in the world where you are persecuted for your beliefs, where you don’t even have the right to vote or a democracy or health care or a working legal system. While we still have that somewhat here, it is still worth fighting for.

I could no longer talk the talk. It was time to walk the walk. The week before Christmas I took my first step. I went to a training on immigrant civil rights, and I walked in solidarity on a peaceful march down Lake Street in Minneapolis ( a symbolic place for us as that is where the riots and protests started roughtly five years ago after the murder of George Floyd). I went alone yet walked next to Native Americans, Latinos and Somalis, side by side. At age 54, I was no longer talking the talk. I was standing up and walking the walk.

As 2025 draws to a close, I will share this post I put on LinkedIn. It sheds a lot of light into who I am and why after 15 years, I’m still writing this blog. Thank you for all the support. Happy New Year!

As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve heard a lot of banter on how travel writing is dead. How AI is taking over travel writing, and how travel blogs are relics, or shall I say dinosaurs of the past that no one reads anymore. ✨ ✨ ✨

I am here to fight back and tell other travel writers that the blog is not dead and why I’ve decided to put more time and unpaid effort into my 15-year old blog.

I started my blog in 2010 after a life-changing (yes cliche but true for me) trip to Nepal. Hence the name, “third eye mom”. Not the best branding at the time, but I received a “third eye” in Nepal, and quite frankly, was a stay-at-home mom.

Never in my wildest dreams would I believe I would still be writing after 17 years, nor would I have imagined the opportunities I’ve received thanks to this blog, my unpaid labor of love and passion project. ✨ ✨ ✨

The friends I’ve met along the way through the blog have watched my children grow up over the years, have shared with me the lows and highs of the journey of life, and some have been there just as long as me without giving up. ✨ ✨ ✨

The travel opportunities brought me to places I’d never imagined I’d go – to Ethiopia to write about newborn and maternal health, to Nicaragua to review an all-women’s learn to surf club, to climbing Kilimanjaro with an all women team, and most recently, to re-enter the work force after 15 years of raising my kids. For that, I am grateful. ✨ ✨ ✨

Yet most of all, it has given me a voice in this wild and crazy world. A place where I can share my stories and not mind if not many people read them. They are there! And back to AI and Chatgpt and Google, I am astounded to find that my stories and 17 years of content is still showing up, and people are still reading some of my stories about hiking from years ago. That makes me so happy and is why I don’t stop writing. I have, of course, thought of quitting the blog. It is unpaid, time-consuming, and not like it used to be, traffic-wise. Yet, getting the stories out there that aren’t always being told still matters. ✨ ✨ ✨

This new year, I am relaunching my dusty old social good section where I highlight some of the amazing non-profits out there doing the work that needs to be done in conservation, global health, human rights, global education, and more. I will rely more on guest posts and interviews; however, I know that it will help amplify some good news. ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨

So PR reps of non-profits, feel free to pitch me! Thirdeyemom – Traveling the world and doing good – is ready to do more good this year and give back. And yes, I am grateful that I can do this work, as I know we, as travel writers, we do not make much money with our work. ✨ ✨ ✨