2021. What a year. This year feels like it’s gone by in the blink of an eye, yet at the same time I feel  like so much has happened.

It’s been a transformative year. A year that’s had some amazing highs (buying my bus and doing the bus life thing being one of them!), to times of extreme sadness and grief (attending 3 funerals in a matter of weeks).

It’s been a year where I’ve felt a big shift in myself. All the things I’ve learnt over the years, both personally & professionally… the concepts have always made sense to me, but I feel like this year, I’ve actually embodied them.

My belief system feels different. For the last few years I’ve always been quite positive and optimistic but this year it’s just felt like a complete full body YES to the belief in myself and what I can achieve. 

My confidence has grown. My belief in myself has grown and my desire to do well and reach extraordinary goals is feeling stronger than ever.

I think I can put a big part of this down to me being more settled.  I didn’t renovate any farm houses. I didn’t move house. I wasn’t running big events that required a lot of travel. I also didn’t start any new businesses or huge new projects. This meant that I could really sit with the business offerings I already had, and could continue to nurture and grow them.

On top of this, I guess I do need to remember that I have over 10 years experience of running my own businesses. I feel like this year has allowed me the time and space to consolidate all of my learnings over those years. 

I also feel confident with what my business is about now. I always used to feel like I could never really pin point what my business was about… but I feel very connected to it now. I really do believe it’s about empowering people to be wildly themselves and to live life their way, and I do this through my yoga teachings, business coaching and other offerings such as my Journal Guide ebook. I also hope I inspire and teach people simply through the way I live my life as well.

One of my biggest drivers with all that I do, is that I don’t want to look back and think, ‘what if? What if I did the thing? What if I gave it a try?’ The fear of regret scares me, hence why if I feel an inkling to do something, I will do it; or at the very least I will be open to giving it a try.

There’s nothing quite like death to spark the fear of regret even more. A few months ago, I experienced a run of funerals. It’s times like this that stop you in your tracks and make you realise that tomorrow is not guaranteed. It reminds you to cherish your time with loved ones and to make the most of life. 

This experience of losing loved ones has only fuelled my fire even more with dreaming big, being wildly me and making the most of life. I really hope that I can inspire others to do the same through the work that I do. I think growing older and wiser also contributes to you recognising what really matters in life.

When I look back at how this year started, it’s kind of cool to think that I started day 1 (1st January) doing the gypsy life thing, that I’ve talked about for so long. 

You may remember that at the start of the year I was on a little caravan adventure around South Australia with my boyfriend at the time. In fact on the 1st January 2021, we woke up at Mount Ive Station. We then proceeded to travel up to Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Kings Canyon, Uluru, the Oodnadatta track, Wilmington and back home again.

That was a very scenic adventure. It was quite spontaneous and never did I think I’d travel around central Australia in the middle of summer. I’m really pleased that I did experience that trip. I got to see some beautiful places and it gave me a taste of what life on the road can be like.

Not long after that two week trip away, things ended with the guy I was seeing. I’m not one to share details about things that involve other people, out of respect for their privacy, but let’s just say that this experience brought up quite a bit for me. Made me a re-assess a few things. Stirred up all kinds of emotions. Let’s just leave it at that.

So that was start to 2021. From there some really cool stuff started to unfold. I was super determined to find myself a Toyota Coaster bus so I could travel around and work from anywhere. It consumed me there for a bit! Every day I was searching online, thinking surely I’ll find a bus soon!

Third time lucky. The third bus that I seriously looked at was the dream bus! Mum and dad were keen for a bit of a holiday and had never really explored the east coast of Australia, so they kindly jumped at the opportunity to fly to Queensland for me, and drive it home (I am so blessed, I know!).

As you may recall, it was quite a drawn out process getting some fit out jobs to the bus, such as getting an air-conditioner and some shelving installed. It’s funny how things turn out though. I think it was blessing in disguise that it took ages for the bus to be ready, because it meant that I was home in SA for things that I wouldn’t have been able to get home for if I was travelling interstate (due to covid restrictions).

When it finally come time to take off in my bus, I was more nervous than excited! I remember feeling a bit disappointed with myself. I felt like the day I was taking off should have been such an exciting day, but instead I felt a bit numb! I was so nervous. I think it had been such a long time coming that I didn’t know how to process it all. However, safe to say that within a few days into my first bus trip I totally knew that I loved it. It felt so perfect and worth the wait.

It was incredible to experience huge growth with my business in that first month away in my bus. It’s amazing what happens when you follow a feeling and do what lights you up. Things align. Opportunities present, and it just confirmed to me that I was right where I was meant to be in life.

My business brings me so much joy. I get to work with the most incredible people. In fact the connections I make with people through my business is a big part of what I love. And then being able to help inspire, motivate and guide people to live their best life is like the icing on top.

All of these years of highs and lows that have led me to where I am right now, are perfect. They were meant to be. It’s the vast array of experiences I’ve had, that add to the gifts I have to offer people.  I really do believe that experience counts for so much. When people work with me, I’ve often been in their shoes. I can relate to what they’re experiencing, and I am evidence that they can get to the other side.

I feel like I’m living my purpose at present. I really do. No joke, I have days where I just smile and think, wow… I’m living the lifestyle I dreamt of for so long. 

Don’t get me wrong though. It doesn’t mean that it’s rainbows and butterflies all of the time. There’s absolutely still things I desire, and I’m going to be vulnerable for a minute and say that one thing I’m feeling so ready for now, is a relationship. I’m ready to find that special person I can live my life with. Gosh, it would be a dream come true to have a partner that can do this gypsy life with me (added bonus if they know how to change a tyre, haha).

On top of that there’s other desires I have such as bringing new projects to life, and reaching certain milestones in my business… but that’s the beauty of life right? I kind of see it like a game. Forever testing the boundaries; experiencing life; trying new things, learning and expanding.

In fact my word for 2022 is EXPAND. A lot of what I do next year will be based around that. I can feel it deep down in my soul. It’s like this year, the foundations have been laid, and 2022 is the year to expand both personally and professionally. But I might save the details for my first blog post next year.

Just to change gears for a minute… I can’t help but feel I need to give you a little update from where my last blog post ended! I wrote my last blog post when I was parked up in Loxton in my bus. In that blog post I said that I was going to explore the Riverland for a week or so before heading home.

Well things changed. I decided to head home the next day because I was sick and tired of the cold weather. Part of me felt like I should stay and stick it out, but then I thought, why? Why try and stick something out that I’m not enjoying when I have the freedom to do as a please? 

I felt ready to go home to the farm, so I did just that. I drove back to the farm the next day, and on my way home I faced my biggest fear… a flat tyre! In fact, it wasn’t just flat. It was a complete blow out. My front drivers tyre blew. I could feel it straight away and very promptly got the bus off the road.

I won’t lie. My heart was racing when it happened! But at the same time I was kind of impressed by how well I kept my calm and just did what I had to do.

Thankfully I have RAA and the road side assist was there within 30 minutes or so and changed my tyre for me. If I had driven another 10 minutes, I would have been driving through a big patch of national park with no phone reception. I’m so grateful that I had the blow out prior to hitting that stretch of road, or I don’t think I would have been so calm.

It was a really strange feeling when I got back to the farm. I vividly remember driving down the drive way thinking, ‘wow everything looks so dry and different to when I left.’ I walked into my farm house and again thought ‘wow.’ I felt like I had so much space (I do live in a pretty big farm house). You want to know something funny… my first night home, I actually wanted to sleep in my bus, haha!

Then within the next few days, I kind of questioned what I was doing at the farm? I felt a bit stagnant. I’d gone from being around different people each day, exploring new places, to being in one spot, with just me, myself & I (and my dog Coco of course). 

Don’t get me wrong. There’s other people that live and work on the farm that I see, but I thought why am I here when there’s a whole wide world out there to explore. There’s people I can meet. There’s adventures to be had.

But it’s funny how things work. Sure enough, within the last week or two, I’ve fallen back into my comfort zone on the farm. In fact as I type this, I’m feeling very content and at peace being here at the farm again.

I must admit though, I don’t feel the pull to travel during summer school holidays. I know that it will be very busy on the roads and at caravan parks. I also love harvest time on the farm, so I’m embracing that and enjoying the long summer days here. I have even driven my bus out to different paddocks on the farm and camped out a couple of times, and loved it.

Even though I’m comfortable on the farm for the time being, I know that as soon as I get in my bus to take off again in 2022, I will have the biggest smile on my face and excited for my next adventure. So I’m just giving you the heads up, that even though I’m parked up for now, it doesn’t mean the bus life adventures are over.

If you’re still reading this (my word count currently reads 2,179 words; apparently blogs should be around 500 words… but as we know, I’m not one to follow any trends, haha)… thank you for following along with my journey this year. It blows my mind when I see how many hits my blog posts get on my website. It’s quite humbling to think people enjoy reading about my life experience. So thank you once again. 

I hope you have a happy & safe Christmas and that 2022 is an unforgettable year for you, for all the right reasons.

Until next time, take care and sending lots of love.

With love & gratitude,

Steph x