After spending part of this summer traveling through Europe with my family, I find myself slowly returning—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally—back into the swing of everyday life. And wow, reentry is real.
Whether you’ve traveled this summer or just taken a break from your usual routine, you probably know the feeling. That moment when life starts moving again and you’re expected to jump back in—but a part of you is still lingering in that slower, quieter space. It’s like your body is home, but your mind is still watching the sunset over some unfamiliar skyline or laughing around a dinner table where no one’s rushing to check their phone.
For our family, Europe wasn’t just a trip—it was a shift. We pressed pause. And in that pause, we found something that often gets lost in the daily hustle: uninterrupted time together. Long walks with no destination. Meals that weren’t about getting fed but about connecting. Mornings that didn’t start with alarms or to-do lists. The kind of days that remind you of what matters most.
Of course, the days weren’t perfect. Traveling with kids, juggling different needs, adjusting to unfamiliar places—there were still the usual frustrations and funny mishaps. But the pace was different. The focus was different. We were more present. Less rushed. And somehow, without trying, we started paying attention again—to each other, to our surroundings, to ourselves.
Now that we’re home, I keep thinking about how easy it is to fall right back into old rhythms: packed schedules, full inboxes, multi-tasking through dinner, saying “just a minute” more times than we’d like. And yet, I don’t want to forget how it felt to slow down. To be fully there. To let life unfold instead of constantly trying to control it.
Coming back, I’m trying to resist the urge to sprint. I’m giving myself permission to ease in gently. To bring a little of that “vacation energy” into real life—not the sightseeing or the gelato (though I wouldn’t say no), but the mindset. The willingness to pause. The deeper conversations. The freedom to say, “What if we just did less today, and noticed more?”
Maybe you didn’t leave the country this summer. Maybe your version of a reset looked like evenings on the patio, beach days with sandy sandwiches, weekend road trips, or even just letting yourself sleep in. Whatever it was, I hope you felt the pause. I hope there was a moment—just one—when you remembered what it feels like to breathe a little deeper and laugh a little louder.
As we shift into the busier months ahead, I’m holding tight to that feeling. Not perfectly, not every day—but intentionally. Because the world will always offer us more to do, more to chase, more to worry about. But it’s up to us to carve out space for what really fills us.
So here’s to whatever summer gave you—rest, reconnection, perspective, or just a change of scenery. And here’s to carrying a piece of that into the season ahead, even as we get back to work, school, and schedules. Life may be moving again, but we don’t have to forget how good it felt to slow dow
