Courage is Everything

Taking the Leap

A year ago, on 31.7., I took a leap: a sabbatical that would change my life.

I grew up believing anything was possible; my father encouraging, my mother cautioning. I had moved abroad for studies and work, traveled across the world when I got married, and started my own business. Yet after living through a military takeover and a real estate collapse, courage felt far away.

For years, my children, my calm hometown, and my work in the municipal sector provided a safe haven. I embraced Finland fully and gave all the creativity I could to my employer.

Getting Stuck vs. Moving Forward

It’s easy to get stuck in the rhythm of daily life, sucked into work, only thinking about the next weekend. Work trips and holidays were my windows to the world, my moments to explore and discover new paths.

As the kids grew up, the older I got, the scarier the thought of making any changes became.

Until staying put became the scariest thought of all.

I’m still scared every day. But that tingling on your skin when you’re alive? That’s worth everything.

What I Gained

My sabbatical came with a price, but I don’t count what I lost. I count what I gained: myself.

The most precious thing I own. And you can find that too.

Looking back, I hardly recognize the person I was: anxious, exhausted, a tired bureaucrat. Reading the cover of my novel All That is Yours still makes me shiver:

“Anna wanted to turn away from the path, even briefly. The independent Finn longed for a new kind of freedom before finding herself organizing already organized affairs in some central headquarters in Central Finland.”

It’s Okay to Be Scared

It’s okay to be scared. But don’t be afraid to listen to yourself.

Even a single intentional walk can spark clarity.

A short trip outside your usual circles can reconnect you to yourself.

A holiday should leave you empowered, not just until the flight home, but beyond into your everyday life.

How I Can Help

I guide people to reconnect with themselves, awaken their inner calling, and experience journeys that strengthen well-being. I’ve navigated many changes in life, and I’ve never felt more alive.

If you’re ready to explore what drives you:

• Fill out an Exploration Session Questionnaire

• Book a Discovery Session

• Join our Autumn Special, available until the end of the month

For Readers Curious About the Story

And if you’re curious about the story that inspired part of this journey, my novel All That is Yours is available as a paperback or eBook on Amazon.

Humans Travel For—and With—Humans

Travel is all about wellbeing, and we are different people on different journeys. Whether traveling together or solo, we are always seeking something deeper: space, time, togetherness, distance, or connection. But these are not the words we typically hear when booking a trip. Instead, we see the glimmer of well-known destinations with iconic sights and sunsets flashing at us online.

Yet often, it’s the offbeat trails, the smaller towns, the cobblestone villages that leave a lasting imprint. Cultural immersion, nature connection, and authentic human encounters—these are what turn a trip into something truly transformative.

What Is Calling You?

It’s good to ask ourselves why we want to go somewhere. What is calling us? Sometimes we feel the urge to do something, to be somewhere—but don’t yet know where or why. Maybe there’s a way of traveling we’ve never tried, or a destination we’ve held back from because of what we’ve heard or assumed.

Maybe there’s more we could bring back from our holidays—insight, peace, presence—if we started with intention and allowed ourselves to follow the deeper cause behind our desire to journey. Maybe it’s finally time.

My Journey to Solo Travel

Looking back, I’ve progressed from family trips to traveling alone with my children to meaningful destinations. It took years to realize I didn’t need to wait for someone else’s availability.

Solo travel, for me, began as a way to meet someone—my own quiet escape. But somewhere along the way, I realized I didn’t need a reason or a person to justify going. I could simply travel for myself.

As I began following my own interests—horseback riding, nature trails, slow mornings in unfamiliar places—I found something surprising: serendipitous encounters, spontaneous joy, and a renewed sense of self.

It’s Not the Destination

It’s never just about the destination. It’s the journey—the transportive moments along the way—that remind us who we are. These experiences have the power to reconnect us with our inner compass and support us in becoming fully empowered, content individuals—wherever we happen to be.

Fast-track search engines and AI can get you the ticket, but not the clarity you’re looking for. That comes step by step: through conversation, reflection, presence, and paying attention.

Travel Can Be Your Tool

Helping others find clarity and confidence has become my calling—especially when they don’t yet know the exact direction, only that it’s time.

I hope you find that time for yourself too.

Use travel as your tool. Not just for escaping, but for returning—to your self-esteem, your rhythm, and the connections that nourish you.

🌿 Begin with intention:

Download my intentional travel guide:

Luontopolku – A Nature Trail Back to Your Senses

📞 Feel something calling?

Book a free discovery call to explore how your next step might look.

🧭 Want to travel solo—together?

Join us for a transformative retreat in Alicante, October 9–12.

Limited spots available.

Alma de Verano

How we find our way.

Traveling solo is often easier to begin when you have a destination, a program, or a friend to meet.

At least for me, it was a kind of crazy idea to drive to see my friend now residing in Mijas while traveling through Spain during my sabbatical. It’s a bit of a drive from Oliva, Valencia, where I was staying—trailing the mountains and seaside, basking in Mediterranean November.

Excited to get on the road, I planned my route to reach my dwellings by nightfall, stopping to see places and visit cities along the way. Anxious about the highways at first in my tiny stick-shift Fiat, I gradually settled into road trip mode—lunching, navigating parallel parking in narrow streets, and staying in small hotels.

Walking alone at the beach on the third morning in Nerja, I noticed people smiling at me. Sitting down with a coffee and churros, I realized it was me smiling wide while strolling along—attracting smiles in return.

The Detour That Wasn’t

That afternoon, I navigated my way to Kristi’s panoramic villa.

We had been colleagues-turned-friends for over a decade, and there was the typical laughter, memories, and reflections on where we both were in life. But there was something more.

The two days we spent walking, sharing meals, or simply sitting and gazing at the sunset over the sea became a turning point in the trip for me. Without realizing it, I kept repeating something—which she gently asked back to me. Hugging each other warmly, I continued my journey toward another destination: a hike at Caminito del Rey, reflecting on our conversation in the back of my mind.

My road led me to Alhambra in Granada by accident, and the walk there felt as meant to be as the earlier legs of my journey—each grounding the pebble stones under my feet, helping me carry on. As I grabbed the wheel and drove back to the Montgó mountainside, I felt I needed to continue being here.

By the time I returned to Oliva, I had one day left for sightings yet to be seen.

Coming Full Circle

Now developing my own transformative travel coaching services for travelers and destinations, I come across the same limiting beliefs I also once carried.

I see the dreams, the aspirations, the urge to do something—to live the life we are called to lead. But we often carry a backpack full of unresolved issues that quietly weigh us down.

I now notice others repeating themselves—and I gently ask their words back to them, just as she once did for me last November.

The journey is always traveled a step at a time, without knowing the destination.

There are transportive moments along the way—moments that bring you back to yourself.

Alma de Verano

Next to me now hangs Alma de Verano, a painting I ordered from my mentor Kirsti.

It did its own winding journey, trailing through Estonian and Spanish post offices, before I finally collected it at the Denia post point and had it locally framed.

My gaze turns toward the light shining above the flowers.

Begin Your Journey

Follow your soul’s calling—whether it’s faint or banging loud—and begin taking steps toward your inner self.

Empowering solo journeys grow on you, leading you to bold decisions when the time is right.

And before that? It’s a good idea to travel to a friend and vocalize your aspirations.

Sometimes, it’s not the closest ones you say them to first.

Sometimes, it’s the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with—yourself.

Because you, too, deserve happiness.

✨ Book a free discovery chat to explore how to start your journey.

🌿 Travel to meet me or join the October 9–12 retreat in Alicante to look at your life from another angle.

🌿 Want to reconnect with yourself through nature?
Sign up for my newsletter and receive Your Luontopolku Personal Exercise — a guided reflective path back to your senses.
👉 Subscribe here and begin your intentional journey.

When You Know, You Know

How I found my place—and how you can too.

I knew immediately I was home when I visited La Siesta, nestled along the green belt of Dénia. I had come to Spain with a quiet purpose: to find something of my own, something that would root me to this land and bring alive the feeling that had been quietly building inside me. Fear or winter Finland in the back of mind with my worsening Raynard syndrome.

I visited several places with intention. And then, on the last viewing of my last day in Spain—early December 2024—I stepped out of the car and felt it. Montgó’s mighty presence, the Elephant as they call it, stretched out over Dénia like a protective shield. Behind the blooming palms and bougainvilleas of the community garden, I saw the eco-park and its winding pine trails. From the rooftop terrace of the third floor, I could spot the Dénia Castle, wrapped in ancient fortress walls. The old town, the bustling marina, the ferries to Ibiza and Mallorca—all within walking distance. Yet the peace of this place held me.

From there, things moved quickly. One serendipitous moment led to another. Determined to begin this new chapter, I made it happen—I spent New Year’s at my new second home, surrounded by family. With the help of incredible professionals, what began as a bold step became the beginning of something bigger.

Since then, my bond to Dénia has only grown. My interior decorator and real estate agent have become close friends, hairdresser a riding companion, volleyball teammates collaborators. Together with the La Siesta community, we’ve started crafting transformative experiences that reflect the essence of this place.

Because Dénia is unlike anywhere else. Its layered history of Roman and Moorish influence still echoes in its architecture and soul. Since the beginning of tourism in the 1950s, new cultural layers are still forming as incomers arrive—the fortifications and towers now welcoming them in. The gastronomy here is award-winning—think red gambas, black rice, and Valencian paella savored on lively tapas streets. The city pulses with festivals, music, and joy. Cyclists cruise the trails, horses graze near mountain ridges, and the warm locals remind you to laugh at yourself.

They speak Valencian here (which sounds to me like Spanish with a French twist), but they answer you in Spanish—and expect a smile or a joke in return.

I immersed myself from the start. I bicycled the beach side, hiked mountain paths to hidden caves, tasted smoked calamari and local wine, and danced (very poorly!) at a Latin class where the instructor kept repeating “Con mando, mía!” I took part in festivals like the Three Kings and Fallas, visited maritime and archaeological museums, and walked the tunnel beneath fortress breathing it all in.

And perhaps most importantly—I met people. Remarkable people. What happens when you journey alone. Many of them finding their way back to themselves, just like me.

I’ve arrived. And now, I hope to inspire others to give themselves time—to pause, listen inward, and take one small step at a time toward their inner child.

In reconnecting with my own nature, I’ve created something to share: a weekly program of transformative experiences for La Siesta residents and holiday guests of Dénia. These offerings invite you to rediscover presence, joy, and the simple magic of moving through life with curiosity and intention while savoring the essence of the Costa Blanca’s natural beauty and deep cultural roots. From onsite Pilates and fun cooking and Latin dance classes to nature adventures, gastronomy afternoons, and visits to Dénia Castle and the vibrant Friday market, each experience is crafted to invite joy, presence, and reflection.

✨ Book Dénia Experiences here

✨ Want to discover Dénia with me through a curated 1:1 travel coaching journey or join the October retreat in Alicante? Drop me a message—I’d love to walk that path with you.