meet emily
the story behind
left the normal “job—marriage—kids”, for the crazy, unconventional “9 years nomadic—2 businesses—1 irish setter dog”
Before “Days Afar”
It is incredible to me that this blog has grown to the size it has. When I first started this “project”, I had no expectations. In fact, I was pretty sure it was going to fail and that no one would ever read my “little travel blog”. I had just finished a season of Kayak Guiding in Norway and needed a new project. I was feeling a little lost and directionless at the time.
About to turn 24, I could not shake off this longing to create something of my own. All these years, I’d always worked FOR someone else, whether it was a cafe job, 9-5 corporate, or Kayak Guiding. Jumping from job to job. Country to country. Visa to visa. It was exhausting and unsustainable.
When I realised that the only way out was to create something of my own. A business or website of some sort. Since I didn’t have much capital, a digital business was the only viable option. Since I was already doing some freelance photography and blog translation for an Austrian Travel Blog, I decided to start there. It was 2018.
Somewhere, in the German countryside, I launched the first version of this travel blog “Freedom Wanderers”. The name was very reflective of my life phase at the time. In search of freedom, I never had. A home, so I could finally belong somewhere. Wandering continents, my restless soul whispered at me to move my life every 6-9 months.
I spent the majority of my 20’s living out of carry-ons and checked-in bags all over the world… until I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal. By then, I’d already started my Web Design business which took off and finally allowed me the financial freedom I had so longed for. I felt more and more at home. I felt a part of the community here. Most of the expats were misfits and entrepreneurs. We were all the black sheep back home. Here we became family.
Burn out & surrender
This newfound freedom inspired a new direction for this travel blog, which I rebranded in 2022 to “Free Wild Souls”. I started a podcast and had big visions to launch retreats and start a travel agency side. Alas, my overly ambitious fire got the better of me as I succumbed to my first-ever burn-out trying to juggle all the projects.
I struggled to accept how my brain and body were failing me. I could no longer work 10-12hr days. I was exhausted after sending just one email. My hair was falling out in clumps. I was deteriorating and it took almost losing everything I’d built for myself, my business, my freedom, my health… for me to finally let go of what was no longer working.
Hustle culture was out. Vegan diet was out. Freelancer mindset was out. I spent the next year diving into biohacking for women, rewiring my brain, joining a business mastermind, making quantum leaps, healing my inner child, growing a team, buying back time and connecting with inspiring entrepreneurs.
Rebirth of “Days afar”
Fast-forward to May 2024. Lisbon has become my long-term home. My friends here have become my family. I’ve adopted a sweet 9yr-old Irish Setter x Collie from the shelter and have fully embraced being a dog mom. I feel “settled” for the first time in a decade.
On a recent trip to Sevilla, after soaking in the Arabic Hammam Baths — I asked into the wind: “What wants to be created?”… I could feel something was ripe to come alive. The entire vision for “Days Afar” came to me in my meditation. It was so complete, I was a little startled.
“Days Afar” represents the time in-between, when you are away from the love and comfort of home, your family, partner and friends. It takes courage to leave so that you may further find yourself. It takes time to heal and reinvent yourself. It is precisely in those “days afar” that you grow and evolve.
Wherever you are in your journey, I hope you can be proud of how much you’ve already grown. I want you to remember how “resilient, courageous and loved” you are. Soon, I will be launching my very first collection of Talisman Jewellery — a reminder to carry close with you on your days afar x
