We have a lot more to learn about each other and what our future looks like as a couple, but for those of you who are dating right now, don’t fool yourself into a relationship with someone who isn’t showing up. Focus on your values, and have as much goddamn fun as you can. Date intentionally, and trust your body. Ask for clarity, and accept their answers. Let there be space between you, and keep your spirit and heart in tact. Do not for the love of god let their cool hobbies convince you that you need to date them. Go learn those hobbies for yourself. And lastly, there is a really good chance you don’t even know what you are waiting for yet. Let yourself be surprised.

I think we all spend a lot of time feeling like we are the only one’s feeling whatever it is that we are going through. We forget so easily how impossible the idea of disconnection

The truth is that we write our love stories. The catch is only the beginning of whether or not you and the other person has what it takes to make love last.

For the first time in my life I have love like this in the place where I live. It has taken three years for me to form friendships that I can rely on. People who speak the language of effort, who I call for good news and bad news, and we make dinners together and go for walks and share the intimacy of seeing and being seen.

I believe in synchronicities and the ache in our hearts when we feel we have landed somewhere we are meant to. I believe that there are lessons along the way, and that joy is an indicator that your * soul * is on the right track.

I feel a bit like a mom must feel when she hires a babysitter. Exhilirated and unsure what to do with the freedom. Who am I without the solidifying identity of ‘small business owner'.

I have more clarity around the work I want to gear myself towards: making time for my art, writing about love and travel, and creating a community space where creatives can gather over conversation, food and movement. I want to call a place home, and to know the flowers and trees by name.

I’ve gone to enough therapy to be able to forgive myself for my shortcomings on the blog. I had every intention of creating a routine and discipline to my time here. I thought I would have downtime to catch up on all the work my life at home has been asking from me. I thought wrong. Yet, even though there is a mountain I have to attend to, it doesn’t feel as daunting.

You know those friends that feel like family? The ones that ground you and feel like you may not be as crazy as you think because this person exists? Yeah, that is Nikki for me.

Quick interlude to talk about where the Bus dropped me off. You see, there is a special place called the Granada Tavern, where one can find $5.50 schooners (12oz. Beers) which is unheard of in Australia (beer is much more expensive here). For shits and giggles I stopped in. I deeply enjoy being places where people don’t expect me (as mentioned before) and here I was sitting in a pub with an assortment of blue-collar workers still in their work uniforms. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, coupled with 2 traveling bags and a corduroy hat.

I will never take for granted the beauty it is to connect with friends across cultures and around the world. To be known by name, and to feel as though the friendship can pick up after such a vast expanse of time. I savored every sip of the beer, hugged Ema goodbye, and headed for the bus and my consequent shower. I live for tiny coincidences, and it felt good to have so many flooding in all at once.

I’ve landed in the future, discombobulated after a night of half-sleep, half-waging war on finite space with my traveling companions on the plane. Luckily, we didn’t exchange looks when we landed and I escaped the plane unscathed, only slightly guilty from robbing her of some of her shut-eye.

All five feet, nine inches of me is crammed into a plane somewhere over the pacific on my way to Australia. A younger me used to be able to tolerate the tight quarters of the plane, running off the adrenaline of going somewhere. Somehow I would even manage to sleep. I used to take pride in being *travel savvy,* today however, I am at odds with this perception of myself.

Welcome to the world of a woman who owns a plant shop, with unrequited dreams of meandering like Mary Oliver, and finding a love to endure this lifetime. After many failed attempts to write a blog for the shop itself, I’ve decided to launch this secret blog about my life. The life that happens behind the scenes, driven by a deep desire for wild places, wild love, and a deep fear of setting down roots.