Wednesday, 28 May 2025 – First Day Off

Today marks the first day of my five months' long service leave – something we’ve looked forward to for a long time. After what has felt like a relentless few years, filled with personal challenges, loss, and navigating a world that’s shifted more than once, it feels almost surreal to finally pause.

We’ve spent so long in a cycle of just getting through – working hard, pushing forward, dealing with what’s come our way. So to wake up today and not reach for the work phone, not check emails, and instead start preparing for the next chapter... it’s a strange and welcome shift.

Next Wednesday, we fly out for what we’ve been calling our “trip of a lifetime” – a journey through Europe that’s taken months of planning and years of dreaming. Today was spent running a few final errands and making sure we’ve got everything ready – passports, power adapters, and the right kind of socks.

There’s still a bit to do, but something has started to change. For the first time in a long time, I feel myself exhale. The tension is lifting. We’re not just surviving anymore – we’re about to start living a little differently.