We sometimes take off on journ

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/11378751_1087565247948434_565853651_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIwNzY0MTQ0OTIwMTc4MjAzMw%3D%3D.2:My first visit to Austin & the Lone Star State is now in the books! It's time for a proper return to my home- Brooklyn and NYC await, and I'll be just in time for the budding spring season.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/10953642_1700779000211762_656587957_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIwODQxMDMyMzM3NTQ3NjE0Ng%3D%3D.2.l:Today marks L Fhile Pdraig- to those who are celebrating the patron saint of Ireland, this photo from the northern coast is for you.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/11008159_1002683946489103_1570570714_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIwOTgyNTk4Mzk5NzUzMDAwOA%3D%3D.2:Brushstrokes. Throwback to Summer 2015 - Perkins Pond, NH.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/1171180_584017071774935_1384019055_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIxMjc2MDQ0NzIwMzUyODIxOA%3D%3D.2.l:Lately, I've been feeling a lot like this. After returning from our project in Asia, I was quite ill. And somehow, that illness and exhaustion persisted for way longer than it should have. Eventually, rather than fight it, I gave in. I allowed myself sleep for long periods and took time to let myself feel crummy... knowing that it was what my body was clearly begging me for. And now, it's time to bounce back. But I'm feeling a bit rusty and stuck. Serious question: how do *you* best motivate yourself after a setback? What do you do when you're stuck? How do you spark your creative muscle and your excitement for future projects?

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12502008_210140962685389_774280264_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIxNDkxMzE3ODg4MjEzMzQ3NA%3D%3D.2.l:Spring has sprung... and so has Cubby! Saturdays at Saturday's and walks around the West Village with one of my favorite humans.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12930966_207441306293699_293369839_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIxNTYzMjAzNDk4MjM4MjkzOA%3D%3D.2.l:Please read: we just launched a new round (our seventh!) of The Bucket List Initiative at @passionpassport. Do you have a travel project or idea you want to tackle? You could be living your dream, all expenses paid. Follow the link in my profile to find out more! #TBLIVII (Photo from a favorite past adventure: a frozen Lake Superior at the Apostle Islands back in 2014.)

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12120498_253904631616026_1969905268_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIxNjM4ODcxNjAyMDc0NzQwMg%3D%3D.2.l:In one of my favorite Greek myths, the beautiful Persephone is abducted by Hades, the king of the underworld. Her mother Demeterthe goddess of the harvestis devastated. Eventually, a deal is struck: if Persephone agrees to marry Hades, she can still spend half of every year on earth. The story of the kidnapping represents the birth of the seasons, as every year Persephone must return to the underworld. Her mother, distressed at her loss, ignores the crops... but brings them back to life in the spring for her daughter's return. And while I've been told it's very clich to post photos like this one, New Yorkers are emerging from their own winter underworld, too. Let them relish in Persephone's reemergence. Let them post photos of the blossoming trees. The best season has begun. #blossoms #lithum

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12912427_773196449478551_1400734308_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIxNzgyMzkyNzYyNzUzMzkxNA%3D%3D.2:Woke up. Stumbled into a taxi. Caught a red eye flight from NYC to SF. Meetings, pitches, meetings. Back to the airport and off again.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12918426_742965419171991_1747691800_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMDU3MTAyNzA1NDM4MjM3Mg%3D%3D.2:Made it to Melbourne, where I've been making every attempt to adjust to this time zone as quickly as possible. No better solution for this than some of the most exceptional coffee in the world and the company of one of my best mates @lauraspurway.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12940038_967364866704726_303518702_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMDcxMzIzNzM0NzQyMTQ4Mw%3D%3D.2.l:While visiting Melbourne, I had the opportunity to catch up with @mcallisterjeff, a fellow Canadian who won Passion Passport's fourth round of The Bucket List Initiative in 2014. We checked out an exhibition showcasing artist Emma McEvoy's photographs from Kolmanskop, a ghost town in southern Namibia. In Melbourne, her work was housed in a similar environmentalmost creating a portal between Kolmanskop and a soon-to-be-demolished home in Fitzroy. Travel tends to create these types of gateways for ideas and friendships to continue. The last time I'd seen Jeff, we had said goodbye on a beach in Los Angeles after speaking on a panel at USC (back in January of 2015). Since then, he has moved halfway around the world to Australia to pursue a Masters in chemical engineering. This weekend, we found ourselves again with our feet back in the sand in Melbourne.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12907259_527672857412285_1233581914_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMTAxNDAyNjQxNDU3NTAzNg%3D%3D.2.l:Kaleidoscopic Melbourne

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12501813_1782474908642979_821870607_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMjA1NzcyNTI5NDY2MDg1Ng%3D%3D.2.l:Greetings from Lord Howe Island in New South Wales, one of the cleanest places on the planet! Im here for #PassportToCreativity, a collaboration between @passionpassport and @adobestudents, sending students to creatively document conservation efforts around the world.

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12934975_269507330054757_1344132218_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMjE4NTQ3MTE0NDQ4MDc1Nw%3D%3D.2.l:Lord Howe Island is the most southern true coral reef in the world. With over five hundred species of fish and nearly one hundred species of coral living here, there is extraordinary diversity. While snorkeling today, we had the opportunity to learn about the ecosystems that are present here and the unique threats they face. #PassportToCreativity

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12905147_1729908180558207_1082031947_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyMjg5Mjk3MTA5MTE1MjMyNw%3D%3D.2.l:Currently hanging out on the crater of an extinct volcano... from seven million years ago. #PassportToCreativity

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e15/12519666_216943965342454_1779637146_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyNDE0NzYyODQ5NzE2MTc2MQ%3D%3D.2.l:Scenes from a swim at Ned's Beach at Lord Howe Island. A couple of days back, the one and only @zachfack gave a couple of us a drone lesson. We were able to pick it up pretty quickly and Hugo (@graphonaute, one of two students selected for the Australian leg of #PassportToCreativity) shot this footage of me swimming in Lord Howe Islands's crystal blue waters. What you won't see in this video, however, is the point where I hit the reef. I wouldn't recommend swimming backstroke in these watersI swam straight into some coral and emerged wounded and bloody from my tussle. #PassportToCreativity Music: Dissolve Me - alt-J

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12930862_481841038672060_1770050181_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyNDMxODU3NzUwNjg5NzUwNQ%3D%3D.2:(1/2) Ball's Pyramid, off in the horizon, is the result of a volcanic eruption seven million years ago. It is the tallest volcanic stack in the world, towering over the Tasman Sea at 552m. Today we made the bumpy boat trip over to the island where, in 2003, the long-thought-extinct Phasmid was rediscovered. #PassportToCreativity

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12907350_154076488321050_1528534059_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyNDMzODA1ODc2NTUxOTg5NA%3D%3D.2.l:(2/2) This little guy was believed to be extinct for over 100 years. He is the rarest insect in the world. When a team of conservationists rediscovered the Phasmid in 2003, two breeding pairs were brought to mainland Australia. The first pair died. The second pair were successfully bred in Melbourne, and today there is a fairly strong population of these insects. The hope is that, in the coming years, they can be reintroduced to Lord Howe Island. #PassportToCreativity #makephasmidportraits Photo by @hellopoe

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12907188_201675220216032_732304301_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyNTA4ODAxMDUwNDQ5MDg0NA%3D%3D.2.l:On many nights on the island, we stayed up late, sometimes taking photos, and at other points lying in the sand and staring up at the stratosphere in bewilderment. I don't think I've ever seen skies so clear. #PassportToCreativity

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12230991_1593606520953454_1482231084_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIyNzI3MDkwNjczNjY2MDIyOQ%3D%3D.2.l:FACT: I don't know how to relax or how to take breaks. It's been something present in my life since childhoodI was a high energy kid who couldn't quite sit still. I love to learn. I love to create. I love to be stimulated. But it's important to know when to rest, and when to take time to reflect and reassess your goals. I came to the shocking realization a couple of weeks ago that I haven't taken a proper vacation for sixteen months. It hit me like a ton of bricks: my work-life balance was at an all time low, I had just recovered from an illness, and my outlook was pretty negative. It was time for change, and that is why during this next period I'll be asking myself the tough questions, resting, and re-connecting with my WHY. When was the last time you took a step back and gave yourself the space to re-center yourself? How did you do it?

img:https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s640x640/sh0.08/e35/12912596_761057967363629_2134585848_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTIzMjI1NDY2MDA0MzQ2MDM5OA%3D%3D.2:We sometimes take off on journeys expecting tangible results, or for aha! moments and answers to the tough questions we are contemplating. I feel like to a certain degree, I came into this time in Bali expecting that there would be some kind of seismic shift in my world view. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of times, those expectations are complete bullshit. Finding the clarity we are looking for is about showing up, time and time again. Sure, meditating and walking in rice fields and eating organic food and journaling and doing downward-facing dogs and heart-to-hearts with friends will help move things along. But the dots won't connect simply because we force them to come together. They'll connect because we decide to make space for them and create fertile ground for those answers to emerge naturally. In due time. Like rice harvested over months and months in these terraces. In making space this week, I started to understand a chunk of what has been missing. And I'm going to continue this process when I get home. And that is a damn good start.