The Year We Chose Courage Over Comfort
A family experiment in listening to instinct before time runs out
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In July 2025 my wife Linnea and I sold our house and most of our possessions to make a long held dream possible. We sat our kids down, and together we decided to travel the world for a year.
A Dream We Kept Postponing
We had talked about this world trip for years but the vision always seemed out of reach. Our jobs, school, money, and dozens of other reasons blocked the way.
Our vision was to visit exotic places we had always wanted to see. Spending real, connected time with our children before they grew older and slipped off into their own lives. Experiencing different cultures, slower travel, and ways of living first hand instead of through screens and headlines.
But underneath all of that was a growing awareness that time is not elastic. That childhood is brief. That health is not guaranteed.
A Spark of Instinct
In late 2024 Linnea and I were both at crossroads in our careers.
My work had begun to make me physically unwell as I realised my true calling was in mortality awareness, not entertainment. Linnea had been searching for a job that fit her more honestly, but not much was sticking.
One restless night, half asleep, on a full moon, the solution arrived. Not gently. It came like a dreamy epiphany: Step away. Sell the house. Fund the trip. Trust.
It felt reckless. It felt terrifying. But we had followed instinct once before when we moved to Somerset, to a town we did not know, and that courage to move rewarded us with seven extraordinary years in our beloved Frome.
So once again we trusted our hearts over our minds.
We took the children out of school. Stepped away from work. Let go of routines that normally hold life in place. Sold almost everything. Released the mortgage and loans. Asked our friend Paul to look after our dog, Ragsdale.
We even limited luggage to one carry on backpack each. It was not minimalism for aesthetics. All in an effort to become as light as possible, physically and psychologically.
The Goodbye That Broke Us
One of the hardest parts was leaving on the train in Frome. Our close friends running down the platform, alongside the carriage as the train began to move off, everyone in floods of tears. Our children pressed to the window, sobbing.
And as the train pulled away toward the airport, something hit me in the chest.
What have we done? We had a great life. A strong community. Familiar rhythms. Deep friendships and family. Why leave?
The Cave
Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero’s Journey, once wrote:
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
That moment was our cave. Stepping away from comfort. Letting go of a life that worked on many levels, yet feeling called beyond it.
The fear was not danger. It was loss. Deep grief.
Instinct does not shout. And over the years that sense of instinct grew louder. A strong pull toward expansion. Toward living less carefully. Toward not postponing something that mattered.
Mortality awareness shaped this more than I realised.
When you sit with the truth that life is finite, decisions sharpen. You stop asking, is this sensible? And start asking, will I regret not doing this?
Hospice research consistently shows that one of the most common regrets at the end of life is not having had the courage to live true to oneself.
We did not want to reach the end of our lives and realise we had waited too long.
What Travel Has Actually Taught Us
So far we have visited Sweden, USA, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Thailand.
We have lived close to nature with limited connectivity. Participated in world schools and experienced communities.
We have attended conferences on regeneration, tokenomics and AI through the DAO Incubator and The Gathering. Met people who challenge what we once thought success looked like - and what a world that works for everyone, looks like for us (based on Buckminster Fuller and Marc Buckley’s work).
There have been doubts. Parenting wobbles. Homesickness that feels physical.
But there has also been proper, deep space to reflect.
We have, for the most part, all slept in the same room during the last six months. We have had time with our children that is not rushed. Conversations that stretch. A new definition of what enough means.
We have watched our children grow emotionally as our family bonds deepen. All of us learning Spanish together as a family.
This space has gifted us the clarity about what comes next. I am now training as a coach, using mortality awareness to help people dissolve fear and discover deeper purpose.
Linnea and I are even considering advising other couples who are also on the fence about big life decisions.
This journey is not an escape. It is an investment. In family. In perspective. In listening when instinct calls.
Because ‘the cave’ is rarely a physical place. It is the step away from comfort. The release of identity. The willingness to not know what comes next.
And when we turn toward what we fear instead of away from it, life expands.
We feel deeply grateful for this experience. And proud that when the moment arrived, we chose courage over comfort.
An Invitation
You do not have to give up your home. But maybe there is one small step you already know you need to take?
A conversation. A simplification. A risk you keep postponing.
Start there.
You do not get infinite seasons. You get this one.
If this newsletter resonated, please comment, like, re-stack, and share. My mission is to establish mortality awareness as a recognised wellness practise. By supporting this work, and being part of this community, you are helping this come to be.
Live happy,
Hoppy
Tools & Updates
Reverstory: the bespoke AI tool designed to help you identify major life regrets and suggest ideas of how to course correct while you still can. Available to paying subscribers. I’m offering a special 25% off paid subscriptions for the next month. That’s only £6 / $8 a month to transform your life. Subscribe here:
The Ultimate Meditation: A guided practice designed to help you slow down, reflect on mortality, and reconnect with a life of no regrets. Many people tell me it helps them discover greater calm, gratitude, and clarity.
I have been invited to perform the mediation at both Connect and Medicine Festivals this summer - I’m feeling very grateful and honoured.
Tools: For access to Reverstory and guided exercises to help you live these ideas day to day.
Go deeper: Reverstory / My Father’s Death / Socrates: Famous Last Words
Full website with all content: Here
What people are saying about DTLWP: “Dying to Live with Purpose, is a gentle, grounding guide for anyone seeking to live more fully by befriending the truth of impermanence.” (Cristabel)
Another brilliant piece John. Thank you so much. I love what you are offering the world. XX