North Florida

North Florida holds some of the most meaningful miles I've ever traveled.

The first time I came here alone, I had just walked through divorce and the loss of my mother. For my birthday, I booked the cheapest trip I could find. Somewhere between the airport and Pensacola Beach, my Uber driver's name was Jesus, and there was a Bible resting in the car.

Looking back, it feels like one of those moments that only makes sense years later.

I was trying so hard to build a new life. I didn't know then that life would still ask even more of me before everything finally began to come together.

That birthday, I carried my beach things in a yellow Dollar General bag because I couldn't justify buying another beach bag when I already had bags at home. I've never liked wasting money or buying things I don't truly need.

I sat on the beach in the rain and ate an entire hot pink birthday cake with my hands because I hadn't packed a fork.

At the time, it felt like survival.

Now it feels like freedom.

Since then, North Florida has continued calling me back. From the white sand beaches of the Panhandle to the historic streets of St. Augustine, this part of the state reminds me that healing rarely arrives all at once. Sometimes it comes disguised as an empty shoreline, a slice of cake, a conversation with a stranger, and the quiet realization that you're going to be okay.