Above are all the spots I’ve hit along the way! I’ve been logging my trip steps via Polarsteps app, a neat way of documenting trips and travel. Click here for the link to stay up to date! It’s super easy to follow. This is great for those who don’t care for Instagram, as I have been posting there, but a totally different following experience!

New York was the main reason I uprooted from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It was supposed to be a quick business trip then back to Costa Rica to continue building the dream of a second home. But as mentioned before, externalities changed everything for me and Pura Vida land. So I canceled the return flight and extended the business trip and instead made it about family (and food!) Above are photos with the fam and friends that really made me feel seen, heard, and supported, exactly what I needed when my tail was tucked between my legs in feelings of failure, loss, heartbreak, and confusion (don’t be confused by the smiles in the photos). The main throughway was vulnerability.

Takeaway: By being vulnerable, we acknowledged permission to act beyond the expectations and role of uncle, cousin, coworker, friend of friend, etc., and simply acted authentically humane.

I am an Ironman. I am an Ultramarathon champion. I am an industry leader. I have a reputation. I have a legacy. I am resilient. These are reminders I said to myself when trying to pick up the pieces of a broken dream. From canceling a retreat, to losing in an ‘I’m all in’ relationship, to hitting roadblocks in the online fitness world, the failures I needed to surmount kept piling up. Using my past persona to rebound out of a rut seemed like the best solution. So I resorted to the comeback narrative. Running an ultramarathon was a calculated risk that I knew would challenge me, maybe add another failure to the list, but I didn’t care, I just knew that the challenge would change me, which is all that mattered.

I ended up hitting a wall with 8k remaining, I was ready to call it quits (one of the first times ever for me), the feelings of failure flooded in, but instead of drowning in misery, I took a moment to weigh my options, and realized I could finish the distance on my own terms. So the race director’s cancelation announcement the day before (although devastating) became a blessing in disguise, the canceled race became a virtual race, which allowed me to finish the race whichever way I wanted to. Instead of putting myself in danger and running the actual course, I did loops around the shaded campgrounds.

Takeaway: Whether we run away from the things that don’t go our way or run faster towards the things that are currently working, either direction, we’re still moving instead of stagnating. Stagnation gives you one option, movement gives you many options. So when in doubt, just keep moving, one foot in front of the other.

After New York, I had planned on visiting Florida with my then partner, but things had drastically changed. But Florida stayed in my mind, especially since it was frickin cold in New York, and even colder in Toronto! With my place still rented out until July, I had options. Last year May and the May before, I had road tripped, so why not make it an annual thing! So with a shot in the dark, I reached out to my permaculture course friends Monique and Ryan, who had lived the RV life for 3 years straight, and asked them if they were still living in it. Perfect timing, they were going to park it for long term because they were pregnant, and the month of May was open! They graciously lent and entrusted their other baby, ‘Whitey’ the RV, to me, and the rest is history!

Takeaway: Trust in intuition. Trust in divine timing. Trust in shooting first, going with your gut, and aiming second with plans. Plan along the way, be open to going with the flow. Trust that sometimes the universe is conspiring to help you on your way. Just be sure to look up and around once in a while, since so many of us are so focused on looking down at our phones, laptops, and TPS reports.

Let them. Once I accepted, I was liberated. I was able to zoom out. Take stock. Balance my mind with reason and rationality. I felt the weight of the worst case scenario because I was drowning myself in it emotionally. I realized though, that the ‘drowning’ was the driving force necessary to boomerang me out and away, to explore better-case scenarios available to me.

Takeaway: When you feel like the walls are caving in … let them. Feel into it. Resistance is futile. Surrender. Just accept it and trust that an opposing force will emerge within you.

Huge thanks to my buddy Jason for the companionship on the first half of the trip. Without him, I would not have had nearly as much fun, pushed as hard as we did to do epic things, and learned as much about communication and collaboration, extremely important ingredients to the partnered/family life we both endeavor to live.

Takeaway: It’s all about teamwork. Teamwork is all about communication. Communication is all about timing, tone, and trust. It took us time to find the right tone, but once we trusted in each other’s intentions and capabilities, the home runs just kept coming.

Whenever I can, I’ll create a mobility sequence or workout video. This is also part of my process, to stay committed and connected with my profession as it has given me so much purpose, meaning, and pleasure. Check out the link to the video here.

Takeaway: By doing the things that you’re good at and that you’re interested in, it gets you into a flow state, a creative state, an intellectual state, a state that occupies time and space away from the negatives. When you’re feeling down, double down on hobbies, creative endeavors, and outlets that reveal the more authentic sides of you. You may feel imposter syndrome in the beginning, but once you get flowing, you’ll realize why you didn’t get started sooner.

My RUNCON Essentials course hasn’t received the uptake that I was expecting, but that’s the entrepreneur life, you win some and you lose some. But I’m not giving up! Sales cycles, networking, market trends/fluctuations/saturation, etc., all demand consistent attention. And I haven’t been able to give it that. So I will be sharing more of this work upon my return, and hope that you, my community, will support it as you have done so for my other projects in the past. For now Julian, focus on the journey that you’re currently on!

Takeaway: Focus on one thing at a time. My brother and I had a heart to heart about my intentions for my road trip, and I wanted to do it all: hybrid work, drive to epic places, visit with friends across the country, create content, train for ultras, yoga everday, read a book a week, and do all the personal development things to help me transition. WOW. Way too much. Once I reprioritized and put work second to enjoying my time being present with RV traveling, I felt the weight off my shoulders.

***Shameless Plug**** If you haven’t had a chance to look into it, check it out at www.julianho.ca/runconessentials … it’s got so many practical applications that so many runners are missing the mark on. Just scan the landing page and you’ll see.

Sadness is life holding you in its hands and changing you.
Loneliness is just space expanding around you.
The fears we don’t face become our limits.
Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.

Takeaway:
Make solitude your home.
Make health your wealth.
Make exploration your destination.
Make love your life force.

“Just as we look back in horror at the lives of people 500 years ago, I imagine people 500 years from now will laugh at us and our uncertainties today. They will laugh at how we let our money and our jobs define our lives. They will laugh at how we were afraid to show appreciation for those who matter to us most, yet heaped praise on public figures who didn’t deserve anything. They will laugh at our rituals and superstitions, our worries and our wars, they will gawk at our cruelty. They will study our art and argue over our history. They will understand truths about us of which none of us are yet aware. And they too, will be wrong. Just less wrong than we were.”

Takeaway: I will look back on this phase of my life with a smile, knowing how much I have grown, and yet still have to grow, but have grown so much from before this. I will laugh at the truths I so wholeheartedly believed in, not with patrony, but with fascination and curiosity. I look forward to the unfolding of it all, but amidst all that I am going through, I actually feel the grandest in the present moment, grounded in gratitude.

May the flow be with you