How One Decision Changed Everything

If you would have told me a year and a half ago that I would be writing a blog, recording a podcast, owning a travel business, and reaching out to people I admire without overthinking every word, I would have never believed you.

Not because I didn’t want those things.

Because I couldn’t imagine them.

Back then, my world felt smaller.

My life revolved around the next happy hour, the next concert, the next weekend, the next vacation, AKA the next reason to drink.

I wasn’t unhappy.

But I wasn’t fully present either.

When I decided to quit drinking, I thought the challenge would be learning how to live without alcohol.

What I didn’t realize was that I would also have to learn who I was without it.

And honestly?

That part was harder.

There were days I felt lost.

Days I questioned everything.

Days I missed the version of myself I thought I was.

But somewhere in the middle of all that uncertainty, something unexpected happened.

I started writing.

At first it was just a place to dump my thoughts.

A place to process what I was feeling.

A place to make sense of the messy middle.

Then I started sharing…

Then people started reading…

Then people started responding…

Then complete strangers started telling me that something I wrote made them feel less alone.

That feeling is hard to explain.

Because every time I hit publish, I feel vulnerable.

But every time someone says, “I thought I was the only one,” I remember exactly why I started.

Then came the podcast.

And if I’m being honest, launching a podcast was something I talked myself out of for a long time!

I worried about what people would think.

I worried about whether anyone would listen.

I worried about whether I was qualified.

Then one day I realized I had spent enough years waiting to feel ready.

So I started.

And after every episode, I find myself feeling the same thing:

Excitement!

Not because the episode is perfect.

Not because I suddenly have everything figured out.

But because creating something that might help another person feels meaningful.

For the first time in a long time, I feel genuinely excited about what’s next.

Even when life has thrown curveballs.

Especially then.

Because in the middle of launching Highly Relatable and less than half a year into sobriety, Amazon laid 30,000 of us off… Ouch!

A version of me from a few years ago would have seen that as proof that everything was falling apart.

Instead, I saw it differently.

Not because it wasn’t scary.

It was.

But sobriety had already taught me something important:

I can survive hard things.

I can trust myself.

I can build something new.

So I started Highly Relatable Travel.

And what surprised me most wasn’t that I enjoy helping people plan vacations.

It’s how much joy I get from knowing someone has something to look forward to.

When I confirm a trip for a client, I get excited for them.

I start imagining the countdown they’re about to begin.

The memories they’re about to make.

The experiences waiting for them.

There is something beautiful about helping people create future joy.

Maybe that’s why I love travel.

Maybe that’s why I love storytelling.

Maybe that’s why I love this entire chapter of my life.

Because all of it is rooted in possibility.

The biggest realization I’ve had lately is this:

I didn’t just quit drinking.

I started living differently.

I started saying yes to opportunities that used to scare me.

I started sharing my story.

I started believing that my voice mattered.

I started betting on myself.

And the crazy thing is, I’m still at the beginning.

There are still people I’d love to interview.

Places I’d love to travel.

Stages I’d love to stand on.

Stories I’d love to tell.

Dreams I’d love to chase.

For the first time in a very long time, the future feels exciting.

Not because I know exactly where I’m headed.

But because I finally trust myself to figure it out along the way.

The life I’m building today looks nothing like the life I imagined a few years ago.

And honestly?

I’m grateful for that.

Because the life I imagined was smaller.

This one feels bigger.

More meaningful.

More authentic.

More me.

And it all started with one decision.

A decision that I thought was about alcohol.

But was actually about giving myself a chance to become the person I was meant to be.

XOXO – Brittany Jo