Choosing Health Over Hustle: A New Year Reflection on Healing, Travel, and Living Fully After 50

artwithelida
Dec 31, 2025
3 min read

Happy New Year!

As the New Year begins, many of us enter a season of New Year reflection, thinking about our goals, our bodies, and what we want this next chapter to look like—especially when it comes to health after 50.

You might be shopping for the latest exercise equipment or thinking about joining a gym.

I hear you.

I usually gain weight each winter—especially after the holidays—and then frantically try to lose it before summer. But over the past few years, I’ve shifted my focus from “What will I look like in a swimsuit?” to “Will this exercise help me catch my grandson in a foot race?”

I’m choosing the long game of health over the short game of appearance, thinking about midlife health, strength, and what it really means to age well.

I’ve taken the same long-term approach to New Year’s resolutions. If you’ve read my blog before, you know I no longer make a long list—I choose one word for the year. Last year, my word was present, and I truly feel like I lived into that intention through both joy and challenge.

As I reflect on 2025, it was a year filled with highs and lows. This time last year, I was recovering from another surgery and extending my healing journey into the new year, unsure of what the future held for my health. Everything felt uncertain, and I was in a great deal of pain.

Contrast that with today: I’m back at my family reunion, but instead of lying on the couch, I was out playing pickleball. I feel strong, healthy, and healed. While my kidney will never be exactly the same, it is functioning—and I feel great. Choosing long-term health has completely reshaped how I think about my body and my life after 50.

This year, I turned 50 and began the adventure of visiting 50 countries, a dream that launched my sabbatical year abroad. I spent the summer traveling and promoting my book, experiencing moments of joy and connection woven throughout my healing. The first leg of this adventure took me through much of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, where I embraced slow travel and meaningful travel rather than rushing from place to place.

So far, I’ve visited 17 countries, and I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to do despite ongoing challenges with my body. Travel after 50 has become not just an adventure, but a powerful form of personal growth.

Now I’m home, spending time with my family and the people I love most. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who has followed along on this journey and supported me through healing, travel, and reinvention. There are 33 more countries to go, and I plan to continue this adventure with a trip through Central and South America for the next leg of my sabbatical year abroad.

Of course, there have been a few fabulous snafus. The most joyful one? My daughter, Emily, is pregnant and expecting a baby this summer. My youngest son, Weston, is graduating from college at the end of April, which means my travels will pause during late spring and summer. I’m hopeful for one last big push this fall—though I don’t yet know which countries will round out the year. I’d love your suggestions.

As I look back, I feel a deep gratitude practice for everyone who showed up for me during some of the hardest moments of my life. I am deeply thankful.

As I look ahead, I’m excited and open to what God has in store for me. This season has reminded me how quickly life can change—and how beautiful those changes can be. As I step into new personal and professional chapters, I find myself longing for clarity. I hope that somewhere on a plane, bus, or train, I’ll carry forward last year’s presence and, in the quiet, gain a clearer vision of what’s next.

What about you?

What would you like to do this year?

What’s one word for the year that could define your 2026?

Cheers to the new year—and to you, my dear friend. 🥂

P.S. If you’re looking for inspiration to kickstart your year or begin your own personal growth journey, click below to explore my new book.

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