We Went Anyway is a travel blog about what it means to build a life — a real one — after the world has told you to play small, stay safe, or keep surviving.

I am a clinical psychologist, professor, and researcher. For the past two decades, I have studied how trauma lives in the body, how systems wear people down, and how healing happens — in relationships, in rest, in resistance. I have taught the science of recovery, written about wellness, and trained the next generation of mental health professionals.

But academia rewards productivity, not peace. Like so many others, I internalized the message that worth comes from achievement — that I should always be doing more, reaching higher, publishing faster. I knew the research on rest and resilience, but living it was something else entirely.

The messages told me to stay home and work more, be more. But we went anyway.

This blog began as a personal act of reclamation — a way to put what I teach into practice. To live the science of wellness instead of just studying it. To choose slow travel, shared wonder, and a new path forward — for myself and for my son.

Along the way, it’s become a space to reflect on travel not as escape, but as return. To self. To stillness. To what matters most.

Here, you'll find honest stories from the road, reflections on healing and hope, practical guides, and glimpses of the world through a child’s eyes. Most photos are taken by me — or of me, chasing joy with a backpack and a smaller hand in mine.

If you’re curious about my other work — as a psychologist, writer, speaker, and founder of Science for Survivors — you can learn more here in the Beyond the Blog section.

Thanks for being here. I hope this space gives you permission to live the life you’ve been waiting for.