WELCOME
I share two original essays to help you rebuild life and work with intention (hence ‘sojourn’)—in a private community that uses travel as a tool for reinvention.
After years of building for others, I needed a reset. Writing became my way back in, and Sojourn was born from that return.
Sojourn means a temporary stay — but here, it’s something more. A pause. A turning point. A conscious choice to slow down, reconnect, and rebuild.
Outside of writing, travel is how I reconnect. The Edit is where I share stays and spaces that hold room for quiet reflection and self-renewal. Places I’d recommend to my closest friends and family.
Whether you’re a founder, coach, employee, creative, or quietly questioning what’s next — I hope Sojourn becomes your gateway to reset the rhythm.
ABOUT SOJOURN
Twice a week, I share short essays on how your lived experience can become your most valuable strategy for life, work, and what’s next.
All my writings are free. Always. This is my offering — and your reset. But if it’s moved you, there’s an option to become a paid subscriber. Note: it’s not to unlock more, but to sustain what’s already here.
As a thank-you, you’ll receive a gift from me plus, a growing library that live on Substack, designed to support your next chapter.
Think of it less as a membership, more as an ongoing exchange. A personal reset: honest ideas in, meaningful support returned. No noise, no pressure — just the space to rebuild something real.
This isn’t about chasing visibility or scaling fast. It’s about slowing down to hear more, creating from lived experience, growing at your own pace, and building a life that can move with you, from anywhere in the world.
You can Start Here.
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
FREE SUBSCRIBERS
Two original essays per week (Tuesdays + Thursdays).
PREMIUM COMMUNITY
$15/month
Two Original Essays (Tuesdays + Thursdays) — with the ability to leave comments and connect with others.
One login, three libraries
The Edit — a living collection of slow stays and rituals to bring home.
The Build — frameworks, scripts, and notes for designing work that travels lightly, but lasts.
The Shelf — curated books, tools, and prompts I personally trust for clarity and reinvention.
Plus
The Reset Workbook — a thank-you gift and self-guided PDF to help you return to what’s real, true, and still yours.
Unpublished Essays + Archives — access to writings not shared anywhere else, plus past favorites.
Voiceovers: Each essay, read aloud — for those who prefer to listen as much as read.
Substack Chat — a quiet space for conversation and behind-the-scenes notes.
Note
Aside from the two essays, everything here lives on private pages inside Substack—not sent via email. Think of it as a quiet, growing library that expands with new guides, rituals, and resources you can visit anytime. Updated over time, designed to support your ongoing journey. The Sojourn Reset Workbook is available to download the moment you subscribe.
WHY “SOJOURN”?
A sojourn means a temporary stay — a pause between where you’ve been and where you’re going. But here, it’s something more.
Sojourn is your space to reset in life, work, and soul. A place to slow down, realign, and return to yourself. Not just in pace, but in mindset. Your starting point for what comes next.
It’s not about becoming someone new. It’s about remembering who you are.
This space is for the ones in transition, people reclaiming their voice, values, and work through lived experience and inner clarity.
For those no longer driven by what looks good, but by what feels true. Because meaningful change can’t be rushed. And clarity begins when you finally slow down enough to hear yourself.
HOW I GOT HERE:
After years of building for others and trying to keep up, I discovered the power of slow. Not just in pace; but in mindset, in choice, and in how we shape our lives.
Slowness taught me to pause, pay attention, and value depth over speed. Clarity doesn’t come from constant motion. It comes from presence. And real success doesn’t need to be loud, fast, or polished to be meaningful.
I was inspired by those who championed slowness and rest as rebellion, but I wanted something more grounded. A slower life that still made space for ambition. One that honored global transitions, cultural differences, creative identity, motherhood, and the messy parts of life in motion, changes I was navigating myself — across countries, callings, and stages of life.
Because when you slow down enough to hear yourself again, everything begins to align — your values, your vision, your voice, your self.
That’s how I got here. And that’s how I hope to help you begin again, too.
MANIFESTO:
“The most meaningful trip is the one back to yourself.”
Travel has long been sold as escape. New destinations, new distractions, new versions of life waiting somewhere else. But what I’ve learned is that the real journey doesn’t take you farther away, it takes you back in.
The moments that stay with us are never just about the places we visit. They are about the ways those places reflect us back to ourselves. The pause that lets us breathe differently. The ritual that follows us home and reshapes our rhythm. The perspective that lingers long after the trips ends.
To travel is not to consume the world, but to let the world change you. It is not about chasing more, but about subtracting what no longer serves and noticing what stays. Sustainability isn’t only about preserving places, it’s about sustaining your own energy, your own clarity, your own identity.
Beauty matters. Ethics matter. But above all, presence matters. Because the trip is never just about where you go, it’s about how you return, hence: The most meaningful trip is the one back to yourself.
And that is the promise of Sojourn: a reminder that every journey is a mirror, every place a teacher, and the most meaningful trip of all is the one back to yourself.
ABOUT ME:
I’ve reinvented myself more times than I can count .
I’m Brazilian by birth. Italian at heart. American by choice. Asian by happy fortune. Shaped by heritage, culture, motherhood, global moves and a career in creative direction for brands like Oracle, Four Seasons, and The Ritz-Carlton.
But somewhere along the way, I lost myself in the roles I played. Burnout. Identity loss. Emotional disconnect. So I did something radical: I paused.
In that pause, I asked deeper questions:
What do I really want now?
What does success mean to me?
And how do I rebuild now — slowly, honestly, on my own terms?
Writing was the answer. And that’s where Sojourn began.
This space is where I write freely in English (my second language), a home sharing my reflections of slow living, soulful travel, and the art of beginning again.
Those rebuilding their voice, values, and work after decades of carrying lived experience quietly… now ready to build something that finally feels like them.
Here’s what I believe:
You don’t need to go faster. You need to go truer.
You can build something meaningful, without burning out.
The way you live and work should reflect who you are now.
And travel, done with intention, helps you remember who you are—and rebuild differently.
I write and teach from that place.
Slowly. Sustainably.
If you’re navigating change — personally or professionally — you’re not alone.
You’re in the in-between. And that’s exactly where your Sojourn begins.
Let’s connect: You can find me on LinkedIn and Instagram.
~ Ana
