What I Let Go Of, What I Packed, and What Surprised Me Most
I didn’t leave London looking for something better. I left because I finally had enough clarity to admit the life I’d built didn’t fit me anymore.
For years, London gave me exactly what I thought I needed. Movement, opportunity, the feeling that I was always going somewhere. But at some point, the pace that used to energise me started to drain me instead. The back-to-back plans, the constant options, the underlying pressure to keep showing up.
It wasn’t burnout. It was quieter than that. Just this growing awareness that I was going through the motions of a life that looked good but didn’t feel good.
One afternoon, I was sitting at home between obligations and realised I didn’t actually want to go to any of them. I wasn’t particulary tired that day, but I still felt so drained. The city wasn’t the problem. The life I’d built inside it was.
Lisbon Didn’t Call Me – My Nervous System Did
I spent 10 days in Lisbon, and something in my body relaxed that I didn’t even know was tense. I didn’t feel rushed to do anything. I’d sit with my coffee and not think about what I had to do next. I slept properly for the first time in months. I didn’t wake up already behind.
When I got back to London, something inside of me clicked and I knew so clearly. I wasn’t going to keep forcing myself into this version of success anymore. I wanted space to breathe.
Time that wasn’t optimised. Days where I could actually be present instead of performing my way through them.
And for the first time in years, I wasn’t afraid to choose it.
What I Let Go Of
The physical move gave me permission to edit more than just my apartment. It made me look at everything I’d been carrying and actually ask myself: Does this still belong to who I’m becoming?
Most of it didn’t. Clothes I’d bought because they looked good and trendy, but never felt comfortable. Things I kept because I’d always had them, not because they meant anything. Pieces that belonged to the version of me who filled her life with stuff because staying busy meant staying distracted.
Getting rid of it all felt easier than I expected. Like I was finally being honest with myself, and it made me feel so spacious in my body.
What made it into my suitcase was deliberate. Natural fabrics, things that took up just enough space and nothing more. The ritual tools I actually used. A handful of essentials that supported the quieter, more grounded flow I was trying to build.
What I Packed
I used the LEVEL8 Voyager Collection for the move – a check-in suitcase and matching carry-on that matched the energy of what I was trying to create.
The design is clean without trying too hard. Lightweight but solid. Roomy enough without making you want to overpack. It held what mattered and left the rest behind.
There was something fitting about packing this new life into luggage that actually reflected where I was going instead of where I’d been. I didn’t want more stuff. I wanted better choices, less clutter and cleaner decisions. Things that were well-made instead of just filling space.
That’s what the Voyager pieces felt like – solid, elegant, no fuss.
I still use them for every trip now, whether I’m going back to London or somewhere completely new. They’re easy to move with, and light enough for me to lift.
What Surprised Me Most
The absence of guilt.
I kept waiting to feel bad about stepping away from the life everyone else was still grinding for. But I didn’t. What showed up instead was space and more time to create what I truly desired. My mornings stopped feeling rushed. Creative ideas that came naturally instead of being forced out. Conversations that actually went somewhere because I had the energy to be in them.
I worked less, but everything felt clearer. I rested when I needed to without convincing myself I’d earned it first. My days weren’t about ticking off a list just to feel productive.
And I felt more like myself than I had in years.
Returning to London, But From a Different Place
When I came back to visit, the city looked different. Or maybe I was just seeing it differently. I wasn’t trying to keep up with anyone. I wasn’t performing. I had actual boundaries now. Time moved at a pace I set. When I said yes, I meant it, when I said no, I didn’t apologise for it.
I brought my Voyager carry-on with me, and the trip felt easy. But more than the luggage working well, it reminded me that I wasn’t overpacking anything anymore – not my schedule, not my emotions, not my energy.
I moved through London with the same calm I’d found in Lisbon.
That’s when I knew the move had actually worked and shifted my nervous system baseline and how I was living.
What I Know Now
You don’t need to hit rock bottom to change your life. You can just notice when something stops working and choose differently.
Leaving the life I built in London wasn’t about losing myself. It was about creating space to actually meet myself again. Without all the noise and pressure and performance.
And now everything I build comes from that place. Calmer. More grounded. Actually clear about what I want.
