The Freedom Project: Happiness - Celebrating 10 Years of Freedom
A decade of learning that happiness isn’t found on a map, but in how we choose to live
Ten years ago this week, my book The Freedom Project: Happiness was published. This book was the second book in the Freedom Project series, and in many ways, my most personal one. While Travel celebrated the joy of exploring the world, Happiness was about something more difficult: learning to bring that same sense of freedom home.
At the time, I didn’t write it from a mountaintop of success. Happiness at work was a foreign concept for me for many years. I wrote it from a place of searching. Travel had given me glimpses of freedom: the feeling of time standing still, of being fully alive and connected. But once I returned home, that feeling slipped away as fast as my tan. I didn’t want to keep using travel to get away from a life I didn’t even like in the first place. I wanted to learn how to live freely every day.
From escaping life to creating one worth living
Too often, I used travel as an escape from a life that felt confining. On the road, I could do whatever I wanted. Back home, I felt trapped again. Trapped by a comfortable routine, by unnecessary obligations, and maybe even by my own unrealistic expectations. The Freedom Project: Happiness was my attempt at finding an answer to that cycle. The book aimed to share a very personal story, but also the many valuable nuggets I picked up from many of my coaches and mentors along the way.
Happiness is about redesigning life itself, using the same curiosity and openness I had while traveling. To me, happiness became less about chasing pleasure and more about building meaning. Less about escaping, and more about creating.
As I look back now, ten years later, I realize how much this book reflected the turning point between my old way of thinking and living, and the new life I was building as a result of that shift. The book is not a manual for instant joy (sorry). It’s a permission slip, first for myself, and hopefully for others, to stop waiting for happiness and start creating it.
Lessons that still hold true
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past decade, it’s that happiness isn’t a destination. It’s not something you “find.” It’s something you practice, every day. (And some days I’m better at it than others.)
Freedom isn’t only about travel or location. It’s about alignment: making choices that match your values, your passions, and the person you want to become. That’s what happiness really is: living in harmony with yourself. If things don’t align on the inside, how do you expect the rest of the world work for you?
Ten years later, I’m still learning, of course. The world has changed in the past ten years, but the essence of this message hasn’t. If anything, it’s more relevant now than ever.
“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” ~ Margaret Lee Runbeck
Get Into Action
If you’ve ever found yourself chasing happiness, only to lose it once the vacation ends, The Freedom Project: Happiness might just change how you see life. It’s available now on Amazon for only $15 USD/ $ 20 CAD — or you can explore the full Freedom Project series at freedomprojectbook.com.
Cheers to another decade of traveling freely, both inside and out.