A weekly dose of possibility and grounded action from Michelle & Kent of the Frenchitivity Family
This Week's Direction
Neuroplasticity, Travel & Becoming More Ourselves
When we set out on our nearly year-long journey around the world, I knew I would need practices that helped me stay grounded.
Yoga. Meditation. Quiet moments of reflection.
What I didn’t fully expect was how deeply this journey would reconnect me to something I had already become fascinated by over recent years: neuroplasticity — the brain’s incredible ability to change, adapt, and create new neural pathways throughout our lives.
For so long, we believed the brain stopped growing after childhood. But modern neuroscience now tells a very different story.
Our brains continue evolving in adulthood through new experiences, learning, emotional processing, movement, relationships, and environmental change.
And that got me thinking:
What if travel itself is one of the most powerful catalysts for neuroplasticity?
According to the National Institutes of Health, neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize its structure, functions, and connections in response to experiences and environmental stimuli. Every new skill we learn, conversation we have, place we explore, or challenge we move through leaves an imprint on our neural networks.
In other words:
The way we experience the world can literally shape the architecture of our brain.
That realization feels both fascinating and deeply empowering.
Throughout our travels, I found myself drawn not only to new places, but also to practices connected to nervous system healing and regulation — mindfulness walks, breathwork, tapping, grounding exercises, and simply learning how to slow down enough to notice.
Notice our reactions.
Notice our patterns.
Notice what felt expansive versus contracted.
Travel has a way of gently disrupting autopilot.
Different languages.
Different foods.
Different rhythms.
Different ways of living.
Even small moments — navigating an unfamiliar grocery store, hearing another language spoken around you, adjusting to a slower pace, or stepping into unfamiliar environments — ask the brain to engage differently.
To adapt.
To soften.
To stay curious.
Dr. Michael Merzenich, often referred to as “the father of brain plasticity,” writes about the importance of novelty and continued learning as we age. His research suggests that people who continue exposing themselves to new environments, ideas, cultures, and experiences are far less likely to experience cognitive decline later in life.
That feels important.
Because perhaps travel is not only about seeing the world.
Perhaps it is also about reshaping the way we experience ourselves within it.
There was a moment recently during a local mindfulness walk when I felt all of these ideas converge.
The healing practices.
The travel.
The slowing down.
The awareness.
The science.
I had this overwhelming realization that these practices truly work — not because they remove us from life, but because they reconnect us to it.
Travel changed us externally, yes.
But more importantly, it changed us internally.
It expanded our perspective.
It challenged old thought patterns.
It strengthened adaptability.
It reminded us that growth is available to us.
Always.
There is something incredibly hopeful about knowing that we are not fixed.
That our experiences matter.
That curiosity matters.
That healing matters.
And that maybe, every time we step into the unfamiliar with openness and intention, we are participating in the ongoing reshaping of who we are becoming.
I know I will continue exploring and researching these topics, because the intersection of travel, mindfulness, nervous system healing, and neuroplasticity feels deeply connected to the kind of life we want to live.
Not just a life of movement —
but a life of becoming.
🎙️In Conversation
🎧 The Frenchitivity Podcast, Episode 18: Grateful for Greece
This week on the Frenchitivity Podcast, we continue our country-by-country travel series with a conversation about Greece—a place that held both nostalgia and discovery for our family.
Greece was especially meaningful because it was the only country on our journey that Kent and I had visited before. This time, we returned with Everly and experienced it through new eyes: mythology in Athens, olive picking in Paros, meaningful connections with locals, and the beauty of slow family travel in Crete.
Listen to the episode here: Frenchitivity Podcast, Grateful for Greece
And we created something to go along with it:
👉 Download our free guide here: Greece Guide
(A practical + personal guide to help you plan your own experience)
Inside, we share our route, favorite experiences, family-friendly notes, lessons learned, and reflections from Athens, Paros, and Crete.
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*if the link opens the show page, just tap Episode 18
Compass Shift
This week, ask yourself:
Where in my life am I being invited to experience something differently?
It doesn’t have to be a trip around the world.
It might be a new walking route.
A different conversation.
A new practice.
A small disruption to autopilot.
Because sometimes, growth begins the moment we let ourselves experience something differently.
✨ Closing
If this resonated, forward it to someone who loves the intersection of travel, growth, and becoming more fully themselves.
And if Greece is on your heart, we hope this week’s episode and guide help bring the dream a little closer.
Be bold with your one precious life.
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