Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on here, able to write and piece something together through everything that’s happened the last couple of years. And yet, here I am, exactly where I need to be at the right moment for me. And although I’ve spent the last 2 years trying to save something outside of me – the world in all of it’s chaos – I’ve recognized the power in doing what’s more important and possible – saving myself.

It all started when I sat in my Airbnb in Vancouver for 4 months, doing yin yoga six evenings a week with my beloved studio in Manhattan Beach, since I couldn’t get back to my home in California when the pandemic started. I was doing whatever I could to stay connected to my beautiful new dream home of LA, where I had just spent a few months and knew that it was finally the place where I wanted to be. After all of my travels around the world over 10 years, seeing and exploring 45 countries and cultures, through their people, land, and food and coffee – I was finally home.

Although I was in LA 4 days before the global pandemic was declared, I knew I was meant to head to Thailand to look for land. Crazy idea, perhaps, but this is me we’re talking about – I don’t generally do what’s the norm, and I listen to my body and intuition as much as I possibly can. So this is what I did. My mom was on her way back from Thailand and we swapped places, missing each other by a few days. All I know is that I had to go.

So, as I made my way on the plane for the first of many international flights over the next few years that looked like a scene out of a futuristic movie, going through empty airports and airplanes with mostly staff and myself with room to roam the aisles, I set off on my journey. Going from one city or village to the next, domestic airlines, road trips, and private longtail boats to get to the small local island of Koh Yao Noi, population 4,000. I remember calling a friend in Australia at the time, asking her why I was getting on this boat because it didn’t make sense, and yet there I was, going to a place called Island Yoga for who knows how long, aware that everything was going to completely shut down the next day and I may be stuck there for awhile.

And that’s where I met Daniel on the beach at sunrise, who I spoke with about my dream to steward land and build a creative wellness resort. It turned out I decided to leave 2 days later and fly back to Canada (on the last flight through Japan possible because of a reservation I already had booked that allowed me to transit as the only option), on the evening of March 25th, 2020.

My friend Daniel proceeded to stay on the island for 4 months before deciding to make the move over to Koh Phangan to live out the rest of the pandemic, or as long as possible and build more connection and community as it had become a little bubble of joy and light through a difficult time for most of the world. A safe little haven, where those who were left stranded in Thailand from all over the world decided to gather, along with other domestic Thai rebels who could find a way to escape for awhile and wait things out.

And this is where he literally found “Haven,” and brought it to my attention to see if we could buy it, renovate, and go from there to create the vision that I had bubbling beneath the surface for so long, wanting to create spaces and experiences for human connection and the ability for those creative visionaries to get back out into the world with their spirit to bring their dreams to life.

Although we lost that first property when we couldn’t find the funding on time, a mere 3 days later, something even better turned up. Even with the completely opposite time zones, he called me from Thailand with the landowner while on the property, and I happened to be around to answer – he said “This is the one – I just know it.” And I believed him. I felt the rush through my body of excitement, and the feeling that I experience when I know that something is meant to happen, the Universe bringing all the pieces together for me at exactly the right moment.

And the land waited for me.

There were many more challenges over the following 1.5 years from the date when this was discovered (I still remember, it was February 17, 2021, due to a series of personal events at that time), and yet, I managed to make my way through them, on a roller coaster ride that I could’ve never anticipated. The amount of growth, beauty, joy, bliss, loss and new beginnings throughout this time was on overdrive, in my own little world inside the larger one that also had so much going on.

And here I am now, and we are still only at the beginning. So, what I need next is to secure this land, which has done so much to heal me with the vision be a space to create the same for others. Keeping the faith when there was nothing left but that to keep me going. A semi-private cozy bay front that feels like a womb or a warm hug, depending on what you need on any given day. She has both been luscious and strong herself, went through a more vulnerable stage, and now she has shifted to prepare for what’s to come. She knows that a change and transformation is on the horizon, and I’m so committed to whatever that may be.

So if you’d like to share in a part of this story, and commit to building this vision together in some way, I ask for you to reach out to me and we can discuss how to make that happen. My preference is to have a maximum of 2 other key partners pitch in to build towards a creative healing center for international visionaries who’ve had status quo success and impact, to continue to spread this healing and love to others in a trickle down effect. In a time where there has been so much strife and division as the world is herself going through massive change, I am creating a space and experiences for unity, connection, and rebuilding of the world to come. And in my little corner, in a place that’s very near and dear to my heart with my half-Thai heritage and international lifestyle coming together, this is my way to do it – building MOAI, a place where the human spirit comes to play.

Thank you for reading through this whole update, and looking forward to Scaling Love® with you. <3

And in the meantime, if you’d like to see some of my favourite places to explore on Koh Phangan and get a little sneak peak (the travel map on Google directly is also right here):

While I originally came to the island when this beautiful piece of land was brought to me, I didn’t expect to leave over a year and a half after first hearing about it (and seeing it on Zoom), completely changed from the inside out. The island brings you not what you want, but exactly what you need. After so many life-changing experiences and challenges, I never would’ve thought that being on a small island in the Southeast of Thailand would bring me to a state of inner peace and a deep reconnection to my roots (to BOTH my Thai and Ukrainian heritage).

I’m so grateful for my time in this magical island paradise, and am looking forward to creating a home and so many more memories here, with my own MOAI.