Your Next Escape with Tess Aisthorpe

Years ago, we would cover the Scenic Rim Trail in two days. It was about kilometres, pace, big days and getting from one end to the other. If I’m truthful, there was probably a bit of ego wrapped up in it too.

Don’t get me wrong, our groups loved the challenge and there’s something pretty cool about seeing what your body is capable of. Though looking back, I wonder how much was about experiencing the place…and how much was simply being able to say we’d done it.

The last couple of times I’ve had the privilege of leading people through here alongside the Scenic Rim Trail crew, we’ve done it over four days…the way it was intended to be experienced.

Slowing it down made me realise how much I’d previously been walking through these places rather than actually experiencing them.

These days, hiking means something different to me. It’s stopping long enough to learn where you are. Being present with the people around you. Learning the history, the land, the plants, wildlife and stories held within it. Looking up instead of counting kilometres.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to learn from the landowners and people behind the Scenic Rim Trail, and I bloody love being able to pass some of those stories on.

Life moves fast enough as it is. We spend so much of it rushing towards the next destination, achievement or thing to tick off the list.

I still love a challenge. Though the older I get (one could say, the more regulated), the less interested I am in needing to conquer every hike or prove how far I can go in the shortest amount of time. Maybe the challenge is actually learning to slow down. To be where your feet are. The mountains aren’t going anywhere. There’s no prize for getting there first. Slowing down lets you realise just how much beauty you miss.

From my first Scenic Rim trip in 2022 to now…same love of walking, though a very different appreciation for what it means to move through a place. I know I like this version of hiking a whole lot more these days 🩵

For years I thought feeling knackered at the end of the day was normal.

That waking up tired, dragging myself through the day, surviving on whatever was convenient and pushing harder was just part of living an active life.

I was wrong.

A while ago I started working with a sports dietitian because my body was waving every red flag imaginable. I’d lost my appetite, I wasn’t sleeping, I had no real energy, and mentally I wasn’t in a healthy place.

The answer wasn’t another training session. It wasn’t eating less, not to push harder…it was learning to fuel my body properly.

At first, it felt completely backwards. Eating more scared me. Carrying a little more body fat challenged my ego. Slowly, something changed.

I slept, laughed more, recovered better and I actually looked forward to eating. I stopped seeing food as something I had to earn.

One thing I’ve learnt is this…Your body is always communicating with you. If you’re constantly exhausted…If you’re never hungry…If you’re sore all the time…If your mood is low…If every day feels like a grind…That’s feedback. It doesn’t automatically mean you’re lazy, weak or lacking motivation. It might simply be your body asking for something different.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve normalised running on empty. We wear exhaustion like a badge of honour, as though feeling depleted somehow means we’re working harder or achieving more. Living an active life doesn’t have to mean feeling terrible.

Some of the most active people I know have incredible energy because they prioritise sleep, recovery, movement and nutrition alongside everything else.

As humans, we’re designed to nourish ourselves.
Food isn’t just calories. It’s information and most importantly, it’s fuel. It’s how we repair muscle, support our hormones, create energy, think clearly and recover from life.

I’m still learning. I don’t have it all figured out. These days, I’m choosing to measure my health by how I feel, how I recover and how I show up…not by how I look.

If this post resonates with just one person who’s been afraid to eat a little more, rest a little more, or stop chasing “smaller” at all costs…

Then sharing my story was worth it 🩵

PS I dislike the word “busy” 🙄, my word of choice is “active”, instead 😉

Follow on Instagram 🩵

I’m creating a space centred around adventure, travel, education, nervous system regulation, meaningful connection and a whole lot of fun along the way. My hope is that something I share inspires you to step outside your comfort zone and create a life that feels true to you.

Over the past while, my life has changed more than I ever imagined.

I completed two decades of doing the same thing, day in and day out. I stepped fully into leading adventures, packed up my life and started creating something completely new. All it took was a little nudge from the universe.

Along the way, some incredible people have celebrated every step with me, while others have quietly drifted away. It simply taught me that real support doesn’t always need to be loud. It’s the message saying, “I’m proud of you.” It’s the person who asks how the tour went and genuinely listens to the answer. It’s the people who share your excitement because they truly want to see you doing well.

I’ve also learnt not to expect everyone to understand a path they never felt called to walk. And that’s cool. We’re all walking our own journey.

If there’s one thing this journey has taught me, it’s this…Every day we have a choice. We can camp where it’s comfortable, where life feels familiar and predictable…Or we can choose to climb. Climbing isn’t always easy, though every step changes your perspective. Every challenge teaches you something and every decision to keep moving forward shapes the person you’re becoming.

Keep climbing, keep creating and keep becoming.

The view is always worth it and I genuinely want this for you 🩵

These aren’t facts. They’re simply beliefs life has taught me so far.

Through closing chapters, starting new ones, travelling, coaching, making mistakes, backing myself, and learning to trust who I am, these are the lessons I’ve picked up along the way.

Maybe in five years I’ll read this and disagree with half of it. I genuinely hope I do. That would mean I’ve kept growing.

Change has a funny way of exposing where we place our energy.

Quite often we spend so much time trying to control things that were never ours to control in the first place. Other people’s decisions, their actions, defending their behaviours and outcomes that haven’t happened yet.

The reality is life moves whether we’re ready or not.

Jobs change, relationships change, friendships change, businesses change and chapters close.

The discomfort doesn’t come from the change itself. It comes from our resistance to it.

The older I get, the more I realise there is freedom in focusing on your side of the fence. Do your bit. Focus on what is yours to do. Take responsibility for what belongs to you. Then let go of the rest.

I’ve also learnt that not every ending is a loss. Sometimes you’ve simply outgrown the chapter. The thing that once excited you no longer fits. The lesson has been learnt and the season has served its purpose.

That doesn’t make it wrong. It doesn’t make it a failure. It’s life giving you feedback that something is ready to change. It just means it’s time.

The best things in life rarely happen when everything feels comfortable. They happen when we’re willing to step into the unknown, trust ourselves and keep moving forward anyway.

I’m pumped for what’s ahead. Not because I know exactly how it will unfold. I just know I’ll figure it out as I go.

My hope for anyone reading this is that you stop waiting for certainty before taking the next step. There is no such thing as certainty. There is only trust, action and the willingness to learn as you go 🩵

Most people think they handle pressure well until life places them beside someone who has built a completely different level of capacity.

Not someone louder or trying to prove a point. Just someone who has spent more time doing the work on themselves and learnt how to stay in it when things get uncomfortable.

I’ve learnt this through training, business, relationships, grief, travel and being around humans who don’t immediately fold or react the second life gets hard.

Real intensity has very little to do with ego. It’s being able to stay steady when things around you aren’t. It’s showing up when your mind is looking for every reason not to. It’s self awareness. It’s regulation. It’s being able to sit in discomfort without needing to escape.

The environment you place yourself in matters more than most people realise. The people around you influence your standards, your mindset and the way you respond to pressure. Spend enough time around people who avoid discomfort and you’ll start doing the same. Spend enough time around people who take ownership of themselves and it changes you.

Being around people who challenge you will expose the stories you’ve been telling yourself about your own limits. Not to make you feel small. Not to shame you. To show you there may be more in you than you realised.

You don’t always need softer. Sometimes you need honesty. Sometimes you need people around you who quietly show you that you’re capable of more than you think.

The biggest thing I’ve learnt about growth over the past 2.5 years is that sometimes you don’t find yourself by staying where it’s comfortable…you find yourself by stepping into the unknown.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to control everything…and that’s when things started changing. I’ve taken more risks than I probably did in the decade before it. I’ve stepped onto planes, buses, trails and into rooms I never imagined I’d find myself in. I’ve met strangers who somehow end up feeling familiar. I’ve watched people arrive guarded and leave softer, lighter and more connected to themselves.

And honestly…I feel ridiculously privileged to witness it.

What I’m realising is my purpose was never just about training bodies in a gym. It has always always bigger than that.

Adventure.
Movement.
Connection.
Conversation.
Perspective.
Breath.
Challenge.
Nature.
People.

Transformation happens in all of it.

Travelling with me has never really just been about landscapes or ticking places off a map. It’s about what happens to people while they’re standing in the middle of them. The conversations in the water. The walls that slowly come down. The confidence people find in themselves. The reminder that humans actually need other humans.

Every adventure teaches me something too.

A 23 year old travelling solo can teach courage.
An older couple can teach presence.
A stranger can teach perspective.
A hard conversation can teach compassion.
Country can teach respect.
Nature can teach regulation.
Even silence can teach connection.

I feel like over the years I’ve built a pretty solid tool belt. Fitness. Breathwork. Nervous system work. Adventure. Communication. Leadership. Holding space. Real conversations. Real connection.

For a long time I felt I only used parts of it. Now I want to utilise all of it in ways that genuinely impact people. Not just physically. Humanly. I still want to help transform lives. I know I have changed…And truthfully…I feel I’m finally allowing myself to step into that 🩵