How I Reset My Nervous System After a Weekend of Travel Chaos and Life Pivots

Life doesn’t always go according to plan, and when chaos hits, our nervous system usually feels it first. After a weekend full of travel pivots, exhaustion, and unexpected stress, I realized I needed to intentionally reset my body and mind. I want to share a relatable story from our weekend and the simple nervous system tools that helped me calm down, recover, and actually enjoy the adventure.

When Life Keeps Pivoting

Have you seen that trend about husbands being the “adult pro max”? It cracks me up because I love to joke about what my husband doesn’t do… but when I really think about the things I rely on him for, he’s definitely the bigger, more adult-ish version of me in certain areas.

For example, he books all of our travel. I don’t even trust myself to book flights or hotels anymore, and we travel constantly for the girls’ sports. So when it comes to travel, I just follow the itinerary and show up.

Last Friday, he was supposed to take our oldest to Kentucky for her Friday game, then we’d swap for Saturday so he could get back to Tennessee to coach basketball. The logistics were already crazy because he didn’t want to miss the game but still needed to be home. Honestly, it was kind of a dumb plan, but in my mind it was already handled.

About two hours before we were supposed to leave, we scrapped the plan and decided I should just go so I could stay with her for the next couple days. I won’t go into everything it took to pivot that quickly, but I packed up and hit the road with her. Which meant rescheduling my entire Friday. Thankfully my bags basically stay packed since we’re regular weekend travelers. I mostly just rewear things depending on indoor or outdoor events. I grabbed coats and blankets and off we went.

Then Saturday rolled around and we realized we didn’t want her to miss an ID camp she was already signed up for, but an ice storm had canceled it and moved it to Sunday. She’d already played two games, and now we were looking at a six-hour mountain drive. So, pivot again.

My daughter kept asking if I was okay. I joked that I felt like we were running from the law because we kept getting farther from home and had already pivoted twice. But deep down, I felt good about the decisions. I told her, “God is blessing us with the adventure, so let’s take it.”

Life rarely goes as planned, but the pivots often become the memories.

We finally rolled into Greenville, SC around 8:30 that night. And honestly, all the reframing and positive talk I’d been telling myself? It was mostly just a story I was holding together. I wasn’t actually okay anymore. I was exhausted.

We tried to grab food, but downtown was packed and we couldn’t find parking anywhere. And this is where things really unraveled for me.

We stay downtown in cities a lot, but usually valet parking makes it simple. I don’t always love valet when we’re rushing to tournaments, but this weekend we weren’t in a hurry, so I was actually looking forward to it being easy.

I pulled up in front of the hotel and waited. And waited. No valet. No clear parking instructions either, just a tiny garage entrance. So I tried to turn my extended-back SUV into it and scraped the side door against a pole. Cars and people everywhere. I couldn’t back up or move forward, in a city I’d never been to, at night.

And I lost it. Started crying. Called my husband saying I didn’t know where to park, that it was too hard, and that I wanted to stay somewhere else. Meanwhile, he’s 400 miles away and also has never been to Greenville, yet somehow I expected him to magically fix it.

Eventually I backed out and drove around the block. By the time I got back, he had called to say the garage was correct and they validate parking at check-in. I tried again from a different angle and got in without further damaging the car.

All the while, my daughter kept calmly reminding me, “We’re fine,” “It’s not a big deal,” “We’re safe,” “God protected us through the mountains.”

She was right. But emotionally, I hadn’t caught up yet. I was mad at myself for hitting the pole. I have a great driving record, but those extended SUVs make me feel like I’m playing bumper cars with curbs and parking garages. I seriously miss my minivan.

Once we got settled in the hotel, I told my daughter that Dad might be annoying sometimes, but he’s definitely the adult pro max in our relationship, adultier than me. And then I couldn’t stop laughing at all the random things I depend on him for.

That laughter, plus gratitude for safe travels, finally shifted my mindset.

How I Reset My Nervous System

So here’s what I actually did to reset my nervous system that night:

• Ate a high-fat snack since I’d missed dinner
• Laughed, then did some lymphatic activation, jumping and shaking it out
• Said out loud what I was grateful for
• Did 4-7-8 breathwork since it was bedtime
• Turned off my alarms and let my body wake up naturally

And I slept way better than usual just by giving myself permission to rest. We had an amazing Sunday and made so many core memories. Then drove home safely, only to walk into another sick kid and yet another pivot needing support, a plan, and flexibility.

Learning to Handle Life’s Pivots

Life really is about maneuvering the pivots.

And honestly, this is why I love the community we’ve built inside the membership. We’re constantly sharing tools, routines, and support for real life, not perfect life. Because the pivots are always coming.

So tell me, how can I support you when you’re dealing with pivots, big or small? And if you need more support, come join us inside the membership where we walk through this stuff together every day.