Taking a Grown-Up Gap Year w/ Nic Antoinette

181 What if a gap year wasn't only reserved for high school grads trying to find themselves? Writer, hiker, and anti-capitalist tiny biz owner, Nic Antoinette, discusses the inspiration behind her 2025 grown up gap year, and Nadine opens up about the moment of jealousy that led to her "apprentice year." This is not a new-year-new-you, live-your-best-life episode. Instead, Nic and Nadine talk openly about how they are trying to be real with their plans and expectations for 2025. Nic also discusses the other ways she has curated a values-aligned life and career. In this inspiring and permission-granting conversation, you'll feel encouraged to make choices that challenge the norm in order to live a life that is a right fit for you.

Covered in this episode:

• Why Nic writes so transparently about money
• How honesty and privacy can exist at the same time 
• Creating a values-aligned approach to work and life
• The burnout that comes from being accessible to too many people
• How we can be honest with ourselves with no pressure to do anything about it 
• How Nadine and Nic have pivoted in their lives and careers
• The key question that will help us take imperfect action
• The price of admission that Nic was willing to pay for peace of mind
• How Nic's divorce impacted her outlook on change
• What Nic and Nadine are doing during their gap and apprentice year
• Their worries about how these changes will impact their lives and careers
• Nurturing our off-line lives

About Nic:

Nic Antoinette is a writer, long-distance hiker, and anti-capitalist tiny business owner. She writes a weekly personal essay series on Substack called Wild Letters, and is the author of two adventure memoirs: How To Be Alone and What We Owe to Ourselves. 

Links

• Substack: https://nicantoinette.substack.com/
• Website: https://www.nicoleantoinette.com/
• Gap year essay: https://nicantoinette.substack.com/p/im-taking-a-grown-up-gap-year-in

About Nadine:

Want to write with Nadine in 2025? Try a free class on Monday, Jan 13!

Nadine Kenney Johnstone is a holistic writing coach who helps women develop and publish their stories. She is the proud founder of WriteWELL, an online community that helps women reclaim their writing time, put pen to page, and get published. The authors in her community have published countless books and hundreds of essays in places like The New York Times, Vogue, The Sun, The Boston Globe, Longreads, and more. Her infertility memoir, Of This Much I'm Sure, was named book of the year by the Chicago Writer's Association. Her latest book, Come Home to Your Heart, is an essay collection and guided journal that helps readers tap into their inner wisdom and fall back in love with themselves. Her articles and interviews have appeared in Cosmo, Authority, MindBodyGreen, Good Grit, HERE, Urban Wellness, Natural Awakenings, Chicago Magazine, and more. Pulling from her vast experience as a writing, meditation, and yoga nidra instructor, Nadine leads women’s writing and wellness workshops and retreats online and around the U.S.

Find out more at nadinekenneyjohnstone.com

To receive her regular essays, subscribe to her Substack