After my latest journey to Gran Canaria ended in a foreseeable catastrophe, I had to regroup once again in Leipzig. The holes in my life I had been distracting myself from became apparent, and so I set out to fix them.

While getting started on a new project about an ancient ritual site, things settled down a bit for me. Even though it was only a temporary living situation, I felt held by life.

In April I went on a group trip to Istanbul, the great love of my twenties. Newly equipped with audiobooks about anxiety and more aware of my mental state than ever, I was determined to use this trip to tie up some loose end with the city and the man who had been another great love – that I had failed to ever fully engage with.