Starting Over at 43: My Life, Unfiltered | Annie Wonderlich

Hi, I’m Annie Wonderlich and this is what starting over looks like for me.

Not the version that ties everything up neatly or where I suddenly have all the answers. Just… the middle of it.

I think we grow up believing life is supposed to follow a certain shape. By a certain age, you’re supposed to have it figured out. Where you live. Who you’re with. What your life looks like from the outside.

And if you don’t… it feels like you did something wrong.

At 43, I didn’t buy a house. I bought a 1982 RV in the woods. Which, if you had asked me a few years ago, probably wouldn’t have been the plan. But neither was living in a van. Or ending up back at my mom’s house for a season. Or having to rebuild things more than once.

That’s the part people don’t really talk about. How life can look like it’s moving forward… and then suddenly feel like you’re starting over. Again.

But lately, I’ve been thinking… What if starting over isn’t a failure? What if it’s just part of it? Because if I’m being honest, this version of my life feels more like me than anything before it.

Slower.
More intentional.
A little uncertain, but in a way that feels… alive.

Right now, I’m in the middle of turning this old RV into something that feels like home. I keep calling it my forest cottage. Not because it’s perfect. But because it’s mine.

And because I get to build it the way I want to. Some days, that feels really good. Some days, I question everything. But I think that’s what this season is.

Not having it all figured out… but choosing to keep going anyway. If you’ve ever felt like you’re behind… Or like your life didn’t follow the timeline you thought it would… You’re probably closer than you think.

This space is where I’m going to share all of it.

The process. The decisions. The parts I’m proud of. And the parts I’m still figuring out.

Not a finished story.

Just a real one.

— Annie Wonderlich