Your Mid-Life Journey Quiz
An informal fun mid-life journey quiz to gauge where you are in the seasonal space.
A Grown Up's Gap Year
Don’t let your epitaph read: ‘F**k, I forgot to live my life
Wish you could run away… just for a bit? You’re not alone. I did – left the to-do lists, the family group chat, the mental clutter.
Not forever. Just long enough to come back clearer, braver… and put myself back in the frame.
I’m Monique van Tulder – author, wellbeing and travel writer, certified nutritionist, and long-time advocate for women making space to breathe. To feel better.
Grown Up Guidebooks is the antidote to lifestyle overwhelm.
It’s where wellbeing meets escape, reinvigoration meets real life, and fluff-free inspiration and practical ideas help you feel better – without having to upend your whole life.
I don’t do clichés.
I do clarity, healthspan, curiosity, and joy.
No guilt. No hustle. Just smart tools to reset your days, simplify your lifestyle, and expand what’s possible – starting exactly where you are.
– AS FEATURED IN –
Listen to Monique’s Guest Appearance on the ABC Brisbane Drive Show with Ellen Fanning.
Yellowshelf Podcast Appearance
Travel, Escape and Wellbeing
In 2009, Monique van Tulder launched a lifestyle blog from her kitchen (departing travel management to care for her boys). It’s grown since then. As a wellbeing mentor, travel writer, nutritionist and movement trainer, Monique has you covered. Helping you design your mid-life magic.
If you are a slow traveller, seek a sense of wellbeing, looking for a side order of adventure, come from a place of curiosity, love ‘Retreats’ that actually restore, and tips from chic women who know the local secrets – you are in the right place.
A Grown Up’s Gap Year – In Seasons
These four seasons guide you through a cycle of small, sustainable change: from stocktake to spark, from cocooning to connection.
The SPACE Method
Helping you build a fence around making space for YOU. Remember, these prompts are meant to spark creativity, ponderance, and a smile.
3 of my favourite Japan Travel Guides for Solo Female Travel
There is much to explore in Japan and it is easy to dip into a wellbeing experience. Here are three guidebooks I’ve personally found invaluable:
A Grown Up's Gap Year Podcast
Introducing the Grown Up’s Gap Year Podcast – a series of interviews.
Women (& a few blokes) Doing Inspiring Things in Fascinating Places.
The sorts of journeys (physical & internal) that are courageous, creative, and totally joyful. Women who have designed a life that suits them – their path may offer possibilities for your options you may never have considered.
Grown Up’s Guidebook Magazine
A Grown Up’s Gap Year – ISSUE #11 – How To Reclaim Your Style Mojo
Style in mid-life is permission to experiment, not disappear. What we wear influences confidence, connection, and wellbeing.
A Grown Up’s Gap Year – ISSUE #10 – Finding the Fun – When It All Might Seem Same/Same
Discover how small, local “micro escapes” can boost your wellbeing, spark creativity, and inject joy into your everyday. From foodie tours in your own city to sunrise thermos moments, find simple yet powerful ways to shake up your routine and rediscover the thrill of life, right in your own backyard.
A Grown Up’s Gap Year – ISSUE #9 – Wellbeing in the Whitsundays – 72 Hours of Untethering
This week’s guide focuses on the restorative magic of a short getaway to the Whitsundays, where mountains meet sea and your only real decision is reef or rainforest.
A Grown Up’s Gap Year – ISSUE #8 – Embracing Middle Youth * Dream. Dare. Do
This week’s issue features Hydra-based artist Desiree Prinsloo, who embodies reinvention on her own terms. After her husband’s passing, she bought and restored a farmhouse on the Greek island, now hosting artist retreats and embracing what she calls “middle youth.”
Join A Grown Up's Gap Year conversations
Get a Free copy of the mid-life reinvigoration Ebook
When I hit mid-life I was in for a rude shock. I found myself at the top of everyone’s ‘people we need’ pyramid, & the bottom of my own. An ‘Eat Pray Runaway’ moment – left a still unanswered question.
What to do with my second- act of life?
I’ve jotted down a few ideas in the attached eBook – a starting point.
