Have you ever looked at your life; career, city, relationship, the whole polished picture and felt the quiet truth underneath: this is perfect… and it’s not mine? In this episode of the House of Peregrine podcast, Mickelle sits down with Jordan Tarver, bestselling author and one of today’s clearest voices on change, to talk about what happens when your inner compass starts pulling harder than your outer “shoulds.”

Jordan takes us behind the story of his book, You Deserve This Sh!t, including how the title arrived like an undeniable signal - equal parts bold, strategic, and deeply intuitive. From there, the conversation opens into something larger: how travel can act like an initiation, how self-awareness is both internal and relational (you, and the world around you), and why moving abroad tends to accelerate everything you thought you already knew about yourself.

What makes this episode land is its honesty. Jordan doesn’t romanticize reinvention. He speaks candidly about the grief that can come with becoming, especially the subtle losses, like letting go of an American rhythm built on speed, productivity, and constant forward motion. Mickelle mirrors this with her own reflections on living abroad: that “home” becomes something you carry, and that growth often asks us to loosen our grip on the identities that once kept us safe.

Together, they explore change not as something to conquer, but as something to co-create with - a living undercurrent that speaks through intuition, desire, emotion, and even surprises. If you’re navigating your own pivot, across countries, careers, relationships, or seasons, this conversation offers both permission and a steadier way to move.

In this episode

• The “perfect life / wrong life” wake-up call and how to recognize it without panic
• How Jordan named You Deserve This Sh!t (and why the title “finds your people”)
• Travel as initiation: the line between who you were before and who you become after
• Purpose as the why, not the work and why identity shouldn’t begin and end with your job title
• Change signals to watch for: intuition, desire, emotion, and surprises
• The grief (and gift) of slowing down abroad, releasing the pace to meet a new rhythm

Connect with Jordan

Find Jordan at https://www.jordantarver.com and on Instagram/TikTok @jordantarver (plus Nicole & Jordan’s abroad journey: @nicoleandjordan).

If this episode sparked something in you, don’t let it fade into “someday.” Share it with a friend who’s standing at the edge of change, and leave a review wherever you listen - your words help other Peregrines find their way here.

Feeling inspired? Share this episode with someone you know navigating life between cultures - and don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review. Every story shared is a thread that weaves us closer together.