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# finding your way back
- URL: https://www.timdoleschall.com/finding-your-way-back/
- Published: 2026-08-21T07:15:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-21T07:15:26.000Z
- Author: Tim Doleschall
- Tags: Journal

i spent two and a half weeks travelling through europe this summer. when i got back to hamburg, i had surgery - the screws from my ankle finally got removed. good news. but the recovery meant no demanding movement like running or swimming. for someone who runs almost every morning that's harder than it sounds.

i mostly trust my own judgement but this time i listened to the doctor and let my body recover properly.

by day two i already felt that something was missing.

i didn't realise how much those morning runs do for my head until they were gone. the gym is fine but it's not the same - you can always reach for your phone, there's always something to distract you. running and swimming don't give you that option. it's just you and whatever's sitting in your mind, slowly getting sorted out. when that was taken away i had all this physical energy and nowhere to put it. being healthy and fit truly is a blessing i take for granted until i don't have it.

what made the recovery easier was my family.

we played cards, cooked together, sat on the terrace with a coffee. after a year away, suddenly being taken care of again felt strange, but in a nice way.  
i'm used to structuring my own days, doing things when and how i want. at home there are four other people to consider. that wasn't super easy in the first couple of days and i think i brought some chaos with me. but i realised again how important communication in a household is - and how nice it is to stop sprinting from a to b for a few days and just enjoy being together.  
  
i enjoyed the days but i wasn't really going anywhere. i just lived and reacted (and recovered).

almost every morning i picked up my grandmother and we got breakfast somewhere. sat for a while, talked, took our time. these twelve months have been the longest we've been apart. i hope it stays that way.

now i'm back in hong kong. getting back into routine is its own kind of work. it doesn't happen the moment you land. the first few days you're still half somewhere else - different timezone, different rhythm, different pace.

what brings me back is structure. fixed times for waking up and going to sleep. knowing when to move and when to rest. getting the morning run back in. none of these things are big on their own but together they hold everything else in place. decisions feel easier. the day feels like it belongs to you again.

hong kong moves fast and if you don't have your own rhythm inside that it can pull you in every direction. routine isn't restriction - it's what gives you the space to actually be present rather than just reacting to everything around you.

it really is just one morning after another.