After an “emotionally taxing week,”Meghan McCainis going home again — home to Arizona.

The Viewco-host has beencandid about her grieving processin the wake of dadJohn McCain‘s death from brain cancer in August 2018. Last April, she shared that she still couldn’t return to the state where she grew up and where her father was a legendary senator. The hurt was still too real.

“You’re omnipresent in my life, heart and mind … and it still doesn’t feel real you aren’t here,” she wrote about her dad on Instagram in December 2018. “I try and remind myself that the intensity of the pain of missing you is important because it is a reminder of how my love for you was so incredibly strong.”

Now, Meghan tells PEOPLE, she is ready.

“I’m really looking forward to having some much needed family time,” she says.

“She knows how difficult the visit will be,” a source close to her explains. “But everyone is aware of her deep connection” to the state.

On her schedule? Fishing and relaxing.

After Sen. McCain died, Meghan, 35, began regularly posting about her heartache. She has since spoken out about “destigmatizing grief” and her mission to help others “grappling with the immense pain and trauma losing a loved one.”

Meghan McCain.Heidi Gutman/Getty Images

MEGHAN MCCAIN

Meghan McCain and Ben Domenech.Justin Sullivan/Getty

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“I continue to believe the more open, honest and transparent conversations we have about the albatross that is grief and our cultures reticence to address it, the better off we all will be,” she wrote on Instagram ahead of an October community event. “Dealing with my own grief I have been shocked at the lack of resources and conversation we readily have as Americans.”

As the Meghan source noted, in recent days she has contended with a fresh wave of reports about feuding onThe View.

Meghan was also absent from taping on Jan. 9, which some speculated was linked to alleged conflicts behind the scenes.

Not so, a source close to the show told PEOPLE last week: Despite any past tension, her absencewas due to “family reasons.”

The hosts ofThe View.

ABC’s “The View” - Season 22

Among the latest reports of problemswere sources speaking to CNNandelsewherewho saidMeghan’s bond with Huntsman, 33, had soured after a tiff because Meghan believed Huntsman was talking about her kids too much.

As Huntsman announced she would be leavingThe View, Meghan offered her support on-air.

“You are such a bright light in everyone’s life,” she said on Monday’s show. “You always see the good in everything. You’ve been a friend forever. I’m heartbroken you’re leaving, but I can understand better than anybody how important it is to go support your dad. They are special moments. The best of my life was with my dad doing the same thing. I totally get it.”

source: people.com