I've been both relaxed and natural on this journey:
Relaxed was a little funny, because:
I had to figure out protein and moisture
how to step away from the flat iron while still wanting straight hair,
stretches were not easy (was aiming to relax 2x per year).
Still, the good parts were:
that I could monitor my ends more easily
I detangled faster
I could see progress more easily
my braid-outs and bantu knot-outs were HOT!
But, I wanted thicker hair, bigger hair and tried to natural before LHCF and relaxed about a year later. My relaxed hair, though it was growing and was healthier was still thin and not in its best condition due to damage from heat, and dying along with the relaxer. After checking out Jade's fro from ANTM (with many natural heads from this site) I was inspired to grow it out natural again.
Natural has been easier than expected in some ways:
With conditioner and a wide toothed comb, in the shower, detangling is really easy
WnG has been a great summer style
When all else fails you can just let it be wild
Gel is not the devil (Fantasia IC that is)
Braids, twists, keep me from bothering it
No bothering to keep it straight or fearing the rain will ruin my hair (unless flat ironed)
Its very versatile
No touch ups, or bothering with stretches or demarcation line
Hair is thicker
Twistouts looks good now
However its been harder in some ways:
Trying to detangle when not wet after WnG or braids is NOT my friend
Single strands knots are not my friend
More splits
Finding it tough to just touch BSL after great growth from Neck-APL
Flat ironed hair is flyaway
Braidouts are still to be mastered...
Its been both easier at some points (once I figured out what was working for me) and harder (when trying to figure out what works/ change things up).