How Are Travel and Mindfulness Related?

I was 30 years old when I took my first solo trip. It was January 2017 and I was still grieving the death of my father and processing the end of my twenties, both of which happened less than two weeks apart. By that time, I had done my fair share of traveling. As a child and into my early twenties, I had taken family trips to Mexico, Italy, Chile, and various states. But I had never attempted a trip by myself and the idea was daunting, to say the least.

I refer to the entire year after my father’s passing as my pilgrimage year. Not only did I kick it off with a self-planned solo trip out of the country, I ended up finding a new job and relocating from Texas to Boston, during which time I also squeezed in a drive to Canada with my dog Finley as co-captain. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my first venture into the wide, waiting world in 2017 started a remarkable healing process inside me.

Travel itself is a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness has been proven to help with a number of mental health issues – anxiety, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, and others. It can be practiced in a variety of ways, but it always focuses on grounding oneself in the moment and paying attention to thoughts and, more importantly, choosing which ones you want to stay with. Some people achieve this through meditation, yoga, and breathing – but it’s also as easy as “mindful eating,” for example, where you pay attention to tastes and textures in order to avoid thoughtless unhealthy eating.

Here’s where the magic of travel comes in! Cut off from your daily routine, your hectic work schedule, and all familiar surroundings, something happens to you. You learn your own strength, you have your essence reflected back to you as you make your way in different cultures, and your empathy grows. What I found was empowerment, and I believe other people can find this too.

Travel as a Mindfulness Practice: Tip #1

Become Present In The Moment

One of the most grounding (and galvanizing) aspects of travel is the novelty factor – new sights, new smells, new foods and tastes, and new people to meet. In our daily lives, we so easily become numb to everything. We take our loved ones for granted, we grow tired of doing and seeing the same things. The excitement that accompanies travel contributes in its own way to mindfulness – it’s easier to stay present in the moment when there are wonders to behold. We slow down, we marvel, we want to take in every second and save them as snapshots in our mind. We want to luxuriate in warm, lapping waters. We want to be inspired by endless canyons and feats of architecture. Being present is not only the aim, it’s enjoyable. While it’s true that our troubles follow us everywhere, a daily dose of awe helps to shake us out of our brain fog as we practice being more fully in the moment.