Travel Reflections: 7 Ways To Allow The Magic Of Travel In Your Life
Travel reflections hold so much gold when it comes to looking at the ways in which our travels may have changed us from the inside.
We can learn so much from reflecting, and it’s really quite a shame that not many people do this when arriving back home.
I think we are allowed to reflect on the fact that we miss travel, and the magic of travel, without feeling any kind of judgment or shame for thinking about it.
Though it might sound like thinking about travel is something lavish when others may be going through a multitude of different emotions and challenging circumstances.
To think that our challenges (big or small, travel or not) mean less in comparison to others, means doing ourselves a disservice to address our feelings – as “shallow” or “unimportant” as they may seem in the grand scheme of things.
Although missing travel is the biggest problem, we are lucky.
Just want to say that.
Today’s post is definitely one that comes more from a personal perspective, and one that I’ve been curating in my head for the last few months, but didn’t know how to start it.
I still don’t know how to, but I figure that what I have now and what I’ve been feeling, as someone who misses traveling and connecting with others on a personal level while traveling, is a start.
We didn’t come back, just to come back
Last year when I left my 9-5, I had a realization that precisely pushed me to make the change and take the leap of faith when I did which was this – I didn’t come back, just to come back – and if that alone resonates with you, then keep reading because I got some things to add to this.
And if you’re not sure where this is headed, stick around to find out and see if this is you too.
We don’t come back from amazing, incredible, life-altering, perspective-shifting travel experiences JUST to come back to the same situation – routine, work, home mindset.
Whether it was your first solo trip around Southeast Asia, a study abroad experience in Europe, or a volunteer exchange program in South America – these experiences and others are a big deal, which have left a BIG impact on us that perhaps we didn’t anticipate.
However, it definitely did and it’s an experience and memory we often return back to.
As one of growth, expansion, clarity, and direction.
And throughout this time of isolation, quarantine, and overall fear and uncertainty is in the air and wondering what 2021 will look like, I’ve wondered this: How can we continue to allow and keep the magic of travel in our lives?
Stay awhile and read below what I have been doing to keep that travel magic alive and how you can adapt it to your current situation, whatever it may be.
Let’s begin –
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Travel Reflections: 7 Ways To Allow The Magic Of Travel In Your Life
1. Video calls with friends you traveled with
One of the things I’ve been doing to keep that magic of travel in my life has been catching up with family, and friends, and especially reminiscing on past travels together.
No matter what’s coming up for us in 2021, maintaining these bonds strong by talking about a shared travel experience, thinking back, and uncovering old memories we may have even forgotten is quite an exciting (and funny) throwback.
Get your friends, grab a snack, and reminisce on past travels together.
Get inspired and dream together of the other amazing travels you have ahead of you!
Also, something SUPER cool to do that mimics the feeling of travel is doing an Airbnb experience together from the comfort of your own homes!
Come together with an Airbnb experience like this one, and create different travel memories, now!
Also, I hope you got a laugh out of my troubles in Lisbon trying to open my umbrella. I don’t know why but I felt like sharing something a lil embarrassing with you all, but there it is.
2. Make a playlist
As I am writing this post, I just received my Spotify playlist with my top songs of 2020, which yes, I am listening to as I finish this post.
I’ve said it before, but music is the ultimate high vibe, and it’s one of the things that I love that always brings around the magic of travel.
There’s a saying in Spanish that says, to remember is to live, and I couldn’t agree more when it comes to music. Music has the power to take us back to any time or experience in a matter of seconds, so let’s take advantage of that and make a playlist.
Creating a music playlist based on songs that you heard on a specific trip, or making a playlist with songs that inspire the kind of trip you want to take, and listening to that every day, is pretty powerful.
I know I’ve made playlists this year based on different places I wanted to visit: Brazil, France, Spain, Mexico, and more because these are places I have been to and/or I want to go visit soon!
If you’d like to check out my personal playlist (only shared with a couple of people) make sure to leave me your email down below and I’ll send you a link to check out any and all of the travel playlists I have!
3. Revisit, review, and reconfigure
You’ve traveled, you’ve seen, you’ve experienced, and you’ve changed – now what?
You heard it everywhere, but 2020 really WAS the year to reflect and review to reconfigure things.
It was the year in which the world as we thought of it stopped, giving us more time to see what was working for us and what wasn’t – what to change, and readjust. More often than not, we need those breaks to process and check in with ourselves.
Life gets so busy or we have a feeling to get busy with life again (like after a trip) instead of really checking in with how we feel. It’s not helpful or sustainable in the long run.
When you came back from your most recent trip, did you stop to think back about what you had just experienced?
If you felt that you grew a bit, expanded your thoughts, shifted your perspective on something, or learned something new?
Were you finally able to take a look at what exactly you can’t stop thinking about, and ask yourself why that is?
Maybe it was an idea you had while you were traveling or a feeling as a whole of freedom that you keep thinking about and missing?
Often times we don’t give ourselves that time between travel and going back to work to really process our growth and added life experience from our trip. Maybe that’s why we sometimes still can’t fully adjust to our current surroundings.
If any of that resonates with you, then that’s a sign that there is something to probably look more into.
Somewhere along your travels, something changed within, and this pause in time has somehow magnified that something.
Read More: Do you feel like you changed from your travels? You’ve experienced transformative travel
I feel you, and I understand what it feels like. Don’t sweep it under the rug, and instead take a look at it. It may be the answer to what you should focus on in 2021 and beyond.
If your realization is that you want to travel more, and find more ways to make it part of your life, then my Travel Visualization Workbook will definitely help you achieve that. Click below and get your copy for FREE.
4. Learn a new skill / educate yourself
Learning a new skill, whatever that is, not only holds magical qualities related to travel such as learning from others, making connections based on similar interests, or diving into the unknown with excitement to come out with new skills later.
It will also help determine what you will focus on in the new year. For me, I really dove into practices such as meditation, Human Design (I’m a Reflector by the way!), and investing and expanding my knowledge about blogging.
When I hear some people say they’ve been bored during quarantine, I really want to tell them to learn something new!
Read More: 10 under $10 amazing travel books to dive into right now
It’s like a gateway into a different world (literally) where there’s new terminology (language), new sets of rules and knowledge (social norms), new people to meet such as other students, teachers, and leaders in the field (people that live there) and so much more.
I’ve been loving learning about Human Design with this book and learning more about my Human Design, and I’ve also been loving taking this course on affiliate marketing.
The course I’ve been taking for affiliate marketing is super comprehensive, and has cleared up a lot of doubts I had around affiliate marketing as I learned from the best!
I definitely recommend it if this is something you also want to learn more about for your blog, or creative venture.
I urge you to learn something, a new language in preparation for that trip to that one country you want to visit, or a new skill that can help you create a side gig to more easily create more income for travel!
Or finding ways to save money for travel.
Related post: How I Easily Saved An Extra $1,000 For Travel Using The Acorns App
5. Make new connections
Being as social as possible during this time has been a priority for me, as it has been for many, in whatever capacity we can.
Video calls, phone calls, Instagram messages, and “meeting” new people online with shared interests.
Honestly, the internet has helped me be so connected with the world, and people from all over the world that I share common interests, whether it’s travel, bloggers/content creators, learning a new language, and more!
A quick search on Facebook for an interest you have will lead you to dozens of options for groups to join and literally geek out with others, or also doing that on Instagram!
For instance for me, since learning about Human Design, and learning more about it from others, I’ve been able to connect with a whole group of people that have similar interests and life outlooks, which has been really amazing.
There may be content on Human Design and travel coming up in a few posts if that is something that interests you by the way, so stay tuned!
6. Find a hobby that connects you
I did a lot of cooking this year, way more than I have in years past, and what most motivated me to cook (other than hunger) was trying different recipes each time.
I made Greek food, Spanish food, Italian, Chinese, Turkish, Mexican, and other varieties because it connected me to the times I traveled to these beautiful places.
And even if cooking is not your thing, try buying food items that you had while you were abroad.
I did a lot of this too, and it surely brought the magic of travel, in the words of Miley Cyrus, like a wrecking ball. It is such a beautiful thing.
The smells themselves trigger different emotions and envelope you with the magic of travel, even when you don’t expect it.
Whether it connects you back to a travel experience, a place, a person you met, or an overall feeling – do it.
This combined with listening to music – oh man. in my mind and heart, I’m not in Illinois anymore.
Related Post: Culinary Tours of Mexico, Peru, Greece, and India
7. Meditate/Visualize
I’ve been a constant proponent of meditation and visualization with those in my personal life and on the blog because this alone is so powerful.
Not only to help manifest travel, but also for the sake of feeling the travel vibes now.
I know personally for me, it’s been a struggle to actually get myself to sit down and meditate, as it’s always made me feel so fidgety and then frustrated because I couldn’t get through a 10-minute meditation.
The thing is that it wasn’t so much that I was too active to stay still and meditate, but it was that I hadn’t found a meditation that helped me get into that space.
I personally love guided meditations, and recently, walking meditations which have significantly helped me ease into a meditative state while walking or sitting down.
If you’re looking for an easier way to meditate, based on my personal experience, I cannot recommend the Mimi Method by Mimi Bouchard.
Mimi is on a mission to help as many women become the best versions of themselves through health and personal development.
Her meditations are my absolute favorite from her calm voice, the 528-hertz music in the background that literally brings the meditations alive and a soothing effect to the brain, and the variety of meditation themes – I seriously cannot recommend them enough.
If you’re interested in trying out Mimi’s meditations, click here for a 7-day free trial to her membership that offers meditations and more.
I personally love the meditations so much, I mostly have the membership to have access to them alone. There’s literally nothing to lose and all to gain.
Concluding thoughts on travel reflections: allowing the magic of travel in your life
In my personal efforts to allow and keep the magic of travel in my life, to me, means expanding, growing, and learning no matter where I am.
Travel has personally allowed me to see myself outside of the 4 corners of my comfort zone, has pushed me to my limits, and has left me to see that I can make it through, no matter the challenge up ahead – things always find a way of working themselves out.
And to help you find what travel has taught you, I created this guide with prompt questions to bring a bit of clarity to you, as you begin to allow and keep the magic of travel in your life.
Until we are able to travel again (and beyond), try to use this as a guide to help you stay connected and allow the magic of travel in your life.
As I said, we didn’t just come back just to come back – to go back to our routines, homes, mindsets, and workplace that we may have outgrown just to hope that we can get those travel feelings back somehow.
You don’t deserve that cruelty.
You need to go after what you want.
Get started by connecting back to the magic of travel, and where your inspiration may have hit you the hardest.
To more moments of self-discovery through travel ✨
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