The Simple Yet Powerful Travel Tool I Use Personally (And With Clients!)

Here is a bit of insight into how I travel mindfully and intentionally and a tool I use with clients.  

I actually wrote this nearly 3 weeks ago during the first week of my trip. But because I’ve been focused on being present, being a YES for experiences, opportunities and connections, I’m just getting to sharing now:)  With this trip being significantly different from other travels, I had wanted to share up front before I get into the juicy content and stories and tips a few things that are very important to me.  

Before I share, a bit of the backstory.  For quite some time, I’ve been drawn to intentionality and the motivation behind decisions, actions, behaviors - what I like to think of as our ‘WHY’.  You know, that inner draw - whether it is intuitive and/or logical, that thing that guides us in ultimately how we show up and experience life. If you’ve been following along, you may recall seeing me talk about this relative to my role as a holistic health practitioner. I’ve always been introspective, yet it took breaking out of the corporate mold to really embrace this and explore what this concept means and looks like in life.

Asking ourselves ‘WHY’ - has the power to guide us.  To ground us.  And help us obtain whatever it is we are seeking.  

• I’ve used this question with my health coaching clients - as it can anchor in the motivator and pull towards making those lifestyle changes that will have a big impact.

• I’ve used this question in a multitude of areas in my own life - whether it be navigating and sorting through deciding where to travel, live, how I want to spend my days, why I want to make certain changes and simply exploring why I am drawn to certain things.

• And now, I’m incorporating with clients in a bespoke and personalized way to help them with planning and taking a truly transformative trip. Why? ;) Because if you are open to introspection and intentional, mindful travel, there is so much magic, power, growth, healing, connection and more available - especially when traveling solo.

You don’t need this mindset to have a wonderful trip! It really depends on what you’re seeking - which is why I tailor the layers and depth of incorporating introspection to each client.  Taking this further, do we need a concrete WHY to do something in life? Absolutely not! Do we need an explanation or rational understanding for things including ‘WHY’ in our lives? Hell no!!!

So why do I use this question myself and with others?  To find clarity, refinement and intentionality.  When there is uncertainty, or you could use a motivator and confidence boost, this tool can help.   To find grounding and connection with ourselves and how we spend our time.

You can apply this to nearly all situations in your life and you may find some interesting responses.

Here’s the thing. This question works best - based on what I’ve found from personal experience and from clients - when we don’t overthink it. When we let the answers come from the soul stirrings within AND lean on the mind-body-soul connection, so that we FEEL the answers within and our mind-body-soul are all on board. The rational, logical mind feels safe and we are honoring ourselves.

Confused?  This is where writing or journaling become so helpful when you allow yourself to write the first things that come to mind, to check in with what is coming from the mind and what is coming from the soul.  You can then ‘see’ in writing the things.

This experience is something I take my clients through, depending on their personal travel plans.

To share what this ‘looks’ like, and to give insight into some of the parts of my travels that aren’t evident in the pretty pictures, today, almost 3 weeks into my 7 week journey abroad, I am sharing:

• The Tool I Use Personally & with Clients prior to taking a trip and during.

• My responses, insight and more for this specific trip.

Curious?  Let’s dive in!

2 Key Questions I use personally & with clients before traveling & during the journey:

📝 What is (my) WHY (for taking this trip, going to this destination, etc)?
📝 What is (my) INTENTION?

I’ve found that asking & reflecting on these questions has the power to bring more meaning to and memories from the experiences; travel intentionally; connect deeper with ourselves AND the world around us, including others; and ensure that we leave as little on the table as possible - meaning we don’t return home with regrets.  

What do I really mean by this? For starters, think about:

• Do you find yourself drawn to certain things, places, experiences and perhaps you know why or you don’t know why (it doesn’t entirely matter either way - another day, another blog I’ll dive into experiences with this topic;)

• Do you find yourself wanting to improve some aspect of your life - perhaps you’ve been on a health healing journey and have been really focused on lifestyle changes, the mind-body-soul connection and more and you’re ready to take what you’ve implemented and explore the world.

• Do you find yourself craving new and different experiences, challenges, growth and there’s a tug to do so in a foreign land?

• Are you curious to learn more about people, a part of the world, family, or simply yourself?

• Are you regularly pinning and pining over dreamy destinations and keep saying ‘someday when…’ and are getting tired of this being the regular thought…

• What do you want to experience?

• How do you want to feel?

• What do you want to ideally come home from the travel with? (Think more confidence, clarity, direction, etc)

There’s no right or wrong answers here; there’s also A LOT more to these questions - AND - if you don’t think about these things, that is totally fine too!    

I planned and pulled together the first 3 of 7 weeks of this trip starting 3 weeks prior to departing.  Not much time.  But the inklings had been brewing.  

As I sat with before I left the U.S., a few key themes were clear.  And… as I keep reflecting on, more becomes available and affirmed. Below is what I’ve journaled and reflected on and continue to come back to.

Here’s My WHY and My INTENTIONS for this 7 week journey:

My WHY:
✨PERSPECTIVE✨

🪄One of greatest gifts of travel is perspective - gained from experiences, exposures, interactions and observations of people, places and things that are outside our ‘norm’.

🪄Perspective offers opportunities to learn about the world, others and also importantly about OURSELVES!

🪄Perspective gives us the chance to live aligned with our souls, to show up with love, kindness and compassion AND curiosity. And to be a good human.

🪄Perspective also allows us to feel and connect with experiences, people and places. To be humbled. To recognize privilege. AND to be dam proud of ourselves when we have worked long & dam hard to be turning dreams into realities.

🪶This journey is different for many reasons.
If you follow me on instagram, you’ll see I’ve been sharing in my stories some of the incredible photos taken thus far, and some insight into some of the places I’ve visited and experiences.  There is a strong intention for me with what I post and share (that isn’t new) - yet this trip - there is far more.   Why is it different you may wonder?  For one, I’m traveling to countries I’ve never been to, I am traveling solo and traveling differently than I have in the past (except 5 days - that’s a story for another day and another blog;) - with refined intentions, purpose and a mission.  As I've stepped into and feel passionate about supporting females to travel solo, these experiences, while are mine and are bucket list items, there is a ton of information gathering, research and more that is happening behind the scenes so that I can truly support others as best as possible with turning their travel dreams into realities.

To me, there’s so much more to travel than pretty pictures, beautiful hotels and delicious food. Sure, they serve as the basis to inspire us and often can be what play a role in deciding to go somewhere.  Capturing the memories in a photo is cool. But what I think is cooler is if I can inspire, empower and possibly educate others.  If someone has a little soul spark that compels them to want to take the trip, solo.  Pulling ALL that juiciness together is a lot, yet worth it💫

My INTENTIONS

(aka how I show up and what I want to take away from this trip)

🪡 To be grounded, curious, kind, gracious and to be in my feminine.  To be mind-body-soul connected throughout and bring myself back when I get off. 

🪡 Gain first hand perspective and experiences which allow me to confidently advise and assist others with their travels. (Also note- this is independent, self sponsored travel!)

🤌🏽 My purpose as a Holistic Travel Concierge is to empower women to travel solo to those places that spark their soul, and to be able to do so with wellness experiences easily integrated.  For me, my authenticity comes from experiencing, learning, and knowing parts of the world that go beyond a beautiful and bougie 5 star hotel.  I love an amazing 5 star hotel (that is the easy part of travel planning)!  But there is so much more to travel that I am drawn to uncovering, understanding and experiencing so that I can truly lend insight to help others plan their dream trips.   Part of the focus on the places I cover going forward will be primarily on female solo travel and wellness tips and insights for enjoying places with lifestyle healthy habits in mind.

🤌🏽 Lastly, I want to take with me on this trip what I’ve been learning about myself and my ‘tools’ and incorporate them into the day to day in these foreign lands.  See below for more insight.

I’ll be sharing more in upcoming blogs on my experiences and also when I finally said F-it to waiting for the ‘perfect travel partner’ to have certain experiences and go to certain parts of the world.  Because… I AM MY PERFECT TRAVEL PARTNER ;) 

I hope your wanderlust is sparked 🔥💫🌍

Much love and joy,

Megan

xoxo

ps - these questions are fabulous to ask yourself with a variety of situations in life. I’d love to know if you journal on and what comes up. If you’re curious about traveling solo and are ready to explore what this could look like, send me a note to get started.

HOW I AM STAYING GROUNDED & SOUL CONNECTED

I am on the go A LOT on this trip. Admittedly more than I usually like to be (I’ve become a big fan of slow travel as it allows better immersion imo). However, I was drawn to seeing and experiencing as much as possible on this trip. And find ways to stay grounded and healthy while doing so! I do believe because of the intentionality that I can come back to, I am finding overall it has been easy to feel grounded, which allows me to be present and experience all of the things.  And…booking 3 nights at a peaceful sanctuary (where I’m writing from right now) was perfectly timed to rest, relax and regroup. 

Tools I am using:

• Sensory engagement - hands down my fav tool. Exploring all the scents, tastes, sounds and color has been incredible and also helps keep me grounded, mindful and present.

• Meditation & breath work - even 5-10 minutes before getting out of bed & longer when I can (in the sauna at my current hotel has been fabulous!) 

• Journaling - without pressure, usually I do daily, but there’s been some mornings where conversations over breakfast with hotel staff were more fitting and special.  I am also writing in my travel journal recapping the highlights of the trip and stories.

• Mindfulness.  Awareness of everything!  

• Checking in with myself throughout the day - what do I need right now?  What do I want to do? 

• Movement - primarily walking (and a lot of it!) and gentle yoga in my room (traveling with my yoga mat)

• Gratitude and humbleness for the experiences and ability to travel for this period of time throughout the day.  Simple thanks, appreciation and perspective.

• Grace and compassion with myself and others.