By: Sarah Stone
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Mindfulness teaches us to exist in the present, appreciate the now, and disconnect from the relentless pace of routine.
The act of travel gives us a unique platform for practicing mindfulness—we can amplify the joy of exploration by staying in the moment and being aware of our thoughts, emotions, and senses. Being mindful and in the present is also a fantastic way to manage stress during times of uncertainty or frustration on the road.
Beyond a change of scenery, travel can be a profoundly transformative journey, challenging us to engage fully with the people we meet and the sights around us. If you’re planning a trip to truly get away and reset, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t consider practicing mindfulness on your journey.
Here are a few ways to heighten your experience before, during, and after your travels.
Intention Setting
Before your voyage, try intention setting—that is, reflecting on the personal outcomes you want from the trip. You might wish to gain some peace through relaxation and escape, seek adventure through challenging treks, or gain cultural insight by immersing yourself in a new environment. Or maybe you want to pursue longer-term goals like focusing on personal growth or skills development. Establishing clear intentions can guide your decisions during travel, from choosing the right destination to picking all the activities you’ll participate in, ensuring the experience aligns with your personal aspirations.
Mindful Packing
Through mindful packing, you might select versatile, eco-friendly, and personally significant items for your trip. At a minimum, you can benefit from bringing items that serve multiple purposes, reducing the need to carry excess baggage—like this reusable water bottle with a built-in pill box organizer. Items of personal significance, like a favorite book or a travel journal, can enhance your connection to the journey. This approach lightens your physical load and ensures that each item plays a meaningful role in your travel experience.
Related: Downsize Your Packing: Efficient and Easy Packing Tips for Travel
Digital Detox
A digital detox can significantly improve practicing mindfulness during travel. Designate specific times or places to be tech-free, where you can focus more on the things around you. You don’t need to leave your phone behind—just set aside some time to silence it, put it away, and pay attention to the world around you, even if for a few moments. The absence of digital distractions can open you to more direct interactions with your surroundings, giving you a more immersive, memorable travel experience. Plus, you’ll remember more about your trip itself than the notifications on your screen.
Language Immersion
Learning key phrases and practicing the local language—and actively seeking opportunities to use it during your travels—will help you be more conscious and aware of your surroundings, and open to thoughtful and respectful exchange. The more you learn, the more you’ll understand the nuances of the language and intention behind the words spoken in different situations. You’ll also be able to make better connections with locals, allowing you to learn more about the area and its history and customs directly from people who live there.
Related: Overcoming Language Barriers While Traveling: Tools & Techniques You Should Know
Sensory Walks
Starting each day with a sensory walk is a fantastic way to practice mindfulness while traveling. Focus on one sense at a time to fully engross yourself with the environment around you—like listening to the rhythm of traffic and the chatter of the people you pass along the way. Or if you want to be grounded in the moment, focus on more tactile sensations like the warmth of the sun or the feeling of your shoes crunching on gravel with each step. A sensory walk encourages a deeper connection with your surroundings, intensifying your awareness of small details that might otherwise go overlooked and unappreciated.
Related: Ditch the Car and Discover a New City on Foot, Bike, or Public Transit
Mindful Eating
Beyond choosing where and what to eat, being mindful about the dining experience while traveling can be particularly enriching! Try eating without distractions like your phone or a book—instead, focus on the flavors, textures, and smells of your food. Think about its preparation, where it comes from, and who created it for you, all of which may foster a greater appreciation for the cultural context of your meal.
Read our guides for foodie travelers worldwide!
Photographic Mindfulness
Photographic mindfulness challenges you to focus your cameras on small details rather than capturing the broader scene. This exercise encourages you to observe nuances you might otherwise overlook—like the texture of an old wall, the interplay of light and shadow, or people’s expressions in a quiet moment. Concentrating on these details can help you develop a deeper appreciation for your surroundings and a heightened sense of present-moment awareness.
Related: 10 Photography Tips for Amateur Travel Photographers
Journaling
Journaling is a powerful tool for enhancing mindfulness during travel. Write about your daily experiences, focusing in particular on what you observe around you and how it affects your inner state. Try these prompts to get started:
- What surprised me today?
- Three things I’d like to accomplish on this trip are…
- When I close my eyes right now, I can hear the sound of…
- I was anxious today about x, and I wasn’t anxious today about y.
- What’s a worry I usually have, but that isn’t happening on this trip?
Prompts like these will help you explore your reactions and thoughts about new experiences. This form of journaling can lead to greater self-awareness and a richer understanding of your travel experience; it also provides a personal artifact from your journey, filled with detailed insights and reflections that can be revisited long after your trip has ended.
Related:
- 8 Travel Writing Prompts to Help You Become a Better Blogger
- Travel Blogging & Writing: Eight Writing Prompts for Inspiration
Breathwork
If you feel stressed during your travels, breathing techniques can help manage it. Deep diaphragmatic breathing, where you take slow, deep breaths actively using your diaphragm, can help reduce the physiological symptoms of stress by lowering your heart rate and encouraging relaxation. You can practice this technique in any setting, whether waiting in an airport lounge, getting ready for dinner, or lying in bed. Plus, deep breathing increases oxygen flow and aids in concentration, helping with your overall well-being!
Mindful Movement
Incorporating mindful movements like yoga poses or stretches can reduce stress, improve your health and wellness, and center you in the moment. If you’re on an airplane, trying a seated spinal twist or a standing forward bend can reduce the discomfort of a cramped seat, promote circulation, ease muscle tension, and calm your mind. Try a few yoga poses or a sun salutation in the morning before heading out. And while out and about, pay attention to your posture—standing up straight can go a long way toward boosting your confidence, encouraging you to look more at the things around you, and even help with your breathing exercises.
Memory Boxes
Creating a memory box is a tangible way to capture and preserve the mindful moments from your journey. Anything can go into it, as long as it reminds you of your trip and brings you back to the moments that made it special—like ticket stubs, a souvenir, your travel journal, an event program…whatever you’d like to preserve. Occasionally revisiting those items can help you reflect on your experience and reinforce the mindful practices you engaged in while traveling.
Continued Practice
You may find that you loved practicing mindfulness while traveling—so building a habit of it during your day-to-day can be a major boost to your mental health and overall well-being. Maybe you’ll set aside time each day to avoid electronics and similar distractions, or perhaps you’ll incorporate yoga into your morning routine. You could even find local groups to join where you can learn about and practice other mindfulness techniques. Continued practice of the mindfulness you began to cultivate during your travels will help it become a dynamic and beneficial part of your life.
Over to you! What are your tips for practicing mindfulness while traveling? Share your thoughts and recommendations with the Frayed Passport community!
About the Author
As the editor-in-chief of Frayed Passport, my goal is to help you build a lifestyle that lets you travel the world whenever you want and however long you want, and not worry about where your next paycheck will come from. I've been to 20+ countries and five continents, lived for years as a full-time digital nomad, and have worked completely remotely since 2015. If you would like to share your story with our community, or partner with Frayed Passport, get in touch with me at sarah@frayedpassport.com!