Traveling is a beautiful, marvelous experience, but it comes with its fair share of stress. From worries about forgetting something important to queues at the airport, huge crowds at tourist attractions and tight deadlines, there are plenty of things that can trigger anxiety and upset your equilibrium on the road.
Staying grounded while traveling is a vital aspect of enjoying your vacations, but it isn’t always the easiest thing to do. It can be hard to find time to connect to yourself in between sightseeing, enjoying yourself, and finding the best restaurants on your travels, and even harder to find the space to do it.
Hotels, airports, buses, and hire cars are not necessarily the perfect spots to ground yourself and indulge in self-care, but don’t panic! Just because you aren’t in your usual comfortable surroundings doesn’t mean that there aren’t a variety of options for calm, tranquil, zen spaces where you can do what you need to reestablish your personal balance and bring peace to your mind.
So whether you are cruising from California to Mexico, packing your bags for a two-week all-inclusive Caribbean resort, or backpacking your way around South East Asia, here are a few tips on how to find the perfect space to stay grounded on your vacations.
Find water
Lakes, rivers, and oceans can be immensely calming, and some of the best places for grounding while you are abroad. Head to the beach at sunrise and try some yoga on the sand, or follow a creek through the woods until you are alone with the birds and your thoughts. The sound of waves on the shore or a gentle waterfall will help you relax, center, and find yourself.
Go above the clouds
If you are lucky enough to be vacationing near mountains, take a hike along rugged trails and up perilous peaks to find yourself above the clouds…and breathe. Exploring the magnificence, majesty, and pure drama of nature is a wonderful way to ground yourself, and those special spots above the clouds provide views that help you locate yourself within the wonder of the world. Sit quietly, look out over stunning panoramas, and explore your sense of self in comparison to the glories of the natural world.
Walk and wander
While grounding yourself is often a passive experience, it can also be an active one, and often taking a moment to just stroll around and discover your destination in a little more detail can be an immensely helpful and healthy experience. The simple action of putting one foot in front of the other can help provide focus for a busy mind, and the opportunity to see the beautiful aspects of everyday life in your chosen destination is one not to be missed either!
Get lost
Sometimes the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself…literally! All too often on vacation we are hung up on ‘doing’, on making sure we see everything we have to see, do everything we have to do, and ticking off all the important sights and experiences. This can be stressful, and cause anxiety, so to rebalance yourself, just let yourself get lost once in a while. The lack of pressure will be immensely calming, and help you enjoy your more formal vacation experiences even more.
Find silence
Ultimately, the best place to ground yourself on vacation will be wherever you can find a moment of calm, peace, tranquility, and silence. This might be halfway up a mountain, on the shore of a lake, or sitting in an ancient church…but it might just be in your hotel room when everyone else has left for the day! At the end of it all, the perfect space for grounding is wherever works best for you.
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