How travelling challenges and enhances your mindfulness practices

3 min readJan 22, 2020

1. You become new

You can constantly reinvent yourself — every new place and new person you meet you can share a new story about yourself or an improved one, or after a while you’ll notice you’re bored with your story and it’s prolly time to change something in your life. Travelling is the right time, space and setting to create a new story. Ask yourself: Who do I want to become? What story would I be proud of sharing? What is there that I can let go off and what is there that I can trust and allow in my life?

2. You got to let go

Yes, you got to let go of how things should be. Western countries can still have things working like you want but once you travel somewhere less known — you’ll see being on time is not working, things get cancelled, you might end up in a completely differently looking hotel than on the pictures you saw and people might have very different ways of expressing their emotions, feelings and showing how they notice you.

3. You are constantly challenged

From how to survive without not speaking the same language to being lost and a dead battery. The time to truly inhale and exhale and you will most likely find the best lunch place without tripadvisor and some local will walk you back to your hotel. The best way to exercise the trust in the universe taking care of you.

4. You are out of your comfort zone

You have left the zone where you know what’s in your fridge, who is living next door and your schedule for the day, week, year. Now you are in a treat for food that someone has prepared their way, for maybe someone singing opera next door or who knows, a storm, heatwave or sudden volcano eruption. Ok, sounds too much like a catastrophe? Not really, just really embracing things that switch your brain off from those daily worries and maybe gives you a new perspective for appreciation.

5. You are surprised

Constantly. If you look at the things from the bright side — there is always a mystery bun at the bakery that ‘’looks like something you think you know just to discover it’s very different’’. When the time of relaxation and ease hits you, you will see how everything actually feels amusing and a little smile on your lips for that late bus will come along with — acceptance things happened how they need to happen. You have let go.

6. Your senses are enhanced

The taste buds are trying to understand what explosion just happened. You might touch a random plant and got a little bit of a sting or you have truly put yourself into the ocean or fresh air on your hike. Your whole body is experiencing something new. From your eyes seeing new, to your ears constantly trying to hear something familiar in the foreign language to your hands touching and mouth tasting and experiencing all that new, fresh and enveloping in the full body experience of this life.

What would you add? How has travel enhanced your mindfulness practices? Share in the comments bellow :)