For those who travel on business or holiday, doing so can aggravate stress by leaving the comforts of home to face the uncertainty of international borders, the fright of the uncontrollable, travel complications, strange customs and food, long lineups, and the threat of violence.
So what’s required is to practice active awareness, this when traveling abroad becomes involved. Instead, think of travel as the opportunity to slow down and reflect, taking in moments, savoring all the various experiences, while embracing the new surroundings and culture, which can skyrocket mental energy.
Begin by freeing yourself from all the preconceived notions when facing your new surroundings. You may be thinking that the food looks too exotic, the heat daring, the language too overwhelming.
Remain open to new ideas, experiences, and beliefs. Embrace what’s different rather than just complaining that it doesn’t feel like home. This way, you’ll return from the destination with a renewed perspective and appreciation on how vast and wild the world is.
Take One Step At A Time
Often, most fall into the tourist trap of attempting to cover as much ground as possible on holiday, which overloads the itinerary while becoming exhausted or ill.
Touring a city, hopping on and off transit, rushing in and out of the shops and restaurants, and by the end of the day it becomes one big blur of confusion.
Instead, slow down and document everything, appreciate the activity by giving it the attention it deserves, envelope the experience and make it a souvenir.
Concisely Embrace Everything
Travel is the gateway to blow open your mind, so why not live like the locals and embrace how they behave in their culture. Indulge in the traditional foods, customs, clothing, go to the outskirts of town to appreciate their living habits.
What travel does is exposes you to the flavors, tastes, and experiences that the travel brochure won’t provide, so cherish the diversity while you can.
Pay Close Attention
Being aware is being mindfully aware of what you’re experiencing at each and every moment. Soaking in the visions of the Mediterranean can appear like a dream, so appreciate the immediate experience.
Make sure to appreciate the beauty as it’s not a dream. Then in the future, even years later, you’ll still reflect on the images of the boat trip on the clear crystal water surrounded by the rugged landscape, as the memories come flooding back.
So as you experience through your travels, slow down, take a deep breath, and become fully aware of what’s revealing around you. What these new adventures and experiences does is etches a deeper impression in your mind, this if you stop and listen, look, feel, and taste.
Live Like The Locals
Whenever traveling to a diverse new land, hopping the globe and not just going across the country, make sure that you seek out the individual locals who lives their life there.
Just don’t visit the common sights and sounds of the traditional tourist spots and restaurants, but dissolve yourself in the local culture and find out what the exotic foods the locals eat.
Visit the areas where they frequent, where they spend their leisure to occupy their time. Shop in their common markets, find where they lounge, the beaches they frequent to avoid the “tourists.” Learning a culture is living it through their eyes.
Sit Back And Reflect
Holidays are usually encased in time such as two weeks, so it’s easy to become overwhelmed to fit as much adventure as possible. So make sure you slow down and take inventory of how you feel.
Relax during the day to pause and reflect, document your thoughts and reactions, photograph the best memories. Then it becomes a great journal of remembering back on what the journey was, and how you felt during that time.
Don’t Worry Remain Positive
Travel is full of uncertainty. You hope you’ll get back home safely, and that Aunt Sara is looking after the cat okay. Then there’s the uncertainty of being on international soil, the large unfamiliar crowds, travel delays, hectic schedules, the language barriers.
So take a deep breath and extract what’s going well on your holiday. Spending time with the family, that amazing meal you just had, the scenery.
Once the day is over, analyze and record a few great experiences that happened during the day. What doing so will remind you of the rewards of spending time away, which will make you appreciate different cultures and how great home is.
Admire The Natives
Find time to relax, while closely watching how the local people behave in their natural habitat. Even if you’re at the beach or enjoying lunch, “people watch” as they stroll by.
Notice what they’re wearing, how engaged they are with each other, are they constantly rushing or laid back. You can learn the most about a destination just by observing how the natives react.
Then Do What The Locals Do
This means putting down your camera, although it’s vital to record all the moments of the travel, this to share and relive the memories.
It’s also extremely liberating to stop playing tourist and just be in the moment, living their life through your eyes. Take a break from constantly snapping selfies, and create a storybook to add to your adventure.
Be Selective In What You Do
There’s so much to do when visiting a new land. Rather than playing novice tourist and falling for all its traps, sit back, relax, and adopt the attitude that you’ll be back again.
This way, you can enjoy what you’re experiencing at this moment, while looking forward to returning to see the rest of the sights and sounds that you missed this time around.