I love to travel; I’ve been very fortunate to have had many opportunities to visit various places around the world and exploring new horizons is a great passion of mine. Over the past decade my life has shifted in many unexpected directions that have required me to shift my view of traveling.
I quit my full-time job to do freelance work, got married, bought a house, and focused on improving my health. These changes required an adjustment to everything I do. How I spend money, where I could travel to and changing my daily habits. Having a full time job allowed me the privilege and opportunity to have expendable income to use for traveling which I no longer had. Also, when I was single I could just get up and go on a whim but my priorities shifted. My lifestyle changes allowed an opportunity for me to face fears that I struggled with head on. I still longed to hit the road but my life circumstances posed new challenges of how often and when I could travel.
I took some time for introspection and asked myself why do I crave exploration? I realized when I’m home I’m often focused on my day to day anxieties and it creates an overwhelming and stressful experience. When I am out in the world I am my best self. When I change my environment, I remove myself from my mind and focus on the present. It allows me to feel mentally free and relaxed; I am open, forgiving, patient. I look at life as an explorer who is excited about what’s out there, who also enjoys connecting with a diverse group of people and trying new things. Now that I was not physically traveling very often I wanted to be the person I was on the road at home, Sarah the traveler. I decided to be mindful about applying the same mindset to everything I do at home. Instead of being constantly overwhelmed, and paralyzed by stress and the fear of being trapped in the mundane stagnation of suburbia, I decided to make a daily decision to shift my viewpoint.
It hasn’t always been easy and I’ll admit many days I have missed the mark but it has been an eye-opening experience. I have learned so much about how our mindsets shape our world. Sure, my wanderlust is still there but the things I have learned at home have been just as monumental as my journeys across the globe. Traveling is about the journey, the people you meet, the things you experience, learning from one another. Daily life can be the same, there is always an opportunity for a new perspective no matter where you are. Open your eyes and mind, let the traveling start now, traveling is a mindset.
Here are six cost effective tips on how to instantly apply a traveling mindset to your daily life and experience your world in a new way:
#1 Watch the Sunrise, Watch the Sunset:
Get up early – watch the sunrise. Go outside – watch the sunset. If this is something you do on a regular basis, kudos to you. Each sunrise and sunset is different and the start to a new day, a fresh perspective. I encourage you to find a time to admire this beautiful daily occurence uninterrupted.
#2 Go Outside:
View your immediate surroundings like you never have before. There is often an entire world of life going on around you that you never knew of. You can easily add this practice to your daily routine. Take a walk or drive on a different path or street. Any way to mix up the pattern to get a fresh perspective. If you have a yard or a nearby park, sit outside in nature or watch through a window and really pay attention and look for the beauty around you. Look around, what’s something you haven’t noticed before?
#3 Take Photos:
Take notice of things around you that are “picture worthy” wherever you go. You will be surprised at the things you come across and notice, when you are viewing your everyday surroundings like a tourist, it will give you a fresh perspective. As a bonus you may produce some quality artwork as well. If you take a good photo, print it, frame it, put it in a photo journal or share it on social sites. Treat your photos from home just as you would from a big trip. What seems to be mundane can be spectacular. Start snapping away.
#4 Take Time for Gratitude
Taking notice of all the wonderful things in your life opens you up to receive more abundance in your life. Sometimes you long to be other places and as a result all of the great things around you go un-noticed. Being grateful for what you have creates positive energy and allows you to approach life from a thankful place. When you have a better attitude and are thankful, you are more open for new experiences. Taking time for gratitude looks different for each person. It can be as simple as quick reflection. For example starting or ending your day with one thought of something you are grateful for or you can write down multiple things, maybe even keep a journal. What are you grateful for today and/or what was the best moment of your day?
#5 Try Something New:
Learning a new skill allows your brain to do something in a new way, it’s like a fresh perspective when you travel. Singing, painting, drawing, gardening, cooking, it doesn’t matter what you do, just try something you haven’t done before. If you find a passion while engaging in a new activity, fabulous, but don’t make it your goal. The goal should simply be to try something you have always wanted to do and never have. If you don’t know where to start, do some quick reflection and take five minutes to make a list of activities that ignite your interest. Look at your list and pick one activity to try within the next week.
If trying something new scares you or makes you nervous, that’s okay. Once you try it, whether you love it or hate it, the boost of confidence you will get from being brave enough to try something new will be far more rewarding then spending your life wishing you would have tried. What new activity will you try?
#6 Practice Patience and Turn the Unexpected Into an Adventure:
At home I notice I tend to be impatient and short tempered when things don’t go as planned. Honestly, I usually get frustrated and angry, which is something I rarely do when I’m traveling. When I’m traveling and things don’t go as planned, I often get a rush of excitement. Although sometimes it’s a little scary, I think of it as an adventure, an opportunity for a great story when it’s all said and done. How silly I’ve been to not apply my free-wheeling travel philosophy to life when I’m at home too.
I challenge you to view daily mishaps as an opportunity to practice patience. Often we jump to try to solve issues immediately but sometimes there isn’t an immediate answer or action to take. Take pause, take a step back and just witness what is happening. There is a flow to life and when you don’t force an immediate solution or resist, you just let experiences happen and the answer will often come through in time. Even if it’s not what you planned or expected often something positive will come from it. There will be times when you will know a solution right away and it’s okay to act instantly but don’t get overwhelmed if you don’t have an immediate solution. There is no need to make things harder than they need to be, just be present and watch things unfold.
These are just a few suggestions on ways to shift to a traveling mindset. How will you shift your perspective?