Traveling is the closest most of us get to living out the dreams we feed during our normal 9-5’s in the office, walking around our home towns, or grabbing a coffee in the city. When we travel we get to let loose of our normal restraints and inhibitions, let our hair down, enjoy the world around us, see new things, experience new places, tastes, smells and sounds.

The only problem is that a lot of us are so deeply plugged into the stress of our everyday lives that we find it hard, even impossible, to really cut loose when we’re out traveling the world.

So, here are three things you can do before and during your next adventure outing, to make sure you can destress as much as you need and want, and enjoy the experience.

Write a journal each night

Writing a journal in general can be a pretty great idea for a bunch of different reasons. Keeping a travel journal when you’re on the road or in a new magical location, on the other hand, can completely transform your travel experience for the better.

Logging a short journal entry each night helps you to confront your worries and get them out of your head, it allows you to focus on the fun and interesting things you’ve experienced and feel grateful for them, and it can serve as a great way of saving memories and references for later.

A journal entry could be as matter-of-fact as “Stayed at Crowne Plaza Suites Houston — near Sugar Land”, or as deep as “couldn’t stop feeling depressed today when staring at that photo.” Whatever you write down, it’ll be a load off your mind.

 

Wrap up any loose ends at work before heading off

If at all possible, you’ve got to try and live by the rule of never working while on vacation. Seriously, no matter how much you love your job, there’s pretty much nothing that can singlehandedly destroy your ability to chill out and your sense of wonder at being in a new place, than having to sit down with your laptop and crunch out a report before breakfast.

Make a point of wrapping up all loose ends at work before leaving the office for your trip, clear your holiday dates with everyone who needs to know, set an autoresponder on your email  telling everyone you’re out having a great time, and then go and forget about anything even vaguely related to work for a while.

Practice centering yourself in the moment

Most stress and anxiety is rooted in not being present with ourselves and the moment we find ourselves in. Instead of taking a deep breath in and out and centering ourselves, we let our attention wander to events from the past which upset us, or events in the future that we feel insecure about.

Taking up a mindfulness practice or signing up for a meditation course can be some of the greatest ways of finding peace and happiness in general. Taking those practices with you on holiday can make a great experience into a magical one.

 

 

Featured image via Pexels

Written by Jacqueline Chambers

Jacqueline Chambers

Jacqueline Chambers is the founder of TGIFguide. She uses her innate skills as a natural “connector” to serve businesses, brands and individuals in the LA area and beyond.