Travel is arguably as popular right now as it’s ever been before, with huge numbers of people filling up the travel-related hashtags of social media platforms on a daily basis, “digital nomads” heading from place to place with laptop in tow, and busy millennials making the most of their time with weekend breaks to far-flung locales.
But to really appreciate a travel outing as you should, requires you to be in a certain frame of mind, not just for you to actually be at the location itself.
Here are a few tips on the mindset you should take travelling with you.
Be open to the mystery and adventure of the experience, try not to let your own expectations come into things too much
If you are visiting a world-famous destination for the first time – such as Rome or Pisa, for example – it more or less goes without saying that you’re going to be bringing plenty of assumptions and expectations to the experience.
The thing is, it’s impossible to know exactly what a place will be like, or how it will make you feel, in advance. And getting too invested in those expectations can leave you disappointed, and can prevent you from experiencing the marvels that actually are right in front of you.
The first point of a positive travelling mindset is to be open to the mystery and adventure of the experience, and to see what you’ll see when you get there – not to let your own expectations come into things too much.
Get yourself out each day, with a list of things you want to see – be structured, but not overly rigid
It might be that, on your travels, you’re staying somewhere such as the NRG Park hotel and find it comfortable enough that you could easily justify sleeping in and starting each day around noon.
It’s important to have a balanced mindset towards how to structure your time while travelling, though.
If you treat it too much as a total relaxation experience, you’re likely to miss much – if not all – of the great sights and experiences you could experience.
Then again, if you are too overly rigid, you’ll likely be stressed, and will be hopping from location to location without properly appreciating any of them.
Adopt an attitude of flexible structure. Be structured, but not overly rigid.
Be present, and focus on enjoying what’s right in front of you in an authentic way – don’t carry too many worries with you from home, and don’t be to fixated on getting the best photos for social media
Developing the ability to be present on your travels is one of the most important things you can do in order to make the trip as enjoyable, and also as meaningful, as possible.
Too often, we will spend a large proportion of our vacation time reflecting on, and obsessing over, problems we were facing back at home. And, increasingly, more and more people are failing to actually properly experience the present moment on their travels, because they are too preoccupied with how to frame the perfect photo and present it on social media.
The aim of travelling should be to have an authentic experience, not to present yourself in the best way, or to get lost in rumination. Be present.