3 Intentional Decisions I Made That Changed How I Travel for Rest

I love watching travel vlogs on YouTube, especially when I have my own upcoming trip on the horizon. I try to get an idea of things to do, what to expect, and of course, tips and hacks for better travel. I’ve always been the planner, the organizer, and spontaneous traveler. One thing I’ve learned in life is that you have to carve the time out to take those moments away. Whether it’s a staycation, a weekend getaway, or a truly deserved week away – if not longer – from it all. I’ve never understood how people can work their careers and jobs, actually earn their PTO, and never use it! This is one of those mysteries that baffles my mind. One thing I’m always looking at in my benefit package is how much time I can earn in PTO plus my paid company holidays. I even try to see how my son’s school breaks and holidays align to my time so we can plan at least 1 to 2 one-week vacations on top of weekend getaways and day trips.

I believe in work-life balance and my life balance is heavy on me traveling. The more I can travel, it helps me realize what becomes more important in my life and how I want to shape my future to live in those significant elements. In recognition of these elements, I made a decision to implement three values that help me travel intentionally and rest purposefully. I first made a decision I was no longer doing business when I travel for pleasure. I want to be fully present in the moment of enjoyment and relaxation when I travel with my son. I don’t have my work emails and chat threads on my phone. These become huge distractions and disruptors as if you never took time away from the office.

Secondly, I stopped punishing myself for wanting to sleep in and take naps on my vacation. Somehow, we’ve adopted this concept that we have to stay booked and busy even on vacation. No thank you, I want to rest and sometimes that rest looks like sleeping in, taking naps, and literally not doing much of anything some days. There is no clause in vacationing that says you have to do everything in one trip. I give myself permission to miss some experiences so that it gives more reason for me to one day return and experience something else new.

My third value I adopted was for my cruising vacations. I only put one device on the internet plan. It’s my cell phone in case my family needs to get in touch with me for emergencies. Plus, this also allows for me to get important emails, if needed, or any other pertinent information that cannot wait until I return. However, I try my best to plan a true disconnected experience when I travel, but I also understand that life is still moving and happening even when I want to step away.

Since I’ve implemented these values, it led to my discovery of why I wanted to serve others through my travel advisory services. That discovery is what became Abide Travel Studio – a space built to help others find what I found when I finally chose to travel with intention. Society is so busy and the noise it produces can drown us. Learning to disconnect and curate intentional travel has yielded purposeful rest for me and others I’ve had the pleasure of serving. Even my son, at the age of 11, has learned to adopt this concept. He goes device-free on our travels once we reach our destinations. Seeing him fully engaged and appreciating the experiences, people, and cultures makes every travel moment we take worth every intentional decision I’ve made to travel differently.