Sitting on the floor of the library, my 15 year old self more held and mesmerized with each page turn of a travel book of coastal Turkey. The feelings of knowing that flooded me were familiar and offered a sense of unknown adventure at the same time.
This kind of experience was not unfamiliar to me at this point in my life, but each time I still felt surprised when I would get deep knowing of what aligned for me. The sensation of warmth, excitement, and truth all swirling around my body like air. This was what vision was for me. This was what being in alignment felt like in my body.
It was 3 more years before I actually went to Turkey for the first time. Arriving in Istanbul alone. Driving in a convertible along the Bosphorus coast with my boyfriend’s brother as we toured the city. My senses were fully alive. Everything in me felt home. The sounds, smells, the sun, the voices…all as if I had been there forever.
The truth is I hadn’t even thought of visiting Turkey after that book in the library. I wasn’t planning a trip. It wasn’t on my vision board. My world aligned and suddenly I was home.
I can recount so many other travels with this feeling of total, deep, soul alignment. And, then there were the trips that could not have been further from “aligned.”
So how do we go from trips like “meh, looked better on paper” to “OMFG core memory, soul bursting open” trip? Let’s explore.
Alignment
Sometimes allowing alignment is easy, flowing, pure magic. Other phases in our lives will challenge us to let go of old conditioning about what we think is right for us, and what actually is right for us. With travel alignment this is no different.
With Instagram the world has opened to us. Everyday we get to see visions of what looks beautiful, fun, and exciting from every far corner of the world. I love seeing these images and finding out the cool places to explore in cities I may never have thought of to travel.
The downside to all this visual stimulation of what is exciting, is discerning what is exciting and what is actually right for us.
Openness
There’s an openness in aligned travel. I know, I know…vague. The thing is that we hold in our minds the ideals we want to see. In life, in travel. We attach to the ideas of where we will be, what it will look and feel like, what the full experience will be. And while this is AMAZING for manifesting an idea of what we want, it’s limiting in the experience if we don’t let go and surrender to openness in the moment.
To get into this a little deeper, our hearts love flow and freedom while our minds love to lock down into safety, and control. In aligning our hearts, leaning into our inner callings, we can unlock magic and flow in our travel. Being free, open, specific but unattached leaves so much room for magic and experiences beyond what your mind is capable of understanding.
A great way to incorporate this perspective is applying it to your daily life. You can practice setting up your day and week with your calculated, planned out schedule but then consciously setting the intention or even saying aloud, “I surrender” to let go of what the week looks like and open your mind and heart up to bringing in the magic.
As a hardcore, type A planner this practice in my daily life as well as in my travel has been not only liberating but unlocked leaps, adventures, up-levels, synchronicities, and unimaginable joy.
One beautiful travel memory of the magic of surrender is from when I was a study abroad student in Italy. I was 16 in a summer study program. The sessions were really planned out and scheduled. I loved all the areas of study… culture, art, history, language. At this time I hadn’t put language to my natural way of doing things, what we are diving into here, the beauty of planning and surrender.
It was on a travel day where we were taking a day trip to Capri. A small, stunning island off the coast. Capri is one of those places that is visually captivating. Everywhere the eye wanders is another delight. The bluest sea, pinkest pink bougainvillea, steep cliff sides and hills, luxury shops, bustling cafes and an atmosphere that is so tangible you can almost taste it.
As soon as we arrived I quietly stepped away from the group, feeling the inner nudge to wander. Not uncommon for me. I let my senses and intuition guide me as I wandered in and out of shops, around streets, up the hill side. Taking in every sight and sound. It was in this wandering that I heard the hint of guitar music in the distance. As a guitarist and artist, I was intrigued and decided to find the source.
The music led me into this tiny art gallery at the top of a cliff side. In Italy, inside an exquisite oil painting gallery, overlooking the bluest waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, with the pink bougainvillea blowing in the wind I met a Spanish man in his 80’s playing classic flamenco guitar. I immediately recognized a kindred soul, as did he, and we spent the afternoon speaking in half spanish half italian while he taught me how to play flamenco style.
Never in a million years could I have planned or anticipated this experience. One that so fully aligned with my soul and heart, to this day the remembrance still fills me with joy and happy tears. Had I over planned that day, or had I held an expectation of what I would do and experience in Capri this moment never would have happened. A moment that immediately was woven into the core memory texture of my life and being.
There is magic in openness.
Vision
As a specific manifestor in human design (if you want to know more about human design or are looking for resources check out HERE), I LIVE for vision boards, mapping out exactly what I am goal setting, and strategies. Full on virgo, type A, enneagram 3w2, specific manifestor kinda live for. That said, having vision is amazing for looking into what you want and how you want to get there.
A key over sight when we are calling in our vision is making sure it is OUR vision.
Collectively it’s easy to get super excited about what we see trending on instagram or tiktok. It’s fun to watch someone’s european vacation and screenshot or save every single post so we make sure we have all the ideas and notes we need for our own trips (100% speaking from personal experience here).
The thing is, no matter how amazing the trip we plan is…if it isn’t in alignment to our heart, it will feel lacking or hollow. Especially for those of us who are highly sensitive people.
One of my many experiences of facing the idea vs reality letdown was a spiritual healing retreat I went on. The vision in my mind was clear. A ton of my inner circle had been talking about these amazing spiritual retreats they had been on and that were completely life changing. Um hello, I’m in…sign me up.
The retreat I ended up going on was incredible, in theory. Let me set the scene for you:
Mountain wellness, spirituality, and healing retreat. Deep in the woods of the Appalachian trail. Beautiful cabin with fireplaces, and lots of planned workshops to be led by an author and spiritual healer. Organic vegan foods prepared for us, community of kindred spirits, deep healing circles, meditation and yoga, hiking and a trip to hidden color and light sacred meditation dome (wtf does that mean? Exactly. More on this later).
Reality?- The woods were lovely. The guests were nice but not exactly what I would describe as kindred spirits. The vegan food was mostly some processed lumpy food that apparently didn’t have dairy in it along with a wheat bread. The cabin also included mold covered concrete cinder blocks for all the rooms. The group workshops were chaotic and awkward to say the least. And lastly, the meditation dome. So this had colored laser lights on display around a plywood and metal dome shape as we laid down on cold concrete floors to meditate which were all intended to act as a portal stimulation to other dimensions.
While the reality of my “spiritual retreat” was far from the vision of what I was envisioning, I got a great laugh and reality check in the process. To be completely honest, I checked into a hotel immediately, attended the dome and one group workshop before excusing myself from the rest of the trip. The experience was memorable.
When I was planning and visioning a spiritual retreat I forgot to be specific with what would light my heart up. To make sure that the people, circumstances, environment, and atmosphere were actually aligned to what that vision looks like in my heart and mind.
Sometimes we see other people taking amazing trips that are incredible for them, but in order to light our souls on fire with excitement, passion, and alignment…making sure that where we think we want to go is actually what will be right for us.
Connecting to Heart – Bringing it Together
So how do I align to heart travel? For me this has been a lot of trial and error. I’ve had some amazing travel experiences that I get to carry with me daily and also some super terrible trips that I have worked hard to not carry with me daily.
Each year I now love to take time to list out the trips that are my dream trips. I research places to stay, activities, best travel seasons, I think about who I would want to go with or if I would want to make it a solo trip. Every detail. For me as a specific manifestor in Human Design this is super fun. Getting captivated by the details. If you are non-specific or thinking of details overwhelms you, try exploring how you would feel in these places instead. Focus on the feelings and emotions you’d like to evoke in each travel scenario.
Also, I love collaging digital vision boards around these trips and experiences. This one is totally up to your personal preference, digital, physical, none. For me the process is really fun and integrates the visual and emotional textures of where I want to go into my brain.
As I am planning out the time frame or ideas around the trip, I take time in quiet meditation or just breathing deeply to get grounded into myself. Once I feel settled and “aligned” to me, I ask myself if the trip is really what I want. Sometimes I get a full body, electric, jumping up and down “yes”. Other times, I may feel uncertainty or resistance. I may hear or get silence in my body’s response. These are all subtle signs and messages from my inner self that something about what I am thinking I want isn’t quite aligned. It may not be a “no,” but isn’t yet a “yes.”
Keep tweaking the plans, turn inward and really get to know yourself by learning what really makes you happy versus what looks like a good idea on the outside. The more you lean into this, the more natural it will become! Can you imagine if every trip you took lit up your soul and passion like fireworks, and you were able to bring that into your daily life?! I’m here for it!
Wishing you deeply inspiring, heart-connected travel adventures ahead!
5 Pro Tips for Exploring in Alignment:
- Have a plan, and throw it out the window (exceptions may apply) Take time to identify what is really important to you and where you have room to be in flow. Planning time blocks for no plans opens the way to creativity and opportunities. What feels exciting to you in those moments?
- Breathing, Movement, and Meditation- Connecting inward for even a few moments during the day or grounding after a big excursion. This gives you space to feel and sense where you are really enjoying yourself or chance to make a few changes along your journey!
- Go solo or with people who like to travel like you. Even if you get along well with someone, you may have different travel styles. It’s way more fun to learn this by checking in before a trip than during!
- Ultimately, look at your intention for the trip. If it is to bring you joy or have an amazing experience then make sure you set that intention for yourself in planning and exploring. Our intentions are so much more powerful than we often realize!
- Have a freaking BLAST!!!
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