Your plane tickets have been booked for months. Your luggage is packed and ready to go.
When flying somewhere new, it’s exciting to think about how you can reward yourself with activities that everyday life gets in the way of: read some new books, take a nap, treat yourself to self-care, finally unplug. We take ourselves through the picture show of what we’ll experience during our time away in paradise, yet we often find ourselves walking out as early as the opening credits to answer calls, emails and throw our intentions away.
How do we stop this pattern of setting travel intentions, only to abandon ship once we’ve arrived at our destination? Can we frame our intentions in a way that sets ourselves up for success? Why should we set travel intentions in the first place and how can we thoughtfully leave room on the itinerary for those unexpected adventures that pop up?
Travel intentions can act as a guideline to help make your vacation feel like a vacation. For example, it can be overwhelming to quit your inbox cold turkey for even a week, so maybe you can set an intention to dedicate just one hour to your emails per day. Journaling about why you’re even taking a trip can be enough of an intention to get you in the right mindset for traveling. Just like your SPF 30, travel intentions can prime us to dive into the deeper waters of a trip’s adventures.
So while we’re packing those last-minute items (boarding pass, check—toothbrush, check—latest issue of Darling, check) let’s remember to include a few travel intentions as well. What will be yours?
To help you get started, here are a few thought-starter questions inspired by our latest journey with Alaska Airlines. These are the perfect journal prompts to think about while in flight for your next adventure:
What was your most unexpected experience on a past adventure?
What was a memory of self-growth from a past travel experience?
What do all of your best trips have in common? Why?
What intentions would you like to set for your future travel adventures?
Do you set travel intentions when you book a trip? Share with us in the comments what you discover!
This post was sponsored by Darling’s airline partner, Alaska Airlines. All thoughts and reviews remain Darling’s own.
Feature Image via Cassidy Boatright; Remaining Images via Valerie Pauley
1 comment
Thanks – this is very timely. My family is going on a one-week vacation next week to a warm sunny clime, and while there are endless things we might do there in terms of outings and adventures, realizing my main goal, or intention, is to relax, rejuvenate, connect with my loved ones, and be fully present in much slower moments than my day-to-day work & home life, should help me make better decisions about how to spend that precious time – and realize that “doing nothing” may be the best thing I can do to honor my intentions.