Part 3 – My Travel Mantra – Visit slowly, sit quietly, reflect and see.

Visit Slowly, Sit Quietly, Reflect and See

I knew though that a set of words would not automatically direct my journey.  I knew I had to embrace the sentiment of my travel objective and think about what a spiritual and courageous journey might look like and feel like.  I started to work on a travel mantra.

I wanted to travel in a way that would renew my soul.  I wanted to find a discover who I was and make a commitment to life.  I wanted to find my confidence, my contribution to the world and take it all home.

I didn’t want my mind swinging into old habits every time a stressful situation presented itself.   I wanted to interact with my journey not be beaten by it.  I wanted to reflect on my life and my purpose but I did not want to be affected by negative thoughts or unresolved issues.  I wanted to watch them as they flowed through my mind.  I wanted the opportunity to look at them.  Interpret them and decide how I would let them affect me.  I wasn’t travelling to escape.  I was travelling to heal.

Surya Das describes a Buddha as being ‘completely comfortable, at peace, and at ease in every situation and every circumstance with a sense of true inner freedom, independent of both outer circumstances and internal emotions’.   Now doesn’t that sound like bliss.  Ultimately this is what I was searching for.

I knew that travelling can be exhausting.  Constantly on the move and trying to find things can be tiresome.  I knew I would be challenged.  Content and happy at times.  Confused, sad and homesick at others.  I needed to think how I was going to prevent stress and treat stress when it arrived inconveniently at times when a clear mind was what was needed.

I knew that travel can be exhilarating. Surprising and liberating.  I knew that if I stopped for a minute or two I could inhale it all.

I turned my attention to how I would travel.  To travel mindfully, I needed to include time to sit quietly – to stop.  Observe.  Rest.  I needed to travel slowly to keep my anxiety in check, to do one thing at a time.  I needed time to reflect, not only on what I saw before me, but on things that were passing through my mind.  I want to see.  I wanted to see everything that was around me – the textures, the buildings, the weather, the people, the life of the place I was standing in.  All of this was important.

My travel mantra became: Visit slowly, sit quietly, reflect and see.

Approaching my journey like this felt right.  It gave me direction and confidence that my trip was going to have purpose.

Part 1: Break Free – 3 months in Europe

Part 2: Mindful journey to confidence

Part 3: My Travel Mantra

Part 4: Planning your itinerary in a mindful way