Travel is one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable experiences that we can each have in life. But it is also something that deserves a certain kind of approach to it, a serious and considered approach that means you can get the most out of the experience every time. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know full well that it’s all about trying to live with real intention. So when it comes to travel, what exactly does this mean? Let’s explore what intentional travel is really about.
Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post
In this post, we will take you through some of the main aspects behind the idea of intentional travel. As long as you have thought about some of the following, you should find that intentional travel is something that comes much more easily and naturally for you.
Choosing The Right Spot
Good travel depends on finding the right destinations to go and visit and explore. This in itself can be a tricky thing to get right, so you must do all you can to try and do it right in the future. Choosing the right spot is an integral part of travelling with intention because otherwise, you are just randomly exploring various parts of the globe without really knowing why. So how can you make sure that you are choosing spots that are going to be especially worthwhile?
First of all, let your cultural interests guide you. If you happen to have a particular interest that you can follow up with some travel, that is an excellent way to decide where to go and be the perfect motivation for travelling at all. You can also decide on a destination by researching online and seeing where you might like to go that way. However you do it, be sure to put a lot of concentrated effort and thought into choosing your destination. That way, you can be sure that you will get a lot more out of it.
Being Careful With The Admin
One of the aspects of intentional travel that you have to think about from the start is taking great care with the administrative side of things. This requires a solid ability to look at the finer details and work with them in the right way and a good deal of patience sometimes too. But it is crucial, as it allows you to improve your travel experience by taking out most of the stress you would otherwise feel. So what kind of admin should you make sure you are careful with?
Mostly, it’s about the legal documents and other related issues that you need to be aware of when you travel to different countries. It’s no use trying to travel around the US if you are not allowed to, for instance, so you will need to go to https://official-esta.co.uk and make sure you have all you need first and foremost. The worldwide pandemic has affected the way we travel massively. Every country has their own rules and restrictions regarding travel, and you really need to do your homework before travelling now.
Everything from visa requirements, vaccine passports, PCR or Antigen tests, and passenger locator forms all make up a huge part of the admin of travel nowadays. It’s essential to look into whatever vaccinations you need for wherever you are going and get the proof that you have had them done. Being careful with admin in this way will help you travel with intention much more powerfully.
Knowing Your Goals
What do you actually want to get out of travel? It is one thing just to go out there and see what kinds of experiences might crop up – that is something that many people end up doing, but it is not necessarily the way to go. If you want to travel with intention, you need to know specifically what your goals are, how you are going to achieve them, and what you will consider a successful trip abroad. If you don’t know about this, then you won’t be able to say whether you were truly happy with your trip or not.
The goal can be anything you like, and don’t be afraid to keep it simple. It might be, for instance, just to go to a particular country and get a feel for its culture. Or you might have something more concrete in mind, such as speaking to a certain number of people. Whatever it is, having a goal of this kind can help you to make your travel all the more intentional.
Going Your Own Way
A lot of this comes down to simply trying to go your own way as best as you can. In other words, you need to make sure that what you are doing and the kind of travel you are getting involved in speaks to you directly and allows you to go your own way. If you can keep true to yourself while travelling, and while preparing for travel, you will find that it is a much greater joy on the whole, so this is a really important thing to focus on. All in all, going your own way will make you feel so much better about your travels.
Travelling Sustainably
What good is it to travel the world and see all those sights if you are only destroying the planet in the process? Sustainable travel is a vital consideration if you are going to be travelling a lot. We each need to make sure that we are limiting our individual and collective impact on the planet. This is the true heart of intentional travel, and without this, you can’t really say you are using your full intention when you travel.
Travelling sustainably is challenging but not impossible by any means. If you have to use a plane, find ways to offset your carbon footprint afterwards, at the very least. Or you can simply go by boat and use other means of transport instead. Do whatever you can to keep on looking after the world you are travelling around, and you should find that it is still there for you to travel again in the future.
Those are some of the most important aspects of intentional travel that you might want to think about.
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