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Key points
- Noticing your surroundings and how you occupy space can produce a calming sensation.
- Showing appreciation and being considerate can reduce travel anxiety.
- Be appreciative of travel hosts and let their accommodations inspire you.
Holiday travel can create anxiety amid excitement. Venturing out during this pandemic means being mindful of the health and wellness of others as well as yourself. It is critical to protect yourself and others by receiving vaccinations and wearing a face mask, while still managing the to-dos of responsible travel.
If it’s been a while since you traveled by car, plane, shuttle, train, bus, or even rideshare, here are some interesting things to think about and tips to consider during your travels.
Interesting Things to Notice
Opportunities to experience a different view. Travel gives you a chance to see how others live and experience life. Take a moment to notice how other people travel. Are there any clever or useful things they do that you hadn’t considered? When you arrive at your destination, whether house or hotel, notice furniture configurations, decor, bedding, room layouts, or any other interesting ways that other people, even family members, live their lives. How do they handle their psychological well-being in these spaces?
Notice how people may be engaging and interacting differently. Since the pandemic forced many people to immediately alter their lives, do you notice a difference now in how people interact with each other? Do you find yourself really “seeing” other people and understanding how they may live their lives from a different perspective? Do you have a greater appreciation for what challenges they may face or what opportunities and joys they may have?
Appreciate how family and friends make accommodations for your comfort. Have you ever considered the amount of time and effort it took your family and friends to make adjustments to their spaces for your comfort? Filling their accommodations, guest rooms, and homes with items that make you feel welcome and more comfortable? Are there things you can do to show appreciation and help keep their spaces tidy or easier to return guest lodgings to their daily living spaces? What can you bring them to show your gratitude? How about something special they like?
Mutual hospitality with shared accommodations. If you are staying in hotels or shared public accommodations, can you reduce stress and anxiety by increasing kindness when sharing these spaces, waiting in lines, entering busy environments, waiting to be seated in a restaurant? Can you be more attentive (less focused on your smartphones and devices), and more helpful and considerate? Take a moment to consider the people working hard for your comfort. As you know, many hospitality workers are subjected to what we might even call “abuse” from their guest and patrons. How can you uplift the interaction and leave the experience better?
Meaningful Travel Tips
Ease frustrations by being mindful of your quirks. You can ease your frustrations and be considerate of others by being mindful of your idiosyncrasies and quirks. Are you one who stops in the middle of a busy pathway instead of moving to a less crowded area when checking your cellphone, regrouping, conversing, or figuring out your next step? Can you be more mindful of others by not blocking busy aisles or pathways? Maybe you like to tune out the world with earbuds and your favorite music or podcast once you find your seat on a plane, shuttle, rideshare, or train. Can you acknowledge fellow passengers and travel service professionals first, before popping in your earbuds or engaging your devices?
Utilize responsible technology to ease your itinerary. Can you queue up your travel, calendar, and map apps in advance, so your travel itinerary runs smoothly and you are more attentive to those around you? Let your technology do the notifications and guidance, so you can be more aware of your surroundings and the needs of yourself and others?
Extend patience to fellow weary travelers and busy travel service providers. Travel service professionals appear eager to please this holiday travel season, especially with past pandemic restrictions, and heightened awareness of increasing COVID-19 cases. Is it possible in return to boost your energy and the energy around you by increasing your patience levels and your politeness? Less about “this is their job” and more about a smooth and cohesive experience? And for travel service professionals to appreciate and value kind, considerate travelers.
When traveling, we all have one main directive, to arrive safely at our destination with ourselves, our luggage, and our health intact. Taking care of ourselves and our travel companions is a top priority, but we can travel meaningfully by being prepared in advance, using technology to be as organized as possible, keeping our simplifying our processes, and increasing our consideration and appreciation of others. A please, thank you, a smile (even through our masks; fellow travelers can see smiling eyes), some extra kindness, being attentive and aware of your surroundings, and being courteous can make for a meaningful and pleasant travel experience. Then simply enjoy your trip.
Have healthy and meaningful travels.
