Highly Sensitive Guide to Travel

Traveling is exciting, fun, inspiring and sometimes challenging, especially around the holidays. Figuring out all the logistics, dealing with the unknowns and remembering past travel missories can crush our enthusiasm to do more. I’m sharing my highly sensitive guide to travel with you so you can transform you struggles with travel into unlimited potential to be positively surprised.

As a young child and young adult, I loved adventure and going to new places, but hated the stress of the unknowns, challenges, the stress of others around me and deadlines of getting there. I didn’t know myself well then nor did I know anything about being highly sensitive to help me understand why I got overwhelmed, overstimulated, or stressed by certain things going on around or within me. Growing up with negative travel experiences with parents making poor decisions for our sensitive nature or letting our non-sensitive friends make decisions for us, leaves us with ugly travel memories. I want you to know, when you take charge of your travel thoughts, feelings and actions a bright travel future awaits you.

I want you to know, when you take charge of your travel thoughts, feelings and actions a bright travel future awaits you. 

In order to follow my adventurous passions I had to figure out how to manage my creative mind, deep feelings, my energy and my challenges differently so I can feel excited and be in love with traveling. These tips have helped my clients and I know they can help you have awesome travel experiences and opportunities. There is no need to feel like you should buck up, suffer and ignore who you are to travel. You can see the world and do it your way. Consider extra self-care planning for the unknown, overwhelming situations, and overstimulation. 

Watch the Highly Sensitive Guide to Travel video below to learn more.

 

The 3 Ps for Positive Travel

1. Plan:

•  Set yourself up for success – manage well the things that would stress you
• Don’t over schedule
• Leave lots of time
• Take care to meet your needs
• To meet your own needs, don’t expect anyone else to know what you need and desire. Ask and Receive
• Expect to be surprised
• Be “picky” about your travel, seats, traveling companions, destinations, hotel, food…
• Upgrade seats, hotel rooms, meals as much as you can to feel safe, comfortable, nourished…
• To to take only what you need-less is easier

2. Prepare:

• project and develop a positive mindset about your journey
• learn to become more confident with coping skills for uncertainty and discomfort like grounding, being present and using your intuition.
• make choices to set yourself up for success
• organize and schedule travel from the beginning of desire – reservations – traveling – to home (create rituals and routines that are easy to repeat)
• sleep, hydrate H2O, nourish before
• pack early, leave early, eliminate stressors
• manage your energy…ground, clear your energy and create healthy boundaries (don’t take on other people’s fears and anxiety) 3 Steps to Create Healthy Boundaries
• Create a mantra that will remind you to stay in high energy when challenges appear:
  I am supported by the universe, I wonder how this can get any better, This too shall pass, Love and Peace, Ease and Grace, What would love or my higher self do?, What’s important?, What choice will serve the highest good of all concerned?

3. Pleasure:

• Bring with you the things that will keep you entertained, calm, grounded, and feeling pleasure or comfort. Magazines, coloring books, knitting, games, movies, meditations, book
• Make your world less overstimulating by wearing a hat, comforting clothing that honors you, cozy wrap, listen to uplifting/soothing music/positive YouTube to cut out the noise all around you and keep your focus more inward after you’ve taken care of the outward business. Wear noise canceling headphones on the plane, train, share car rides, in noisy homes or hostels or while you’re waiting for your flight in the airport.
• Let yourself be entertained and curious with the people around you
• Be nice and kind to others and share your beautiful light and love…it will come back multiple times
• Bring food, drink, essential oils and incense (for yourself and rooms you stay in), kava kava or rescue remedy… so you feel in control of your needs and nerves

I’d love to keep the conversation going in comments below. Please share how this helped you and if you have other suggestions for making travel more enjoyable.

Happy trails to you!