Superpower of Intention

Intention is, quite simply, the determination to act in a certain way. It’s resolve. When it comes to travel, your intentions are your superpowers.

Intention is directly connected to action.  When we set an intention, we are making a determination that we will act in a way that fosters something we care about.  Intentions are super powerful.  We move forward through life by setting intentions and then putting effort into realizing them.

Travel is by its very nature an intentional act.  We clear our calendars, engage our travel companions, plan for weeks, and open our wallets for the extraction of more cash than we spend on any other leisure activity.  And that’s all before we’ve even packed a single pair of socks or underwear. Indeed, it takes a lot of intention to simply make a travel experience happen.

If travel is inherently intentional, you might find yourself thinking “Gee, do I really need to be reminded to be intentional when I travel?” For most people, the answer is yes. Here’s why.

There are lots and lots of things competing for our attention in our busy, crazy, wired lives, and it is very easy to lose site of our intentions in any given moment.  We get so used to operating in a reactive way, that it becomes hard to remain the driver of our actions.  This is why staying connected to your intentions is so powerful. [Read our article in Common Challenges to Realizing Our Travel Intentions]

When it comes to identifying your travel intentions, here is the million dollar question to ask yourself: What do I want to have at the end of this trip that I don’t have now? The point of this question is to help you identify the underlying motivations that are inspiring your trip. Because motivations give our intentions the fuel they need to remain clear and powerful.

As long as you can answer this powerful question, you will have a virtual “compass” with you for navigating every moment of your upcoming trip.

Here is a list of the most common intentions that people have when they travel.  Which of these fit your upcoming trip?

• A deepened relationship with your spouse, your children, your parents or your friends

• New insights into who you are or where you came from

• A better understanding of a people or a place

• An expanded palate that you can indulge for the rest of your life

• New friends

• A new set of stories that open up connection with others

• A refreshed body and mind

and the list goes on.

No matter what the desired outcome is of your travels, you will be able to achieve it far more easily if you can name it and find ways to hold it throughout the planning, doing and returning of your trip.

Okay. So now you have a fundamental understanding of travel intentions and how they are informed by your travel motivations. You also have a super simple tool for setting them. Let’s take a look at the amazing thing that happens when you move through your travel with intentions in mind.

The Travel Coach is a travel-related service that helps you stay connected with your travel intentions – the relationships you want to build, lessons you hope to learn, skills you’d like to develop and experiences you plan to have – so that you and your companions get everything you want out of every trip. We want to help travelers make every journey a transformative one. The Travel Coach provides tools, tips, meditations and discussion guides to help you get the most out of every trip by staying connected to your travel intentions.

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