Written by Project Passport Founder, Sabriya Dobbins

Meaningful travel will change your life. It will take you into a place that you’ve never been before not just physically but mentally. It will force you to question your very existence and your very purpose on this earth. It will bring about an internal avalanche of new considerations for your future and solutions for your present. But you have to be willing to travel meaningfully.

“Sometimes you have to take yourself out of a place of comfort to become the person that you were always meant to be.”

 Here are some of the best ways to help you participate in meaningful travel:

1.     Lose the Superficiality. Today, it seems like people are more focused on the perfect photo to post on social media rather than diving into their travel experience with all eyes and ears. When they return home, they face the same issues that were put on hold because more time was spent worrying about how many people liked their Facebook photo. Time spent meditating and re-evaluating your current life is key in experiences away from home. Travel is the only chance you get to really look at your life from the outside. So put the phones and cameras away for just a while longer.

2.     Be Proactive, Not Reactive. If you could pause the present to step away and regroup, would you? How bad do things have to get before you are willing to do whatever it takes to fix them? We wait until life gets so complicated that we become desperate to fill the wounds. We are desperate to stop the bleeding. But before we know it, we are on emotional and, potentially physical life support. Before the doctor’s appointments, the sleepless nights, the tears, and the brokenness, schedule a travel retreat. You will return more prepared to handle what life has in store.

3.     Lean In. Traveling with people you do not know can bring about the most inspiration. So do just that; sign up for a travel experience where you are going to travel with strangers. You will have the opportunity to share your story, but you also get to hear the stories of others. There is something divine about moments during travel where you share thoughts, dreams and hopes with a clean slate and open minds. It is a feeling and moment that can never be duplicated. Take the time to get to know who you are traveling with and be intentional enough to ask questions! You never know who is going through what you are going through.

Scream the next quote off the roof tops right now:

“Waving the white flag does NOT make ME a loser. It makes ME rather brilliant.”

The white flag signifies that, “I know what I need and this ain’t it right now.” Think of a travel retreat as your white flag in the very moment you are facing. You have thrown the pride aside and you have given yourself a place to hope. Maybe it is time to experience something different than the same cycle you have lived for years on end? We challenge you to pursue meaningful travel in your life and see what it does for you.

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Project Passport is a mental empowerment retreat and event company created to help women connect with one another and gain the tools to improve their lives in the best way possible. Each retreat experience has a unique theme with carefully designed activities to help participants grow and experience transformation. We are making mental wellness the norm, one retreat at a time. Learn more at project-passport.com.