Traveling doesn't end when you get back home. That's only the beginning.

Are you the reflective armchair traveler or the adrenaline-craving adventurer?

Perhaps it’s common that many of us wrestle with two contradicting energies battling out in our character—   the armchair traveler’s bookish curiosity, that needs time to gather thoughts through stillness and reflection, and the jet-setting voyager’s desire for adrenaline that comes with traveling and adventure.

We all toggle between phases of each character, but in 2023, the character I embodied the most was the latter. Close to thirty cities traveled. There were lows of traveler’s sickness, the highs of new thrilling experiences, new people, new food, new sights, and new routines. Life was so go-go-go last year that that thinking time for reflection in the armchair was rare.

Processing experiences as they happen is important because that’s how we extract our biggest lessons and growth.

Entering a new year, reflection seems to be a routine to help us wrap up all the lessons and experiences had in the previous year. It helps us express gratitude for what we lived, and brings us energy and renewed courage for what’s to come.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years of traveling (big and small travels), is that after returning home from trips, I incorporate new little things from trips back into daily life. Sometimes they last for a few weeks then fade away, and other times they stick with me.

How travel helps you shake up life at home

Like after living in Mexico where agua de Jamaica is a staple, I started making it at home. While living in Colombia, I loved eating arepas for breakfast so when I got back to the states, that’s what I’d make. After spending three months in Latin America where there was music in Spanish playing everywhere, I started listening to more Carlos Vives, Enanitos Verdes, Oreja de van Gogh, Sebastian Yatra, and Bad Bunny. In fact, my Spotify wrapped for 2022 top artists were all Latin American artists.

Other times it can be routines. After a few weeks in New York spent walking everywhere and taking public transit, I realized I never walk anywhere in Austin, so tried to incorporate it into my lifestyle by walking from home to explore downtown. Or in DC where you can rent the city bikes to get around town, I started doing the same in Austin. I changed my run routine and instead of doing a short loop out and back, I ran out farther, then took a bike back home. New routines you pick up in other places are a good way to shake up the stale home life and give it a fresh look.

West Texas desert December 2022

Advice from a mentor

Most recently, my family went camping in the West Texas desert for the 6th year in a row. The routine out there is waking up before the sun to see the early light plaster colors in the sky. There’s no checking texts, refreshing email, or scrolling social media. The first thing is greeting the day, making a cup of coffee, and enjoying the spectacle as the desert awakes. During the day we go on adventurous hikes, and in the evening we sit in silence as we reflect on the day and contemplate life. A good balance between the armchair traveler and the adrenaline-hooked explorer.

When I got back home, the stimuli of screens came back—the urgency of texts. My cup of coffee didn’t taste as good. The stillness wasn’t there anymore.

A mentor of mine, Whit, suggested the idea that everyone in our family picks a habit that we enjoyed about our lifestyle while camping in the desert. Then for a month, each one of us could try to replicate it in our lifestyles back home.

Mine has been to contemplate the sunset every day in stillness. Think about the present moment and soak in the wonder of this world.

Having just moved houses, my new one has a full porch on a second story that faces west. A cemetery is across the street which means no buildings obstruct my view of the sunset and the city skyline silhouetted in the distance. It’s perfect for sunset watching and thinking.

Travel doesn’t end when we get back home.

Travel brings us to new places, but we must remember we can bring those new places to us too. Part of the beauty of traveling is picking up new ways of thinking, and ways of being. We don’t have to lose them after we travel, we can bring them back with us and make them part of us.

Whether it's something like music, food, or routine, we can always take something away from our travel experiences and weave it into our lives.

While we wait to find out how much travel 2023 will bring, it’s okay to let ourselves sit in the armchair and reflect on the many ways past travel has shaped us into who we are. Maybe that trip from a few years ago reminds you to reach out to a friend you had made back then. Or maybe you make a recipe that reminds you of your travels.

Reflection helps us seep in the lessons we experience from the places we go. That way when it's time to go off again, our energies are abundant and our eyes are open to the new experiences we’ll live.

Travel doesn’t end when we get back home. Perhaps being home kicks off a new beginning and new interpretation of our travels.

Question: In what ways can you make your past travels come back alive in your everyday life? Maybe it’s reaching out to a friend you met while abroad. Or making a recipe from a trip. Maybe it’s listening to a melody that sounds like a memory. What transports you back?