How Yoga Teacher Training Helped Form My Solo Traveling Goals for 2024

Each year, I create a vision board of places I want to visit. They include places such as Waco, Texas; Montana; Greenland; and Volcano National Park, to name a few. I also include words or phrases I want to invite or practice that year.

I want to share a phase and two words I want to practice while solo traveling in 2024! They are:

Be Here Now 

Slow 

Santosha

Be Here Now

The idea of being here now or being present is great and simple, but it’s also hard to do. 

Am I right? How many times have you traveled and only enjoyed the sunset for 2 minutes before thinking:

“Oh, shit. I have 100 things to do when I get back from holiday.” 

or

“Ugh, I don’t want to go back to work.”

By the time you realize you are doing this, the most spectacular sunset ends, and you are left with annoyance, pissed off at the world and yourself for not being present.

Or maybe you are taking 1,578,932,135 pictures and posting them every 3 minutes on Instagram or Facebook, but not really paying attention to what’s happening, such as wildlife playing in the distance. Or maybe you miss a really cute store.

If this doesn’t sound like you—well done, my friend. You should be proud of yourself.

But if it does, let me tell you how I will be here now.

I aim to buy a camera this year and to keep my phone away in my day bag. That way, when I am taking pictures, I don’t get sucked into text messages, emails, or social media. 

My other goal is to use my “Do Not Disturb” option and only check my phone thrice daily. I have started to do this recently when I am working on my yoga teacher training or when I want to read. It forces me to focus more on what I am doing than on what others are doing.

The other thing I am going to do, which I already do sometimes, is if something really unique happens—like a sunrise, sunset, wildlife, or a crazy fun night—I will pause where I am and say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

I learned to say thank you three times from a friend who runs a manifestation business. You say thank you three times to show gratitude to the universe so more good things will come to you. Saying those words three times forces us to stay in the moment longer.

Slow

Starting in February of 2024, I will be on at least two airplanes (and more) until late summer, traveling mostly for work—with some personal travel mixed in. I thought last year was a lot: to Europe twice and road-tripping to Colorado to return two months later, then camping in Shenandoah National Park and Janes Island etc. I thought 2023 was the year of traveling, which it was, but 2024 is the ‘hold my beer please’ meme.

Because of my busy travel schedule, I want to be intentional about what I want from my journeys. Years past, when I traveled, I was escaping my life or finding who I was. But this year, I want to live my life as slowly as possible.

I will make a real effort to slow down in new places. Instead of jam-packing my schedule so I’m doing 1,000 things daily, I want to savor each moment. I jam-packed my days of travel because I just never knew when I would return; I didn’t enjoy all the moments before heading to do the next thing. This year that will change. After all, I have been proven wrong about saying, “I don’t know when I am coming back again.” Look what happened with England. A place I haven’t been to in over ten years, but I visited twice within six months. Or look at Colorado, Utah, etc.

When I went “fast” on the trips, I got burnt out and went down many mental, physical, and spiritual spirals. When I had a slow morning or slow afternoon and allowed myself to be me, I had the most significant breakthroughs, from traveling to answering life’s hard questions.

My friend, you may wonder, “What does slow mean?”

Let’s examine what a slow morning or afternoon would look like in my daily life and while traveling.

Daily (though it doesn't happen daily):

I begin by waking up with the sun and not an alarm, rolling over, and cuddling my cat without looking at my phone. Next, I slowly get out of bed and snuggle with my other cat for a little bit. Then, I make a cup of coffee or tea as I stand in my kitchen, taking a deep breath, savoring each sip, and taking in the notes while making a yummy breakfast. Finally, sitting down sans TV or my phone. Eating slowly… tasting that crushed red pepper I added to my eggs and the strong pepper flavor of the bison.

Slow traveling:

This may be just sitting in a café or bar and taking time to eat or drink, taking every sight, sound, and taste. Slowly wander the streets of a new place and absorb all the sights and sounds. Notice that little burnt orange shop to your left or that mural painted on the side of a white brick building.

Or maybe opening your tent window and peeking out at the view while reading a book.

Going slow in life really rewards me more than going fast. 

Tell me, do you notice a difference when you travel slowly vs. quickly?

Santosha

Santosha is a Sanskrit word that means contentment or satisfaction, a word I learned while taking my Yoga Teacher Training. In context of yoga, contentment typically refers to fostering an inner peace that is not dependent on what is happening in our lives. When I heard it, I knew santosha would be my word for 2024.

Inner peace that is not dependent on what is happening in my life?

EASY….yeah no…

Not for me….

What about you? Are you good at being content, or do you always seek more like I do?

Santosha will play a big part in going slow because I know I will probably try to add more to my travels, even though I said I would not do 1,000 things in a day. 

How I will practice this is when the urge comes to cram more things in my day, I will ask myself, “Am I content, really content, to add that on my plate, or am I okay to let it go and be satisfied with that I have done that day, week or even that trip?”

I will also ask myself whether that extra thing adds value or if I am doing it because I will get likes or because I “have” or “need to”.

I hope this sparked some inspiration for your 2024 travels or gave you something to ponder when planning your 2024 trip or the next one. Let me know if you choose a word or theme for your year. I would LOVE to hear it!

May your 2024 be slow, memorable, and filled with adventure and many, many stories!