How Travel Unclutters the Mind and Enriches the Spirit

The rewards of travel are greater than simply seeing a new place.

For the duration of a vacation, your possessions are reduced to the contents of your suitcase.You don’t need all that crap in your basement, attic or storage space. You don't need shoes in every color and maybe, just maybe, you will feel the lightness that comes with owning less.

You may be carrying baggage in the physical sense on vacation, but your metaphysical baggage is lifted.

For the duration of a vacation, the nagging pressures of everyday life evaporate. You don't fret about house repairs, repainting, paying bills, or getting along with your boss. You don’t worry that you aren’t keeping up with life's demands and how the bathroom is never quite clean.

For the duration of a vacation, life is no longer about going to work, lunchtime errands, traffic jams, and second-shift chores once home.

When traveling, you fall into discovery mode. Your mind is free to focus on where you are. Live in real time where there is little stress. Soak in the joy of awe-inspiring scenery, the profundity of historical places, the flavors of new cuisines and okay, great new places to shop.
For the duration of a vacation, everything is here and now. You shift effortlessly into mindfulness.

My last vacation seems longer ago than it really was, and my next one seems far in the future. But I am planning . . . Italy? South Africa? London? Germany?