Before destinations.
Before dates.
Before budgets.
Every trip begins with a thought.
Not a plan.
A posture.
Most people don’t notice this part. They jump straight to logistics. Where to go. How long. How much.
But the way you think about travel quietly shapes what you experience once you’re there.
Some people think about travel as escape.
Others as reward.
Others as proof they’re doing life “right.”
Those thoughts don’t stay abstract.
They show up in the trip.
Escape often returns as restlessness.
Reward becomes pressure to “make it worth it.”
Proof turns into comparison.
Same destination.
Different inner starting point.
Very different experience.
As 2026 approaches, the most interesting travel question might not be where you’re going next.
It might be this:
What are you asking travel to do for you?
To fix something?
To compensate for something?
To impress someone else?
To validate a version of yourself?
Or to listen.
To slow down.
To feel present again.
To reconnect with your own rhythm.
None of these are right or wrong.
But they’re not neutral.
Because travel amplifies whatever you bring into it.
If you arrive rushed, it accelerates.
If you arrive curious, it opens.
If you arrive disconnected, it mirrors that too.
In that sense, travel is honest.
Almost unforgivingly so.
So before locking in plans for 2026, try this small pause:
Don’t think about the trip yet.
Think about yourself in motion.
Who are you when you travel well?
What version of you do you want more of next year?
And what kind of journeys support that—not fight it?
Sometimes the smartest travel planning happens nowhere near a map.
Merry Christmas.
And here’s to a thoughtful, well-timed, intentional 2026.
— Alex
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