5 Tips for Mindful Holiday Travel

Reduce your stress and enjoy the journey

Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

This weekend, I flew from San Diego to San Francisco for my daughter’s holiday choir concert.

It was a wonderful experience, but the journey there and back included some of the predictable stressors of traveling at this time of year. From long lines at airport security, to getting patted down by a TSA agent, to having my flight out of SFO delayed by two hours (SFO is nothing if not consistent), my experience ran the gamut of holiday hassles.

And yet, I’d like to think that I remained relatively calm and collected.

Here’s how you can, too:

#1: Plan ahead

Much of the stress of holiday travel comes from trying to figure things out at the last minute.

Plan how you will get to the airport. Check in for your flight online. Leave yourself extra time in case of any delays or mishaps.

When it comes to travel, so many things are outside of your control—but planning ahead and being prepared can make for a much smoother experience.

#2: Travel light

Minimize the baggage you’re carrying with you, both literally and figuratively.

The less stuff you bring with you, the easier it is to navigate crowded environments like airports or train stations. If you limit yourself to one carry-on sized bag, you can skip the airport baggage claim and the risk of lost luggage. (And if you habitually pack more than you need, consider a visit to Reddit’s r/OneBag community as a spiritual palate cleanser.)

Personally, I love the sense of freedom that comes from packing efficiently and gliding through airports with all my things in one small bag.

#3: Take mindfulness breaks

Travel is all about movement, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a moment to be still.

Standing in line at TSA, you can take a mindful breath in and out. On a plane, you can put your earbuds in and listen to a guided meditation. In your hotel room or your in-laws’ house, you can sit on a folded pillow and do your daily meditation practice.

Many of us throw our carefully-cultivated mindfulness habits out the window when we travel, but travel can actually be one of the best opportunities we have to practice.

#4: Enjoy small pleasures

I’ve always loved reading on planes.

In this age of in-flight Wi-Fi, you can watch movies or TV shows, play video games, or distract yourself however you want during a flight. But I still prefer to take advantage of the relatively uninterrupted block of time to immerse myself in a good book. Putting my phone in airplane mode feels like a relief from the constant notifications that pepper my day-to-day consciousness.

Whether you’re in flight, stuck in the terminal with a long layover, or waiting for a train, get yourself a nice cup of coffee and enjoy the moment.

#5: Practice acceptance

The single most important thing you can do minimize stress and enjoy your travels is to practice acceptance.

Long lines, flight delays, and crying babies are utterly predictable. If you allow yourself to get wound up about them, you are destined to suffer. Instead, accept these as just the way things are.

Practicing acceptance doesn’t mean you have to like what’s happening around you: it just means you accept that it is what it is and make the best of it.

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Traveling during the holidays can definitely be stressful, but following these tips can make for a much calmer experience.

Perhaps even more importantly, you can learn something I discovered many years ago, backpacking around India: how to make travel itself into a mindfulness practice. When you’re on a journey not just from point A to point B, but a journey of personal growth and awakening, every obstacle, hassle, or delay you encounter becomes an opportunity to grow. You can use these opportunities to practice mindfulness, acceptance, and flexibility, and to show up as the kind of person you want to be.

Approaching travel as a mindfulness practice is the ultimate travel hack.

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