There will never be a perfect time to travel! I know you scroll through your Instagram wishing you could be at one of the incredible places that show up on your feed You want to travel, but you feel like it is never the right time. You have something going on at work, and you need the money to replace your washing machine or any number of things that pop up. There will never be a point in your life devoid of all worries and obligations where you can explore the world in a 100% care-free state. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that the future trip you’re banking on will even be possible. Natural disasters, political unrest, and personal health issues can and do occur unexpectedly. I want you to start seeing travel not as a life distraction; but as a life enhancer. Teaching you about yourself and your surroundings, travel helps to make your day-to-day life richer and more worthwhile. In addition, it instills in your children traits like curiosity, flexibility, and a greater understanding and acceptance of people who think differently. Travel imparts new skills while building up your old strengths, helping you personally and professionally. It is really easy to prioritize family travel if you do a little work… We all know how easy it can be to lose sight of your priorities. In fact, if I had polled you two or three years ago, you probably would have said family time was a priority for you. How did we do it all when we worked in traditional office spaces? Frankly, we didn’t. Like most everyone, you probably said your family is your number one priority, but then - when having to make a one or the other decision - frequently, quality family time got pushed aside when work projects came up. If we’ve learned nothing else from the 2020-2021 work-from-home initiative, it’s a realization of how thinly stretched we previously were between work and home life responsibilities. When I started to find the inspiration behind why I wanted something, it completely transformed the goals I set and my motivation to achieve them. Your priorities should be the things that give life meaning and a purpose. For me, travel is the time when my family can be together without worrying about being 'different'. Different not only in our make up, but different because we have a member with special needs. In our own home we are not "different" we are all the same, but once we step out of our house into our small Southern suburban community we are definitely not the normal family. We are a mom and dad old enough to be the grand parents to our two youngest biracial children, one of whom has a special need. He is a Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor. We have endured stares, comments, and bigotry. (which we have turned into teachable moment for our kids) But when we travel, these stereotypes we see at home disappear. In the larger community of humanity, we are more normal. My kids see more people like them selves, in more families like our own. I get to see my son shine! If you want to travel because "everyone else is doing it," you will quickly lose motivation. So instead, you have to dive deep and uncover why it is so important to you.
How do you feel or want to feel when you are traveling? We are much more motivated when we attach emotions to our goals. Here’s a ten-twenty minute mom exercise you can do in the afternoon car-pool lane or half an hour before you wake the kids up tomorrow morning. I want you to open the notes file on your phone (or grab a pen & pad of paper), set a timer for five (or ten) minutes, and write down all the reasons you think you want to travel. When the timer is up, I want you to set a timer for another five-ten minutes and reflect on each of those reasons - which one do you connect with the most emotionally? Now I want you to surround yourself with images that remind you of that reason. I have seen people who have vision boards on their desks with pictures of how they want to feel when they are traveling. Some people put set reminders on their calendars ever single day and doing daily affirmations, Others succeed by displaying their goals on their phone's Lock Screen. Whatever method works for you, DO IT!
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AuthorMost of the content is written by people at JMorris Travel. Every once in a while we will have a guest blogger, usually it is part of our 'family'.Always with a nod to Family Travel! Archives
January 2024
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