Our top tips for achieving mindfulness on holiday

You may have been dreaming about this trip for months, or perhaps you did a last minute booking because you just need to escape, breathe and reboot. Either way, sometimes it takes time to recalibrate while on holiday and, of course, achieving mindfulness is different for everyone. It may even be a new expression to you. But before you dismiss it as a fad term, or one that applies only to the world of Tik Tok influencers, take time to read our top tips to switching the brain into holiday mode. We believe it really does help and makes your holiday feel even longer, calmer and, most importantly, leaves you with lasting benefits. And we promise, we won’t ask you to practise gratitude or start journaling. Just journeying – in a joyful way.

Switch to slow mode

There’s an art to embracing slow practices in your life, and on holiday is one of the best times to do so. Especially on a slow travel holiday, such as the ones we specialise in. The idea is that you give yourself a break from planning and multitasking, and just stop and engage with your surroundings and people around you too. Before you travel, we can help you with this, as we do the planning for you. Similarly, while you’re on holiday, you should just be able to walk, cycle or even sail the slow way, and say pants to planning as we’ve done all the prep for you. The secret to slow is to try and focus on the here and now and what’s in front of your eyes. Rather than worrying about how the transfers are going to work out the next day, if you’ve packed the right things, or if the weather is going to ruin things. There are many great books on this subject, but one of the pioneers was Carl Honore in his book, In Praise of Slow.

Sometimes it takes practice to just sit and be in the moment. Photograph by Christopher Ison © on our walking holiday in Mallorca.

Achieving mindfulness while flying

This is a bit like asking for the moon, we get that. However, there are ways to ease the stress of modern day flying, a world of hustle, bustle and kerfuffle. Keeping your packing to a minimum is one way, but also opting to spend that bit more and check in your luggage might be another. It makes security so much easier, you don’t have to fight for cabin locker space when you board. When you’re on the flight, having a meditation app to tune into distracts from any anxiety about flying. And if the sound of children upsets you, noise-cancelling head or earphones/earbuds help, as does remembering that you were a child once too, and they might also be feeling scared and anxious.

Travel the slow way

Travelling by train is a no brainer when it comes to responsible and slow travel. But planning and booking trains can feel dreadful rather than mindful. Which is why we’ve labelled all our adventures that are easily reachable by rail. One of the many joys of train travel is that luggage issues are non-existent. Just pack what you like and go. That’s the first step to mindfulness. We’ve also put together a library of loco tips and trails in our collection of railway blogs.

Noise cancellation off

Although we love a bit of noise-cancelling tech for our journeys, once you get there we do recommend putting them at the bottom of your bag and keeping them there until your journey home. There’s no doubt that noise cancellation is a gift from the tech gods and goddesses. However our natural adventures provide a good opportunity to just zone back into nature’s noises. Especially in places like Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains or Scotland’s Great Glen Way, where the birdlife is prolific. Or just take in the natural forces of coastal wind and waves as you take on some of our great littoral adventures. Just switch off Spotify and switch your senses back on again.

Digital detox

We appreciate this is hard in a time when we’re all phone dependent and our maps and directions are also in digital format. However, you can access them offline, so there is still an option to disconnect from notifications and noise. The trick is not to always reconnect when you get back to your accommodation after a day of walking or cycling. But try and hold on to the mindfulness that you achieved while walking or cycling, take a nap, shower, read a book, go sit at a beach or cafe and watch the world go by. It takes practice, but we can change our habits and not make our resting place a digital one. Even if only for a while.

Sh*t happens, and so do silver linings

It’s our role to ensure that you have a smooth adventure along your chosen trails and we are very proud of our achievements in this regard. However, achieving mindfulness is also about letting go of control, and on our travels we all face things that are out of our control. Train companies go on strike, showers stop working, restaurants suddenly close. Although we have 24/7 support on the ground, it’s a win-win for everyone if you embrace these hiccups as opportunities for patience and adaptability. Rather than making moaning your default, try stepping back and seeing that maybe it’s not so bad after all. While the shower is being fixed, go for a swim instead. If your chosen restaurant had to close, see if you can get supplies for a sunset picnic. Of course, this is different to an emergency, when we always have someone on hand to help, and tips to handle such situations too.

Our holidays are packed with perfect places for mindful moments. This one is in Scotland, where the silver linings are some of the best.

Shoes and socks off

Many of us spend time worrying about what boots to wear for a walking holiday. Sometimes it’s also great just to take them off and walk barefoot. Of course we don’t recommend that if you’re walking on a rocky path, but if you’re traversing a grassy meadow in the likes of Austria’s Lake District, parts of the remote Via Dinarica in the Balkans, or on sandy sections of Portugal’s Fishermen’s Trail, taking time to walk barefoot really does help you feel connected with the earth. If this appeals, but you worry about getting dirty feet, just bring a flannel with you to wipe them down. We wouldn’t go so far as to recommend walking our caminos barefoot, however, as pilgrims once did. Sometimes boots really are made for walking.

Mindful photography

There is no doubt that our attachment to phones, photo sharing and the Insta idyll has created a need to stop and shoot everywhere we go. However, the view won’t change if you choose to leave your phone or camera in its bag. And you don’t have to share it to savour it. If you are interested in achieving mindfulness on holiday, one of the easiest ways to do so is to just sit and take in that moment, rather than shooting it or sending it off somewhere else. We share more thoughts about photography, and creating visuals with values in this blog.

Calm down about communicating

We’ve all been there, having a mild panic because we don’t know how to order our first coffee or how to get our needs across when travelling in a country where they don’t speak our language. We don’t want to look silly, we’re out of our comfort zone and we’re feeling a bit vulnerable. But it’s worth remembering that, for the most part, people want to help visitors and, if you smile and just try your best, it usually works. Kindness is a first step to mindfulness. Read more in our blog, Responsible communication while travelling.

Every country has its own culture around communication styles. Smiling usually does the trick though.

Seek out the snail mail

Take a pen, paper and envelope with you, and plan to write a letter to someone you’ve not had contact with in a while. It’s very analogue, we know, but it brings pleasure to plan it and write it, and huge delight to receive it. It might mean taking time to go find a stamp locally, but experiencing a local post office is often a microadventure in itself. And, worst case scenario, you can post it when you get home. But taking time out to write a letter can be one of the most calming activities you can do towards achieving mindfulness on holiday. Remember to make a note of their address in advance though!

There are many other tips on achieving mindfulness that we could list here, but different things work for different people. Going on an adventure can be a mindful experience in itself, for some people. For others, it means stepping out of their comfort zone and can create some mild anxiety. As we like to say at The Natural Adventure – Find you time, in your own time. You don’t have to race to the top of the hill, nor do you have to be up at the crack of dawn. You can just breathe, be you and just be there, in this lovely new place. And let the mindful adventure begin.