Health Warning: Travel Ahead!

Last week we were in the UK for a family gathering. The week before I was in Morocco to lead a women’s retreat. Tomorrow Tim hops over to London for an overnight meeting. Travel is relatively straightforward - give or take the odd RyanAir debacle - yet I wonder how it affects our bodies and souls.

Within hours, we leave the place we call ‘home’ - the place where we’ve created space to contain our daily routines, our everyday connections and whatever is our normal - for another place. And however familiar that other place is, it is not where we are rooted. 

However much we take travel for granted, it shakes us out of our rootedness.

This week, I have had conversations with a couple of friends that makes me think this is a universal experience. One was bemoaning being out of sync with the rhythms that make her feel healthy. Away from home, she is missing the place she’s set up for her morning exercises and she wonders why it’s harder to stick to healthy food choices. It’s funny, but somehow being away from home can give us the mistaken idea that our choices are without consequences, like a sort of ‘get out of jail free’ card that erases all the fast food and sitting around as soon as we get home again. She’s feeling lethargic and moody but still finding it so hard to insist on healthy practices in a new place, with different demands and limiting realities.

I came back from the UK visit ready for a 3 day juice cleanse! After days of ‘Ooh, must try that cheese!’ and ‘Let’s open another bottle of wine!’ my body was screaming for rest from all the foods I am usually much better at avoiding. There is something about social situations, about having treat foods too easily available, and especially about not having our ‘ideal’ choices around, that makes us throw our hands in the air and forget our healthy practices all together.

The other friend got to the heart of the matter when she expressed how hard it was to maintain life-giving spiritual practices when travelling. Away from home, where she’s able to determine her own schedule and where she has a particular quiet spot in the house to sit and read, journal or pray, it is so much harder to carve out the space to be still. Often when we are staying with family or friends, or when we have co-workers staying in the room next door or breakfast is a communal affair, it is hard to find the inner stillness necessary to enjoy our moments alone. We miss opportunities to tend to our own souls and our inner world becomes overly noisy and distracted.

During our time in the UK, our days were filled with family events as we sought to maximise the opportunity to be with family members we hadn’t seen for years, as well as those we see more often. Sharing the house with my sister, her husband and two kiddos, the only quiet place was on my bed and even there I felt all my attention drawn towards what was going on beyond the closed door, sensitive to the desire to help out in some way, or to show my face before her husband left for work. It felt difficult even to get out for a run or a walk, simply because I was aware of the need to get the day underway, to cross town to meet up with my brother, or to straighten the house before my parents visited.

All this is a really normal part of being outside our own home environment. So how can we find ways to see travel times as integral to normal life, rather than dismissing them as blips of unintentional living that somehow won’t catch up with us. Here are some ideas:

1. Know your schedule ahead of time.

If you have a bit of an idea what your days will look like, I recommend making a plan before you leave home. When will you exercise and what will you do? What could you take with you to make that easier? There are tonnes of really accessible apps  (like the one here)or online workouts that require no equipment - you still have to decide to do them though! Planning ahead makes it much more likely that you will.

2. Create your environment.

I have found it really helpful, when I travel, to re-create my favourite contemplative corner from home. This might be as simple as taking a scented candle to light as you begin your time of reflection, or a postcard of a meaningful image. If you have a well-established practice at home, it will help a lot when you travel. Again, there are many tools you may keep on your phone, as well as taking your current journal with you as part of your regular soul care.

3. Go for a walk.

In most places we travel, getting out for a walk is the simplest way to get time alone. Moving your body and making sure you take some deep breaths will do wonders for your body and mind. If you are in a place with beautiful scenery, it is even more likely that walking will refresh you and help you get a sense of perspective. Rather than hoping that you’ll fit a walk in somehow, it helps to make a plan as soon as you have your schedule. A daily walk can be a life-saver, offering time to pray or reflect as well as exercise.

4. Make use of audio books and podcasts.

Sometimes, when I am on a busy or emotionally distracting trip, I find it hard to settle sufficiently to read or reflect. At these times, it has been hugely helpful to have audio books and podcasts available on my phone (not only that, but for some reason people tend to leave you alone when you have headphones in!). I especially like Ruth Haley Barton’s series on Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership because, in addition to thoughtful content, each episode concludes with a reflective practice and a prayer. Being guided in prayer and reflection is helpful when we are feeling limited in our own capacity to enter that settled space.

5. Practice deep-breathing or meditation.

Even a few minutes of silence and paying attention to our breath can enlarge our capacity to hold whatever the day might bring us. I know many of us are leery of the idea of meditation, as though it were some eastern and inherently non-Christian practice. But in fact the psalmist speaks on many occasions of ‘meditating on my bed’ and ‘meditating on the word of the Lord.’ I believe that we can ascribe our own meaning to short times of focused attention. We can do this by gazing at an image that has special significance for us, or by setting aside a short, measured time for silent and focused attention on a scripture or prayerful phrase. This app can be helpful.

These are some of the things that help me to maintain life-giving rhythms when I am away from home and my normal environment. I find that when I give myself permission to make these practices a priority, I am better able to give myself to the opportunities and demands that are ever-present when travelling for work or family commitments.

I hope you find these ideas helpful. Those of you who travel regularly, what do you find most challenging about travel? (Perhaps all the goodies in the hospitality basket?!) What tricks and tools have you found most helpful?