Traveler's Intuition: How I Choose My Travel Destinations
Feeling a bit uninspired lately, I turned to my Instagram to ask my friends for some ideas on what to write about. The first request was for a piece on how I choose where to travel and I just thought, YES. So, here we are.
This year of nonstop wandering has been nothing short of a dream. Since my husband is still working full time remotely at his job based in New York, it’s up to me to plan all of our destinations, routes and accommodations (we are staying in AirBnBs and rentals for the whole trip). It’s definitely challenging at times, but for someone who likes researching for fun (nerd alert!) it’s also been kind of awesome. The problem that I run into again and again, though, is WHERE DO WE GO!? When the whole wide world is literally your oyster, the choices are overwhelming and narrowing it down is hard. The fact that we are traveling with our dogs narrows the field a bit, since we can’t exactly be jetting off to India or Thailand or Botswana with the pups in tow.
Feeling those Joshua Tree vibes.
Nevertheless, the absolute first criteria I have for selecting a travel destination is my intuition. Where do I WANT to go? Where do I feel pulled? Since travel is one of my main interests, I’m constantly immersed in travel content. I read about it, follow it on social media, seek it out actively. This means I’ve built up a knowledge about different destinations that I keep on the back burner at all times. I’ve come to realize that even with this treasure trove of information at my fingertips, some places just stick with me and call my name more than others. For example, when I was thinking about quitting my job, I just knew I wanted to go to Provence and spend at least a month there. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it had something to do with following photographer Jamie Beck’s fabulous provencal adventures on Insta. Maybe it had something do with the fact that I had read Peter Mayle’s book A Year in Provence years ago when I was in college. Maybe I just really wanted to eat cheese and drink rosé. Whatever it was, Provence was calling my name and I had to answer.
La vie en rose in Provence
I’ve found then when following my intuition on the road, I’m never disappointed with a destination. Those places that really speak to me always provide and I typically connect deeply with them. Another example is Los Angeles. Like Provence, I just knew I wanted to spend at least a month in La La Land. In the end, we were there about six weeks, I was still sad to leave, and I fantasize about someday buying a home there. Other places that I’ve felt “called” to in the past and subsequently really connected with include: Todos Santos, Paros, Big Sur, Mendocino, and Tulum (I notice I have a thing for places in California and Mexico!). Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India are some of the further flung destinations that have been speaking to me for years now and hopefully I’ll be able to get there eventually. Closer to home I’m craving Hawaii (particularly drawn to Kauai and Maui), Sedona, which we unfortunately are skipping on this road trip and I’ll explain more why below, and Santa Fe, which luckily we ARE visiting on this trip and I’ve been wanting to see for years and years.
Sometimes following your travel intuition means changing your plans because your needs have changed. This can be frustrating for an over-planner like me, but I’ve learned to follow that little voice inside even if it doesn’t logically make sense or creates more complicated itineraries. It’s happened more than once that I’ve planned things in advance and then just didn’t feel like going anymore for some reason. We’ve also been in destinations where I found myself unhappy, bored, or just over it. In those situations, I do what I can to change our plans without spending too much extra money or creating too much of an inconvenience. We have a really awesome credit card with great travel insurance that we’ve utilized in the past to change plans at the last minute, getting reimbursed in full for anything we’d spent already on the trip. We’ve also left destinations a night or two early when we determined that the cost to our happiness outweighed the financial implications (example: we were super bored and getting despondent in the French countryside this winter after being there a couple weeks and decided to head to Paris a few nights earlier than anticipated! We needed city life, friends, LIFE around us! It was so worth it).
Astrologically speaking (stay with me here!) my moon is Aries and my rising sign is Leo; both freedom loving fire signs. I’ve learned that it’s important for me to have freedom. If I feel forced, trapped or restrained in any way it’s a great recipe for anxiety, emotional upheaval and health problems. It’s easy for me to place judgement on that and label myself as spoiled, ungrateful, unable to commit and capricious. What’s harder is accepting and honoring that part of myself for what it is. Just me. In the context of travel, this means trying my hardest to be more spontaneous to avoid any traveler’s remorse and allow myself the freedom to be in the moment, especially now that I have the luxury to do so. And when I change my mind, I let it happen.
Despite what this pillow says, I’m not a big Mykonos fan.
Rarely do I absolutely HATE a place, though there are those that I haven’t loved and didn’t vibe with. Interestingly enough, these are usually places that I don’t feel particularly pulled to on a deep level, but rather visit based on guide recommendations, travel blogs or because they’re “it” destinations. Most recently, it was San Luis Obispo in California. I’ve seen this destination on travel blogs for years and I was excited to visit. But it just didn’t do it for me, and I can’t argue with intuition. The vibe was WEIRD, but I didn’t know exactly why. It’s not a place I’d want to go back. I also didn’t love Marfa, Texas - another blog-favorite destination. Sure, it was beautiful and the Prada Marfa exhibit checked my bucket list, but it didn’t do anything for my soul. Same with Mykonos, which I think is totally overhyped. Is it gorgeous? YES! Is it also touristy, overpriced, overly glammed out, overly see and be seen and just in general overly extra in every way? Yes. I wouldn’t go back, and with so many amazing islands in the Cyclades (Paros), Mykonos just seems unnecessary (although if you want to party, that’s your spot).
The thing is, you never REALLY know unless you visit, so you’ve got to take the leap and try. If it’s not your spot, that’s cool. There’s lots to choose from. But I suggest getting quiet and asking yourself where your soul/heart/intuition/body feels like it needs to go. If that’s hard, start with the type of destination rather than the specific place. Sun or snow? Do you want to be near the ocean? Maybe the forest feels more your speed. Do you want quiet and relaxation or the hustle and bustle of a new city? Once you nail that down, you can start researching specifics.
There’s just something about those Redwoods…
When looking into specifics, I take several things into consideration to help make my final decisions: cost, ease of transportation, and accommodations. For this road trip, we’re trying our best to travel a route that makes sense. That means, we’re not driving from California to Colorado then back to Arizona then on to Tennessee. So, I look at destinations along or close to the route we want to drive and select them in an order that makes sense. Once I nail down interesting places, I investigate lodging. The long term nature of our travel means we’re on a stricter budget than our typical “vacation.” It’s hard to find rentals within our price range, that accept pets, that are close to attractions, that satisfy my need for pretty design (I’m bougie and I know it) and that aren’t a tent (seriously). This is why we had to cut Sedona, AZ out of our itinerary on this trip. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find anything affordable for a week long stay with pets. So, we cut it in favor of the Grand Canyon, where we’ll be staying for a much shorter time and is a bigger bucket list item. My tip with specifics is be a bit flexible if you can. Say you want a beach vacation. Investigate airfare/hotels at several destinations and pick the one that works best for your dates and budget. If airfare to St. Lucia is astronomical, investigate Aruba, Grand Cayman, Jamaica. You get the picture. Love Paris but hotels too pricey? Look into similar European cities. Prague is lovely! Bordeaux is gorgeous, still in France and also super close to Spain. There is beauty and adventure to be found everywhere.
That’s it! My personal criteria for selecting travel destinations. Start first with intuition, then work on the specifics. Be flexible. Honor your needs. Remember that you can change your mind if you need to and be sure to investigate all your options for doing so if need be. Get yourself a good travel credit card. If all else fails and your trip doesn’t go as planned, know that everything is an experience to be had and a lesson to be learned. The important thing is to be open to receiving. There is so much to be gained from exploring this big, beautiful world. Don’t wait.
