What is travel coaching? (part 3: post-trip reintegration)
Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by. If you’re returning, welcome back! If this is your first visit to our blog here at Compass Travel Coaching, you’re catching us at the end of our three-part series exploring what travel coaching is, or at least our approach to it. (Be sure to check out part one on pre-trip preparation and part 2 on mid-trip engagement). We’re so happy you’re here and hope you find this breakdown useful.
Today, we’re looking at part three: post-trip reintegration. In our experience, returning back to life after a trip can be challenging – sometimes even more challenging than acclimating to life in a new place. Why is that? Well, to put it simply, it’s because travel changes us. After traveling to a new place, learning a little more about the world and yourself, meeting new people, opening yourself up to new situations, customs, experiences… how could you not be different?
And you may find that returning to a life that feels unchanged can be pretty jarring. You may find yourself even questioning the reality of what you just experienced. Did it really happen? Did you really change? Was what you felt real? Or was it all an illusion, a figment of your imagination? Can you even trust yourself or your experience at all?
We can begin to create a separation between our “real life” and our travel life. There can be a belief that we have to make ourselves small, shrinking our big, wild dreams and newfound awareness to fit back into our day-to-day lives. And in this process, there can even be grieving of the loss of who we were when we were traveling.
But what if you didn’t have to let go of that person? What if that person wasn’t an aberration of yourself, but actually a truer version? What if everything that you learned as you prepped for your trip, tapped into your intention, and engaged with yourself along the way was actually a roadmap to who you are and what’s most important to you? What if you weren’t just traveling, but actually collecting clues and data points to help you be your most authentic, freest self?
Post-trip reintegration is where we take all that information and begin to make meaning of it. We look for patterns and trends. We look at what your body and soul are telling you, not just your mind. We look beyond just reason and logic to what your deep inner self knows to be true. We explore and unpack these things to determine how to make your life fit you better, not the other way around. We look at how to give your dreams more space, to make them bigger, not smaller.
And you may be surprised to find that this can happen in small ways. For some, big life changes may be necessary. But for many, it’s about finding manageable ways to incorporate more of what’s important to you into your routine. It’s about honoring your “travel self” as an important part of who you are and giving yourself more permission and opportunity to invite that part into your work, relationships and home life. It may be through creating better boundaries, finding new hobbies or reprioritizing how you spend your time. It could be as simple as taking a new class or finding events where you can meet new people or connect with other cultures in your own community. The possibilities are truly endless and limited only by what you can dream for yourself.
As we wrap up this brief overview of the work we do and what we’re so very passionate about here at Compass, we hope that it’s been helpful, or at least has sparked some curiosity. If you’re interested in learning more about travel coaching and whether it may be helpful for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you!
We’re excited to branch out to some other travel-related topics starting next week, so make sure to stop back by. Until then…
Happy traveling!
~Tiffany