“Once we begin to see travel as an inner journey, it is possible to turn every trip we take into a spiritual practice—a hero’s adventure that enlivens our hearts and enlarges our souls. Travel becomes a spiritual experience for us when we are conscious at every moment that our physical transportation from place to place has a metaphysical counterpart. Understanding that, the road takes us inexorably to an encounter with the ‘stranger’ at the heart of the journey—the transformed self.”

—Joseph Dispenza, The Way of the Traveler

Sure, you’re hopping on a plane and flying several thousand miles away—or maybe just a couple hundred—and leaving home and your comfort zone. On the surface, it might seem like you’re going outside of yourself. And in some ways, you are.

But in reality, you’re taking an inner journey—one that takes you further into who you are.

Most of the trips I’ve taken have not merely supplemented, but actually served as some sort of spiritual practice. Sometimes heavy (if we’re talking San Pedro cactus in South America). Sometimes light (a goofy chicken bus ride with a busload of characters). And often, a just-right sort of blend of the light and the deep stuff…inner journeys where I put myself out there on the beaten path and get into the moment, the flow, and let the magic happen.

And it’s an incredible thing.