By Amit Jaipuria
Think about the best time you’ve had traveling. Consider the parts of a journey that mean the most to you. Is it snapping a photo of yourself in front of a landmark, or enjoying nights out with friends? Is it simply strolling through a temple, or is it being involved in a real local cultural experience?
Chances are, the most memorable moments you’ve had while traveling probably involved some sort of interaction with locals. It’s how we learn about the world around us and experience a different way of life. It brings more meaning to our travels. There are many different ways to travel, and people are now starting to experience and understand the benefits of traveling more mindfully. So, what is mindful travel?
Mindful travel is all about traveling with a more open heart and mind, being open to the different cultures and customs of the places we visit. It’s about immersing yourself in local stories, learning the history and engaging meaningfully with locals. Not only can you have amazing experiences and grow on a personal level, but your travel also helps smaller local communities.
An Emphasis on Storytelling
When we created Postcard Travel Stories, it was so much more than just travel advice. The idea was deeply rooted in the stories that turn travel into a far more immersive and meaningful experience. But with so much of the travel industry’s focus being on sightseeing and ticking things off a bucket list, we wanted to make it easier for people to find and share their stories.
But we’re not talking about travel stories of the time people ate croissants near the Eiffel Tower. We partner with local hoteliers and travel partners to discover cultural experiences and stories of people, places, food, history and local customs.
In simple terms, we’ve created a resource for people who want to find a better way to travel. Because by listening to and learning from local stories all around the world, we develop a much deeper appreciation for the land we visit, and our travel also helps to uplift local communities and help them thrive.
There’s Still Plenty of Luxury to Enjoy
Just because you travel more mindfully and make a deeper connection with a location, it doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice. This is a common misconception that to travel mindfully you need to be building homes in third-world countries or sleeping on dirt floors. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the travel experiences curated by Postcard, we work with boutique hotels, tour operators and more to ensure you can still enjoy a touch of the luxurious while having a deeper travel experience. In this way, when traveling mindfully you’re also making a significant contribution to local communities.
Contribute to a Better Future
If there’s one thing that our world can lack at times, it’s a willingness to understand different cultures and customs. People choose to live their lives in many different ways, and these ways of life are often born from storytelling that’s been passed down through the ages. This is another reason why the stories of local communities are so important.
By traveling mindfully, learning these ways of life, and sharing them with others, we contribute to a better world for everyone. Think about the impact you can have on a small community if your experiences encourage even a handful of people to visit in the future. Rather than an Instagram photo of yourself in a resort swimming pool, what if you could share the story of your experience meeting the Amaru Community in the Andes or playing, laughing and learning with children in Northern Kenya?
The more we travel and make the effort to understand different ways of life, the more focus we can have on everybody’s similarities rather than our differences.
Personal Growth
Finally, we mentioned before that traveling mindfully and helping small communities doesn’t mean sacrifice. It’s just an opportunity to get so much more out of your travel experience. Connecting with a new land and its people is such a great way to look at your own life, and it can be a very transformative experience.
You might take away a commitment to live in a less material way or bring home some new meditation techniques. Perhaps you learn some of the local recipes and share them with friends when you’re back home. Or, you may simply have a great time learning about a new culture and experiencing something that very few people do.
When traveling mindfully, there is always an opportunity to grow on so many levels.
