How to Travel If You’re an Empath
Traveling has so many rewards. It helps you relax, resets your work/life balance, and promotes a positive mindset. This is often why jobs give you vacation time. We all know that travel also comes with a lot of stress and anxiety. From planning where to go, staying within our budget, and it can even get worst if you’re traveling with a group or internationally. These are all things that are difficult for “normal” people to handle, less alone empaths. With travel in full swing again, I wanted to help give you the tools to make travel a little easier on the empaths of the world. As someone who’s traveled to over 15 countries and countless states in the USA, I hope this article inspires you to get out of your comfort zone and take control over your vacation.
What is an Empath
A word that many of us have heard, but some still aren’t sure how to identify it. I think that this word gets thrown around a lot, the definition is always changing and means something different to everyone. There is no single defining gender, career, personality, or label to categorize an empath. If you’re reading this article, then you probably consider yourself one. Studies show less than 15% of people are true empaths and only 1-2% are natural empaths. Empaths are hypersensitive people; able to feel deep emotions; and are sensitive to energy, surroundings, light, sounds, smells, etc.
Where to Travel
When planning where to go it’s important to tailor it around what you want out of your experience. If you want to relax on your vacation, a trip to a big city with lots of activities may not be the best plan. If you’re traveling to get centered and grounded, then a camping trip might be best idea. If you’re traveling for Spirituality then the best places to go are scared site or places with strong religious backgrounds. If you wish to do more mindful activities, try traveling to a place that you can volunteer work. If you’re looking for some excitement on vacation, maybe consider a haunted place to have a paranormal experience. Disclosure, only experienced empaths should consider this kind of travel. When going to a haunted location you need to extremely protected, in a good state of mind, and be very cautious and respectful about the dead. Also, realized that just because you go to a haunted place doesn’t mean that you will experience anything while your there, so don’t let that be the deciding factor.
What to Pack
Beyond what you should normally pack in your luggage, where’s other things you can pack to help you with protection your energy as well as your belongings. Crystals are a great tool to help calm your energy as well as keep you safe. Black tourmaline absorbs negative energy, keep it in your pocket or wear as jewelry. Moonstone is known as the “travelers stone” is believed to protect you and your belongings, so keep it in your suitcase. Aquamarine has been used by sailors for centuries to help protect them in the high seas, it’s also good for anyone that has a fear of flying or traveling over water. Howlite is a peaceful stone that helps control irritability and teaches patience, perfect for any traveler. You can also pack multiple stones to set up an energy grid in your hotel. Essential oils lavender can be helpful to calm you down or orange to help energize you.
How to Navigate the Airport
Empaths lack a filter that most “normal” people have, the ability to only process their own energy. Though this usually makes empaths extremely good companions, this is a downfall when in high traffic areas. This is also why empaths don’t travel as often as others. This is when you want to put your “blinders on”, as I like to call it. This isn’t a time you want to tune into your surroundings or other people. I’ll encourage you to find what works best for you, but here are some of my quick tips. Often empaths are sensitive to noise, put your noise cancelling head phones on and put on your jams that raise your vibration. Keep your head in that book. Focusing on reading will help you tune out and keep your mind distracted, while also keeping that chatty neighbor from dumping their problems on you. Get out that phone and watch funny videos to turn on “good vibes only” mode. Once on the plane, take a nap to rechange so you’re in full vacation mode when you land, also this will help with jet lag and any time differences.
How to Travel with Others
Whether you’re traveling with a spouse, kids, friends, or family members; it’s never smooth sailing. Empaths often have a difficult time putting their needs first and setting boundaries. This is your vacation too and you don’t want to come home and need a vacation from your vacation. The earlier you set boundaries with the people you’re traveling with the better, and I mean talking about this before you even book the vacation. Set basic ground rules like, is everyone’s going to pay their own way, where you want to stay, how many activities can the group handle in a day, etc… Just know that the more people you travel with the harder this will be. Sometimes it’s best if the group wants to split up. How are you going to handle the person that wants to take control over the whole trip, but also make sure you’re not that person too? Be cautious if you’re traveling with a person who doesn’t want to talk about the details, just accept that and tell them your plans.
Overcoming Language Barriers
Often this is what intimidates people from traveling internationally the most. This is when your empath skills work to your advantage. Most “normal” people will have a difficult time navigating their way around or interacting with locals, but not empaths that are skilled at reading people’s body language. This is one of my best skills and I enjoy meeting new people when while traveling. Some of my best memories are with the people, not only the places. Before you travel, it’s best to read up on local customs in a guide book so you can interpret it correctly. Like in Italy, hand gestures are a way of life, but if you don’t know how to interpret it then someone might get offended. Most locals are really helpful and kindness goes a long way. Also, don’t assume that everyone speaks English. You’ll go a long way if you learn a few sayings in their native language. Always learn how to ask if they speak English. Even if at first they say no, still try communicating. Often, they’ll open up and you’ll find out they speak a little English. Use small words, short sentences, and speak slowly. If looking for directions, just point to where you want to go on the map. If ordering on a menu, just point to what looks good or go with the chief’s special, if your adventurous eater you won’t be disappointed. You didn’t travel all this way to eat something you can get at home.
Readjusting After Vacation
Let face it, sometimes it feels like after a vacation we need a vacation. As an empath, you will absorb a lot of energy from your surroundings. You need to decompress before you head back to work. I usually recommend an extra day or two before you jump right back into your normal routine. When you come home you might be tempted to handle all the unpacking, run errands, and catch up on all the things you might have missed before while out of town. You need to replenish your own well first. I recommend taking a least one day to do nothing and just veg out, maybe hit the gym, or watch some TV. Then give yourself the next day to handle all the house chores and run any errands. Then by the third day you should be ready to go back to work. Happy travels!