Travel With Intention, Without Overthinking It
The case for knowing why you booked the trip
by Lindsay Eldridge · Sun 16 Aug 2026
What does it mean to travel with intention?
I’ve been asked before to set an intention for something, and my immediate reaction was basically: Why does everything need to have some big purpose behind it? Can’t I just go on the trip?
Yes. You can.
The way I see it, an intention is simply an amplifier for the reason you signed up for the trip in the first place. It can help you make choices during the experience that support what you wanted out of it.
That’s it! There’s no need to overthink it.
Start with one question: Why did you sign up for this trip?
Maybe you wanted to spend quality time with a particular friend, maybe you wanted to meet new people, or maybe you needed a break.
Maybe you want to have deep conversations with people you’ve never met before. Maybe you want to get up for meditation every morning, think about your life, and come home with a completely different perspective.
Or maybe you want to read by the pool, eat really good food, laugh a lot, and not think about anything particularly profound for five days.
Great.
All of those are perfectly valid reasons to come.
Your reason can be light. It can be deep. It can be incredibly specific. It can be as simple as I’ve always wanted to go there.
The point is that it gets to be yours.
That’s really the philosophy behind our retreats, too. We’re not going to tell you what you’re supposed to get out of the experience.
Different reasons for coming can coexist really well, and part of the reason is that people are given room to have the experience they came for.
And if you’re reading that thinking, But I don’t want to do my own thing. I want to be with everyone!
Great.
Maybe that’s exactly why you signed up for the trip.
Your intention just gives you something to come back to when you’re making choices during the experience.
If you came because you wanted to meet people, maybe you go to dinner even when part of you wants to stay in your room.
If you came because you needed a break, maybe you skip an activity and read by the pool without feeling like you’re missing out.
If you came to spend time with your family member, maybe you make a point to do something together when there’s nothing scheduled.
If you came because you wanted to have fun, maybe you stay up laughing for another hour.
And if you came wanting deeper conversations and more time to reflect, maybe you’re the person who asks everyone the question at dinner that keeps the table talking.
That, to me, is traveling with intention.
It isn’t about deciding what your trip is supposed to mean before you get there. And it certainly isn’t about us deciding that for you.
It’s about recognizing why you wanted to come in the first place and giving yourself permission to follow that.
You may never consciously think about your intention again.
That’s fine too!
Take 30 seconds before you go and ask yourself why you signed up. Then go have your trip.
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