Spend a few years on the treadmill of life and you might reach a point where your body, soul and spirit become misaligned. Maybe you just had a breakup, breakdown or some other big life event. You may need a spiritual journey!!
What to Do on a Spiritual Journey
With an infinite number of reasons to take a spiritual journey and a massive world in which to do it, the options for what to do on that journey are endless. You could go down the silent meditation route and spend days or weeks quietly contemplating where things went wrong. That’s a pretty extreme option though.
Or you could do some more mainstream stuff — yoga, tarot readings, reiki, spa treatments, a good long book and maybe some traditional sightseeing mixed in. This kind of trip is as much a chance to relax as a true spiritual journey, which could be just what you need. Other spiritual journeys could include long hikes (maybe a pilgrimage route), volunteering, following your favourite sports team or band or just finally getting back to a place that stole your heart many years ago.
Where To Do It
For your more typical spiritual journey (meditation, past life regressions, psychic energy, healers) you’ll probably want to travel to a hotspot for that kind of thing. Bali (especially around Ubud) is an obvious destination, as are certain places in India (Rishikesh, Dharamshala), Sri Lanka, Thailand (Pai, certain islands), Nicaragua (Lake Atitlan) and many more.
I’ve been to a lot of these towns and they’re perfect for a spot of spirituality while also catering to your other tourism needs. Dip in and out of activities while eating good food, meeting other travellers and staying in a comfortable room (but try and avoid dangerous posing like in the photo below).
That sounds a lot better to me than staying at an ashram and doing the real, proper full-time version. Of course it depends on your spiritual needs — a small crisis could call for a week in Ubud and a mix of travel and wellness, while a big crisis might require a month of silence somewhere in Sri Lanka.
India
India is one of the most spiritual places on Earth and is where a lot of the current wellness trends originated. You can do mainstream spiritual stuff in a lot of places or more extreme ashram stuff as well. It’s also a great place to do training (yoga etc.) — do that and you might never have to go home.
READ MORE: India Travel Tips: How to Survive Your First Trip to India
Stay Closer to Home
You don’t need to leave your home country to go on a spiritual journey, especially if you live somewhere with great scenery (I’m lucky to live on the South Island of New Zealand). Head for your nearest lake, mountain town, beach or other quiet slice of nature and get meditating! You can also join yoga classes etc. in your hometown.
After the Trip
Hopefully, you’ll return home with a clearer head and a plan for the future. Or you might realise you never want to go home and end up teaching yoga in a far-flung corner of the world. Either way it would have been a successful spiritual journey. And if it’s unsuccessful you can just do another one — just think hard before committing to too much silence!
Are you considering a spiritual journey? Let me know in the comments below!
Jon Algie
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