How to Take That Holiday Feeling Back Home with You

Most people love going on holiday because that’s where they feel different to how they feel at home. They feel happier, more relaxed, less inhibited and less stressed. They are able to slow down enough to enjoy the experience they are having.

I have known for a long time that travelling does not give me a different experience of life than the one I have at home. It is for that reason that until very recently the cost and effort of travelling appeared too high for what I was getting in return: being me somewhere else.

It’s not that I disliked or hated myself but I did not experience the benefits other people seemed to enjoy so much. If anything, I felt worse on holiday! Everything was unknown and much less comfortable than at home. It just didn’t seem worth the hassle.

Experiencing Our Conditioning

I changed a lot during the last 5 years and I had many realisations that helped me understand myself and my experience better. Consequently, I live differently.

What I have learnt is that no matter where I went, I was the same me that I was at home. I thought the same thoughts, had the same feelings and acted in the same ways. My conditioning was very strong. It was rigid and set in its ways. A geographical change did not alter that.

Other people behave differently when they are on holiday. They do not follow the same thought patterns and as a result they don’t feel the same way. By not following their typical trains of thought, they make space for new thought to enter and in doing so, they create a new experience for themselves. They behave differently and they create more enjoyment for themselves in the process.

What I realised was that my patterns did not serve me. If I was miserable away, it meant that I was miserable at home. Location didn’t change that. A luxury treat didn’t affect it.

Clearing Up the Confusion

I didn’t understand why everything felt the same to me no matter what I did or where I went. It was obvious that the environment had an impact on others so why not on me?

I couldn’t answer this question until I realised that our felt experience only ever comes from within ourselves. It comes from our thoughts.

It was a HUGE revelation!

To me, it meant finding out what I thought and how I behaved that kept me re-experiencing the same over and over again so that I could change it. I started to become more self-aware by noticing what thoughts fuelled which actions and inactions. I began to do things differently and my experience changed! It was that simple!

Creating a Better Experience Anywhere

Realising that my experience comes from my particular way of thinking allowed me to see that there was a lot I could do to alter it.

Others believed travel or a holiday to be the source of their different experience while I did not understand why mine stayed the same no matter where I went or what I did.

What we all missed was that we’re the missing link! A different experience is caused by us doing something different. It is not necessary to spend thousands of pounds on a holiday to feel better.

So to the travel-loving and holiday-obsessed people out there, I have this bit of very useful advice:

Whatever you do on holiday, start doing it at home.

You do not feel better because you are on holiday. You feel better because you treat yourself better. You live differently than you do at home because you’re breaking out of your usual pattern.

Notice it and start doing it at home. Life is way too short to only allow yourself to feel good when you’re on holiday.

There are so many things you can do to give yourself a more enjoyable experience. What are you waiting for?!