Why grounding in nature is essential to travel well.

In 1995, I worked in the lost luggage center for an airline at Portland International Airport (PDX). Eileen was a fiery redhead standing next to me, and we worked the swing shift — a time of day when baggage tended to go missing. Passengers weary from travel would burst into the office with unpredictable coping attitudes. 

One evening, a frequent traveler was so upset about his ubiquitous roll bag (“Black 022” in airline jargon) that he threatened to get in his pickup truck and drive it into the Baggage Service Office to capture our attention. It was tense, and he left before the security detail arrived. We delivered the bag to him the following day. 

A week later, the man returned to the airport for another work trip and made it a point to make amends. He brought us cookies and apologized profusely, saying he didn’t know what came over him — but he’s not that monster of a person. 

His behavior did resemble temporary insanity. 

And I had countless experiences witnessing temporary insanity in my time at PDX. Whenever possible, I issued food vouchers to feed people so they could begin to find ground. They usually returned more agreeable to the unfortunate options. 

You see, travel by nature requires us to pick up our roots and jump to another locale — near or far — and do our best to quickly assimilate our “nature.” But this is easier said than done. After all, humans have yet to evolve much beyond our hunter/gatherer biology of 30,000 years ago. Our ancestors traveled 60 miles a year at best. 

Even in the best of times, humans can quickly lose grounding.

Grounding is what keeps us clear on who and where we are. It is the mind, heart, and spirit of understanding and integration of three natural laws into any and all experiences:

1. Everything in nature is interdependent: You belong.
2. Nature is constantly changing: You are resilient. What you can face, you can handle. 
3. Everything in the Natural World has a purpose: You have a purpose.

Prioritizing grounding (in your nature) when leaving familiar land begets fulfilling experiences — because (by definition above), you feel a sense of belonging, resiliency in foreign scenarios, and a purpose. More importantly, connecting to the land is essential in times of crisis (re-read my email from November if you want an example!)

You likely already have grounding rituals for travel. For example, when arriving at a new place, my sister Kelly likes organizing all her clothing into drawers and hangers in the closet. She feels more connected to the space this way. (On the other hand, I’ve left behind too many items to trust myself with unpacking.)

And a robust and reliable ally to quickly get a sense of connection is — you guessed it — the Natural World standing by to help, regardless of location. 

I write and speak a lot about the six fundamentals to deepen your connection to the Natural World. They are very effective during travel. After all, what better way to pull off a fantastic vacation than by opting into the location of the experience, aligning your values, keeping present, slowing down, and paying attention to forming beautiful connections? 

This framework leads to excellent outcomes. I’ve written several articles that help you plan memorable nature-forward journeys, including Where to find places for nature-forward immersion while on vacation.​

Grounding doesn’t have to take more than 30 minutes each day, and the rewards can be excellent — in the short and long term. This even applies when not staying overnight but traveling to unfamiliar places, say for a wedding or family reunion, where triggers can reveal uncomfortable emotions. 

Do you remember a time when you went temporarily insane while traveling? What were the circumstances, and could grounding have helped the outcome of the situation? What rituals do you already have to quickly connect to the land when you leave the familiarity of home? 

Please respond back and let me know.

And let me know if you need help planning an upcoming trip or want to learn about your options to experience a powerfully grounding nature immersion experience. 

Wishing you all the best! Matthew

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PS: Stay tuned for the following newsletter, where I’ll talk about location, location, location. For a few teasers, check out these four Airbnb locations around the PNW, lovingly curated to foster a connection to the Natural World. Imagine how you’d ground in these inspiring environments.

​Olympic Peninsula — Strait Surf House​

​Mr. Rainier National Park — Fernhaus​

​Columbia River Gorge — Acorn Cottage​

​Vibrant Seattle Neighborhood — Capitol Hill Apartment​

​Full disclosure: I know each of these hosts very well. While I don’t receive any compensation for bookings, I want to support their dedication to putting love into travel experiences.​
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