Last year, we released our loose packing guide titled “How to Pack for Travel Bliss: A Guide to Worry-Free Travel Through Packing Versatile Essentials”. That article served as a more general packing list for travel, so we’ve decided to go ahead and release this essential packing list detailing what to pack for travel to “Earth’s sacred places.”
Now, “Earth’s sacred places” may mean something different to different people. To some, it may mean visiting the plethora of pyramids in Mexico, like the ones we trek to on Maya Temples of Transformation with Freddy Silva & Miguel Angel Vergara. For others, it could be a hiking trip out among the magnificent Pacific Northwest or even a visit to some soul-healing, local mountains.
So pack your bags, and in the meantime, explore how your trip could possibly be enhanced while abiding by this packing list.
A Creative Journal
A creative journal is a journal for anything and everything. It’s to write in, of course, yet it’s also for sticking slim collectibles in, photographs, drawings, and whatever else pleases you.
On your journey, the sacred journey you’re following with all your heart, you’re likely to be stricken time and time again by enchanting inspiration. This can feel ironically daunting in the moment; the integration period usually comes after the journey, right?
Right, yet keeping a journal handy is the premier way to channel your inspiration right there on the spot.
So how, more specifically, do we suggest you use a journal on your sacred journey?
Try dedicating a page or two to each day of the trip. If you have time to have a seat amidst a stone circle or other pilgrimage site, try making a drawing. If you find yourself in between sites at a tea house for coffee, try writing what you feel when you see the crowds of people rushing by.
To learn more about writing as a way of reaching the sacred, have a read of the journey description for our Greece journey in September 2021, The Hydra Writer’s Retreat with Phil Cousineau.
An Object You Hold Close to Your Heart
Places of peace and power have what we call a “divine potential,” that is, these places have the capacity to instill spiritual wonder and revelation in its visitors. These places have history, and sometimes, even an “energy” that can be explained on a metaphysical basis, similar to what our journey leader Freddy Silva describes while at Saqsayhuaman in Peru.
So why add a valuable object to your essential packing list?
When you return home and begin integration, imagine having this object by your side. This can be the charm you wore around your neck while traversing the jungles of Mexico, a stone, or even a book that has previously touched your heart.
The main point is that this object will be with you while you are experiencing a large variety of sites and locations, and, perhaps, a large variety of emotions as well. This object will be with you after your journey and during your integration period as well. It will harness deeper reminiscing over what happened and what is to come.
Access to an Inspiring Music Playlist
Deciding what to pack won’t always come down to a physical object and/or useful tool (unless you have a CD or tape on hand). In this case, it is music.
Music brings us to a prosperous world of emotional processing, inspiration, motivation, and ideas. It’s no surprise that, as described by Harvard Health Publishing, music has the ability to heighten thinking by acting “as an ‘exercise’ that warms up selected brain cells, allowing them to process information more efficiently.” In the meantime, Harvard cites a study from New York that examines how music affects surgical patients. They found that patients undergoing surgery felt much calmer while listening to music as opposed to the patients who weren’t being exposed to music.
So what does this mean?
When under the influence of music, the mind is calmer and working better. The point of mentioning Harvard’s article is to offer an idea of just how powerful music can be in times of need.
So, on your journey, while on long bus rides through the countryside or during evenings in your hostel after an epic day out, turn to music. Choose your playlist wisely and download it before your journey begins. It’ll be there for you, to inspire you, to calm you, to uplift you and serve as a creative and calming catalyst.
An Open Mind
Yes, this is not a physical object either. But yes, you should still add this to your list of what to pack for travel on your sacred journey.
Any packing list for travel should include this, actually. Abroad, we’re bound to encounter religions we’re not used to, foods that taste remarkably different, cities that are easy to get lost in, and obstacles that can sometimes slow down the progress of the journey.
With an open mind, we begin to view obstacles as core pieces of the adventure, differences in culture as brain-food, and new people as havens of company and stories we don’t yet know.
*EXTRA THINGS TO ADD TO YOUR ESSENTIAL PACKING LIST
There you have it. With music, an open mind, a journal, and an object you hold close to your heart, you’re bound to travel deeper with the sacred. You’ll be likely to get more out of your experience abroad and/or in nature.
Since you made it this far, here are some extra things to add to your essential packing list.
- exceptional walking shoes (aim to purchase from companies that give back, such as Oboz who plant a tree for every purchase they make).
- mala beads to assist meditation in places like Ladakh or South India.
- zip-off pants that turn into shorts for swimming (for things like cenote swims in Mexico)
- sun hat and sunscreen
