01/06/2026
Welcome Travelers to the start of 2026. I love that each new year offers us a blank page, yet to be filled with the places we’ll go, the people we have yet to meet and the way that these connections will imprint themselves on our senses, our feelings, and help shape our world view.
I just returned from a 2.5 week van trip through Baja - a needed reset to turn the page on a tough year. One that kicked off with a breast cancer diagnosis, followed by 6 months of surgeries and treatment.
This was not the type of trip that we at Outlier Journeys would design for our travelers. In fact, it is probably a worst nightmare for some of you or type 2.5 fun at best! Living out of a camper van, stretching 50 gallons of water to last 14 days (showers are rare and precious!), sand everywhere and in everything, the claustrophobic discomfort of peeling on a damp wetsuit each day, pokey plants and scorpions in the dunes.
But it also contained all of the quintessential elements that I know - after 20 years of designing travel - are essential for a trip to transform into something impactful as opposed to a blocked week on the calendar.
PLAY - Most adults don’t do this enough. I count myself lucky to have a network of peers (and work in an industry) that prioritizes fun and joy. This trip had silly relay races, sprints down dunes, many attempts to feed anemones, sand sculpture competitions and lots of yard games, SUPing and surfing. Wherever you go this year, make sure to play.
UNSTRUCTURED TIME - Social-media driven FOMO has led to a crisis of over-orchestration. Perhaps an ironic plea coming from a professional travel designer who is paid to structure your time - but please! - give yourself “serendipity time” - space to feel boredom, fuel creativity and see what happens.
NATURE IMMERSION - Nothing is as restorative for our taxed nervous systems as time in nature. There were dolphins, shimmering tide pools, spectacular sunsets and a Jan 1st rain storm that turned the beach into an Uyuni-like landscape, reflecting the sky. Dinner one night was mussels gathered from the rocks at low tide. Another night it was freshly caught lobster tails, purchased from a local fisherman.
CHALLENGE - The best moments in life often demand a little more of us. Whether it is a hard trek in the Himalaya, facing a fear of creepy-crawlies in the Ecuadorian jungle or embracing the vulnerability of “being a beginner” at just about anything, the reward is sweeter when you work for it. For me, on this trip, I committed to surfing at least 5 times and having fun with it, rather than fixate on everything that I was doing wrong. Mission accomplished!
DISCONNECT TO CONNECT - While Starlink enabled me to keep tabs on critical work, devices were mostly absent from our hands. Instead, we talked with our neighbors, discussed a daily “thought provoking question”, swapped stories around the campfire and took time to collective journal around reflective prompts. We were not meant to stare into screens, asking ChatGPT for immediate answers to every question! On your next trip, make a plan to limit your phone usage. Have a question? Strike up a chat with someone around you.
I LOVE perfectly-ironed Frette sheets, decadent room service breakfast-in-bed, the pop of a (real) Champagne cork after a bush walk. But I appreciate these indulgences so much more when they are contrasted with the right balance of “roughing it.”
If this travel style resonates with you, get in touch with me/Outlier Journeys about trip design. I promise that I won’t make you wild camp in Baja for 2 weeks. But I will nudge you to stretch yourself, let go, put the phone away and have fun.
