Quiet Adventures: The Kind of Trips I’m Choosing This Year (And What I’m Prioritizing

For a long time, travel felt like something to collect.

Cities checked off. Photos captured. Schedules packed just enough to prove the trip was worth it. Somewhere along the way, I realized the trips I remembered most were not the loud ones.

They were the quiet moments in between the plans.

This year, I am choosing a different kind of travel. Not less meaningful, just more intentional.

These are the trips I am choosing now, and what they say about what I value most.

Choosing Presence Over Pace

I am no longer interested in rushing from one landmark to the next. I do not want my days measured by how much ground I covered or how many places I squeezed into a single afternoon.

This year, I am choosing trips that allow space.

Space to wake up slowly. Space to stay somewhere longer than planned. Space to notice how a place actually feels. Travel does not need to be fast to be fulfilling. Slower trips make room for details. The rhythm of a neighborhood. The way locals move through their day. The quiet moments that make a place feel lived in.

I want trips that feel experienced, not rushed through.

Fewer Destinations, Deeper Experiences

There was a time when traveling meant going as far as possible, as often as possible. Distance felt like an achievement.

Now, I care more about depth than distance.

I am choosing destinations where I can stay longer and do less. Places where familiarity becomes part of the experience, the same café every morning, the same walk in the evening, the same corner that starts to feel familiar.

When you stop trying to see everything, you start to actually see something.

These trips are not about novelty for novelty’s sake. They are about connection. To place, to routine, and to myself.

Comfort Is Part of the Plan

I used to believe that meaningful travel required discomfort. Tight schedules, constant movement, and treating rest like an afterthought.

That mindset has changed.

Now, comfort is intentional.

Choosing a quiet place to stay, allowing time to rest without guilt, leaving room in the itinerary for spontaneity or nothing at all.

Rest does not take away from the experience. It allows you to be more present, more curious, and more open to what unfolds naturally.

Letting Go of Performative Travel

There is a quiet pressure around travel to make it impressive, to document it perfectly, and to make it look aspirational from the outside.

I am letting that go.

Not every trip needs to be photogenic, and not every destination needs to be explained.

Some experiences are better when they are kept simple and personal.

Quiet adventures may not always look exciting online, but they feel grounding and real while you are living them.

A Different Kind of Adventure

Quiet adventures are not boring adventures. They are intentional ones.

They are the trips you return from feeling rested instead of depleted, the ones where memories linger because you had time to make them.

The ones that support your life instead of pulling you away from it.

The Quiet Takeaway

The best trips are the ones that leave room for connection. Moving at an unhurried pace creates space for real moments, easy conversations, and experiences that feel genuine rather than rushed.

I’ll be spending time in Minneapolis from January 17–19 and Atlanta from January 21–23. If our paths happen to cross and you’d like to spend some time together, I’d love that. Just let me know.

Sometimes, the most meaningful journeys are made even sweeter when they’re shared.