{"id":1421,"date":"2018-07-23T20:09:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T01:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workationwoman.com\/?p=1421"},"modified":"2022-05-16T20:13:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T01:13:13","slug":"setting-intention-family-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/workationwoman.com\/setting-intention-family-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Set an Intention for a Family Workation"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve written about how to choose the city<\/a> and neighborhood to live in<\/a> when taking your family on a digital nomad adventure, but for this post I want to take a step back and talk about something that will help you plan your workation AND survive it: Setting an intention.<\/p>\n If the idea living your life in another state or country is really exciting to you, that\u2019s awesome! But have you thought about WHY you want to workation? What\u2019s the core reason <\/strong>you want to go? What\u2019s your intention<\/strong>?<\/p>\n Why an intention is important Coming up with a workation intention Spend some time thinking about this; it might not come right away. Talk it over with your spouse\/partner or even your kids.<\/p>\n Next, write down your intention on a card. You may want to put it on your fridge so it\u2019s a constant reminder of what you\u2019re working toward. When you start feeling overwhelmed by the planning or when you get really nervous the day before you leave (I do!), come back to your intention.<\/p>\n My intention When we workation, we seek to live in a large, bustling city that\u2019s noisy, smelly, crowded, and rich in culture, diverse in people, and deep in history. We want to show our kids that different isn\u2019t scary; that it\u2019s fun and interesting to be surrounded by people who don\u2019t dress like you, look like you or speak like you. That making mistakes is ok and embracing the unknown can be fun.<\/p>\n In practice, flipping our lifestyle helps us narrow down the cities we choose to live in and what we do for fun on our workation. For example, we don\u2019t spend much time in rural areas. We expose ourselves to different foods and we rely on public transportation. We visit museums and outdoor markets. We\u2019re honest with our kids when we get lost or don\u2019t understand local customs. If we\u2019re faced with a decision about how to spend our money or time, we ask \u201cWhat\u2019s the opposite of our lifestyle at home?\u201d and choose that answer.<\/p>\n Spend some time thinking about your own intention for a workation or any type of trip. Then, when you run into problems like missing a museum you really wanted to visit, or having to switch child care, or dealing with mice in your house (all experiences we\u2019ve had), they become less important when you stay focused on your intention and the true meaning of your travels.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Setting an intention will help you quickly filter through the endless decisions for planning a workation: Where to live, when to go, where to work, what to do once you\u2019re there, etc. It will also help center you when the going gets tough; whether you hit a roadblock while planning or something goes wrong while you\u2019re traveling, coming back to your workation intention will remind you of WHY you\u2019re embarking on this adventure and what your core goals are.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Why do you want to become a temporary digital nomad with your family? What do you want to learn, experience or achieve? What do you hope to change or discover on the journey? For example:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>We live on 85 acres next to the Mississippi River. Our driveway is almost a mile long and our nearest neighbor is a half-mile away. Culturally and racially, it\u2019s a pretty homogeneous area. So our workation intention is always the same: to<\/strong> flip our lifestyle.<\/strong><\/p>\n