Travel by Design | August Newsletter

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

— Oliver Wendell Holmes

Travel isn’t just a change of scenery. It’s a portal.

The moment you leave home, you step away from the routines, the environments, and the little comforts that make up your daily conditioning. Suddenly you’re navigating unfamiliar streets, new cultures, unplanned detours, and a hundred small decisions you never have to think twice about in your regular day-to-day.

And when you’re dropped into that much novelty and uncertainty, something kind of magical happens…

The parts of you that you’ve learned to lean on aren’t available anymore. The unhealthy habits you didn’t even know you had become impossible to miss. The places where you’re forcing, controlling, people-pleasing, or abandoning yourself get so much louder.

Travel becomes a mirror.

It reflects back all the things that are too easy to ignore in the blur of everyday life. It stretches your perspective — reminding you that there are infinite ways to live, work, parent, create, and connect. It inspires you. And it builds a quiet confidence, because every unfamiliar situation you navigate reinforces the same truth: you can figure it out.

It deepens your relationship with your intuition. When the familiar disappears, your body becomes one of the only reliable compasses you have left.

I used to travel constantly — for work, for fun, for weddings, for just about any excuse I could find. These days it’s far less frequent, and it looks quite different. (Traveling with two young kids is its own kind of adventure… and living halfway around the world from my family means a lot of our trips aren’t exactly optional.) And yet, that part hasn’t changed: travel still stretches me and grounds me more deeply into my own intuition. It always will.

How far in advance should we head to the gate? Which restaurant will actually work for our family tonight? Do we do the excursion today or tomorrow? What do the kids need — an unscheduled afternoon, or an early dinner and bed? Do we walk or take a taxi? Do we push through, or call it and head back to the room?

Every decision becomes an opportunity to strengthen the connection to my strategy and authority—whereas at home, it’s too easy to default to autopilot.

(Also because these decisions have to be made FAST so you quite literally CANNOT run a mental pros/cons analysis…or you’ll miss the flight and the kids will be melting down!)

So whether you’re in a season where travel means camping on the beach a few miles from home, or you’re jetting off to Europe for the summer, I believe understanding your Human Design can help you get even more out of any adventure. And this month, I’m going to show you how.

As always, I’ll be sharing weekly masterclasses throughout the month, along with a live Q&A. If you want access to those deeper teachings and conversations, make sure you’re a paying subscriber.

One of the longest — and ultimately most transformative — trips I’ve ever taken was at the beginning of 2020. Right before the world shut down.

My husband and I spent six weeks traveling through Singapore, Bali, and Australia. Most of that time was spent living in a little village nestled in the mountains and rice fields of Bali, called Ubud.

It was a dream trip. We’d been planning and talking about it for years.

We rented a beautiful villa, neither of us had to work (he was in between jobs, I took a sabbatical following an almost-burnout), and we had complete freedom to spend our days however we wanted.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself feeling everything but elated that first week.

Even writing that feels a little embarrassing, because on paper I was in paradise. I was waking up every day in one of the most beautiful places in the world, next to the person I loved most, and our only “agenda item” was to explore and enjoy each other.

And yet… I missed my kitchen. I missed my yoga studio. I missed my friends. I even missed my work a little. (The very thing I’d so desperately wanted to escape.)

At the time, I couldn’t understand why. Looking back, I think part of it was that we weren’t simply on vacation — we were temporarily living somewhere else. That had been the intention. To settle somewhere, rather than travel around constantly.

But no matter how hard I tried to love it…I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.

Fast forward 3 weeks, however—and I didn’t want to leave. I could have stayed another 6 months!!!

The environment didn’t.

I did.

I found my favorite yoga shala. I discovered the coffee shops I’d return to every morning. I figured out what I liked to eat for breakfast each day (the key for Open Taste digestion!). I made a couple of local expat friends. I signed up for a Reiki course. I built a daily rhythm that felt like me.

And perhaps most importantly, I found things that excited me enough that I wanted to work on them — even while I was technically on sabbatical.

The “little side project” I started working on in Ubud became my Human Design business. And looking back, I don’t think it was a coincidence.

There was something about being removed from my everyday life — and the conditioning that had shaped who I was there — that gave me permission to see myself differently. More clearly. More authentically. Away from my corporate job, my familiar routines, and everyone who knew me as the practical, ambitious consultant, I suddenly had space to explore another side of myself.

The intuitive, curious, soft, feminine side.

The part of me that had always been fascinated by the “woo” but had never quite given herself permission to take it seriously.

That’s the portal travel facilitates!

I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened if I hadn’t taken that trip.

I probably still would’ve discovered Human Design. But I’m not sure I would have had the courage to build a business around it.

Now, considering the whole experience through the lens of my human design, I recognize why those first couple of weeks felt so uncomfortable.

My 1-line and Caves Environment needed a sense of safety and familiarity before I could truly land. My left-facing variable arrows craved daily structure and routine. And as a Generator, I wanted something meaningful to pour my life-force into — vacation or no.

What I judged at the time as being zero-chill, unadventurous, or bad at “going with the flow,” I now recognize as simply part of my wiring.

If I planned a similar trip today, I'd probably feel the same discomfort in those early days — but this time I'd anticipate it. I would know exactly where it was coming from and some of the small things I could do to support myself through it.

Not because it was Bali. But because it created enough distance from my everyday identity — and dropped me somewhere unfamiliar enough that I had no choice but to lean on my own inner guidance. And in that quiet, I could finally hear what had been calling me all along.

So this month, we’re not just going to talk about how to plan a trip your future self will thank you for. We’re going to explore how to turn travel into an experience that deepens your alignment.

Because the most memorable trips aren’t the ones to the most far-flung or postcard-worthy destinations. They aren’t necessarily the “bucket list” ones either.

They’re the trips that challenge you to become a little more you.

Your profile is one of my favorite chart aspects to consider when it comes to travel because it describes how you’re designed to move through the world, contribute your gifts, and interact with others in the most natural and fulfilling way.

So below, I’ve shared some specific examples of how to curate your next trip based on your profile lines.

If you’re new to Human Design, you can find your profile in the chart properties section when you generate a free Human Design chart. You have two “lines” (this is how we refer to these numbers) and they’ll be listed with a / in between—i.e., 5/1, 2/4, 3/6.

Treat each list as a permission slip, not a prescription. You may not relate to every item—since your travel style is a nuanced interplay between multiple chart elements—and you don’t need to. Just notice the ones that make sigh or laugh-out-loud—and file that tidbit away for your next adventure.

• You’ve researched your destination beforehand.

• You’ve read way too many hotel reviews (and have zero regrets).

• You’ve studied the map and have a lay of the land before you even arrive.

• You’ve already pinned 27 restaurants on Google Maps.

• You’ve asked three friends for recommendations—and compared their lists to travel blogs and Claude’s suggestions.

• You packed for every possible weather forecast.

• You know how you’re getting from the airport to your hotel.

• You’ve downloaded offline maps, audiobooks, and workouts “just in case.”

• You’re intentional about where you stay and choose accommodations that genuinely feel like you.

• You build quiet mornings or afternoons into the itinerary.

• You don’t feel obligated to spend every waking minute with your travel partner(s).

• You have opportunities to wander without a destination.

• You find some local “favorites” (i.e., cafés, parks) and keep going back.

• You stumble into the hidden bookstore, tiny gallery, or neighborhood market.

• You spend time with locals instead of only tourists.

• You say yes to experiences that weren’t part of the original plan.

• You leave room for spontaneous detours and try to get to your destination without Google maps or a driver.

• You try the restaurant with no reviews simply because it smells incredible when you walk by.

• You try something you’ve never done before.

• You take the scenic route.

• You book the excursion last minute because someone at the hotel recommended it.

• You judge the trip based on stories collected vs. boxes checked.

• You let curiosity lead.

• You visit an old friend who lives nearby or enroute to your destination.

• You ask your inner circle for their favorite local spots and send them pictures when enjoying them.

• You stay with people or at Airbnb’s instead of hotels when it feels aligned.

• You eat where the locals eat.

• You become a regular at the café on the corner.

• You build new connections—not just memories.

• You ask your host or the concierge for a list of important phone numbers “just in case”.

• You prioritize personal recommendations over guidebooks.

• You don’t overpromise what you’ll organize or coordinate.

• You’ve packed the medicine, chargers, adapters, and backup chargers. Oh, and downloaded the tickets on your phone.

• You leave room to enjoy the trip instead of managing it.

• You’re keeping tabs on all your favorite spots so you can share them with others in the future.

• You know where to go or who to contact if something goes wrong.

• You solve little problems before they become big ones.

• You let people have their own experience—even if you'd do it differently.

• You travel with people who appreciate your resourcefulness without depending on it.

• The trip has meaning beyond the destination.

• You spend more time experiencing and savoring than checking boxes.

• You stay somewhere long enough to actually understand it.

• You build in days with no agenda.

• You record and/or reflect on what you’re learning from the trip in a journal, through photos, the Notes app on your phone, or a memory palace.

• You strike up conversations with people whose lives look completely different from yours.

• You allow the experience change you and your perspective.

• You choose awe over efficiency.

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