Hello happiness seekers. My name is Claudia. Welcome to the summer break at the Happiness Challenge. Summer break is all about short, practical episodes inspired by the science of happiness to help you rest, reset and rediscover happiness. This summer break, whether you are traveling near or far, let's talk about how mindfulness can help you truly savior the journey and connect with others along the way. So let's dive in. Let's. I love traveling and travel is full of new sights, sounds and experiences, and those are perfect ingredients for our happiness. But I also think it's very easy for us to rush through or get distracted. I often would come back from traveling thinking, oh my God, that's really felt like five minutes. And I think it's often it's because it's quite packed and we just notice really paying attention to the present moment that often mindfulness help us to really tune in and fully experience each moment, making our travel more joyful, but also memorable. There is absolutely growing body of research around mindful travel, and that research shows that mindful practices can really enhance our satisfaction with holidays. So, so how overall we are satisfied with them. Mindful practices can also foster deeper connection with nature and local cultures because we're slowing down and really trying to connect. And they can even promote pro environmental behaviors because we are more mindful of our choices. So here are five. Here are three very simple mindfulness practices for your next trip that I really incorporating in my travels. Number one is mindful arrival. So when you arrive somewhere new, pause for a moment, notice the smell, the color sounds, how your body feels. It's almost like taking a briefer and yes, we have arrived. Number two is sensory check in. So again, when you're moving about, when you're doing different things across your day, across your travel, at any point, simply ask yourself, what can I see, see, hear, smell, touch right now? That really brings us down to the present moment, really help us to reconnect with our body. It's a great micro rest moment. And the third, third one, slow down by taking a deep breath before maybe some peak experiences like before your meal, before your walk, before sightseeing, just really take few, few deep breaths to really let yourself absorb the experience and kind of enter the experience from that space of I'm here and I'm really concentrating what's in front of me. And of course, travel is also a wonderful time to connect with other people and connect with our loved ones. For my recent travel to Portugal, I bought the travel therapy pack of cards released by the School of Life and the Pack includes simple questions to spark interesting conversations about the place that you are traveling in. And my husband and we absolutely loved it. I mean we literally spent hours and hours discussing those cards over a nice meal in the restaurant or when we were shoring on the beach. And I must say it was actually a big contrast, especially in restaurants, to many couples who we have encountered around us who would eat their nice meals whilst being on the phone. So again, I think when we're on holiday to really experience the travel to the fullest is to have conversations. And also research shows that when we describe something to other people, we will later on remember it more vividly foreign. So here are some questions for you to spark meaningful conversations with your loved ones. I have five for you to choose from. One is what's been your favorite moment of this trip so far? Describe it with as much detail as possible. Number two, what's something new you've discovered about yourself on this journey? So quite reflective. 1. Number three, if you would be writing a novel set in this destination, what would it be about and what might happen here? I think quite playful question and that's what we really have spent quite a long time discussing. Number four, how can you change your life in line with something you have seen here? So maybe you have seen something that's. Oh, that'd be very nice to incorporate as part of my routine. Number five, if you were a tour guide here and you could show people anything at all, what might you want to show them? I think again, really interesting question of what stands out for us when we travel to a new destination. Now if you are traveling solo, you could still absolutely use those questions and you could use those questions to journal your answers at the end of the day to capture your memories more vividly and again, have fun and be playful about your answers. So I very much dare you to try weaving mindfulness and connection in your next travel day. You may find that the real joy really comes from being truly present. And really it will be incredible for you to later on come back from holidays and really reflect on on how much you can remember from the travel and whether it is more vivid because you paused more often during your adventures. So thank you so much for listening. I wish you a wonderful summer adventures wherever you're traveling. Now, before I say bye, a big request to all of you. The pre orders of my book, the Alphabet of Happiness are now in the full swing. And the pre orders, they don't just make me happy, of course, they make me really happy and excited. But it's not only that they actually make a real difference. And the more preorders the Alphabet of Happiness receives, the more likely bookshops are going to stock it in a physical format on their bookshelves. And therefore I can reach even more people and share my insights on the science of happiness. So if you are considering picking up a copy, now is truly, truly the best time. Every single pre order counts. If you already pre ordered massive thank you. And if you would like to pre order you can head to my website thehappinesschallenge.co.uk you will find there a description of the book and you will also find there the list of all online booksh where you can pre order your copy. So thank you all for listening. Thank you all for your support. I see you at the next episode. Bye.