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The Magical Power of Travel to Heal

Do you remember what happened the last time someone said, “Let’s take a trip to name your last trip”? Did your mind immediately begin picturing the locale, the things you would do there, the delicious foods you would eat?

How did that make you feel? Did your mood immediately improve? Did your mind start to plan what you would need to pack, how you would travel, the time frame of your journey? Did it make you happy to have something special to look forward to?

Do you see how quickly your mindset starts to shift into planning and logistics mode and your spirits start to lift? You can hardly wait to start packing and get on the road. The healing power of travel can begin even before you leave!

There are many ways travel can be therapeutic to both body and mind. It doesn’t have to be a long trip; an overnight stay or a weekend away can do wonders for your spirits. A massage, a spa day, a dip in the hot tub or a trip to a mineral spring can be relaxing and healing to body and mind. Go ahead, spoil yourself a little!

Going to a different location, whether around the corner or around the world, gets you out of your comfort zone and into a more open state where you are more observant and more present to the new sights, sounds, smells and tastes around you.

This opens your mind to new insights, new inspiration and increased creativity. It helps you reinvent yourself because you can view your life more objectively and reflect on your goals, principles and values. As you meet new people and interact with new cultures, even within your own country, you have the opportunity to reassess, and perhaps change, your views.

Simply getting away from home and work pressures, leaving behind everyday chores can relieve a mountain of stress. Studies show that it can actually lower your blood pressure and slow your heart rate.

If you have emotional trauma or wounds that need to heal, time away can get you out of your past, into the present and gives you a “neutral” space in which to evaluate your situation and perhaps release negative feelings that no longer serve you. You can make plans to change your situation when you return home.

Travel also builds self-confidence, particularly if you’re traveling alone. Sometimes you must deal with a language barrier, sometimes there are travel mishaps like bags becoming lost or missed flight connections. As you deal with and overcome these challenges you increase your belief that you can handle difficulties in your life back home.

All this problem solving, getting out of your routine and experiencing new things actually rewires your brain, building new neural pathways. It lets you think about the world in new and different ways. Data show that travelers, those who take more time off from work, are actually more likely to receive raises and promotions than those who keep their noses to the grindstone, shunning vacations.

It matters where you go. Certain places have a mystique about them, a “soul” that touches you in a special way. Perhaps it is the spirit of creativity in a place like Santa Fe, New Mexico or a sense of being at home that some feel in Scotland or the haunting of lost civilizations in the Four Corners area and South America or the awareness of history in Europe. These are experiences to be savored and treasured.

Finally, you should strive to bring something of your travels home with you to incorporate into your life. Maybe you love French or Italian food. Take a cooking class on your trip and bring the recipes home. Maybe you want to learn a little of a new language. If you did yoga or exercised more on your trip, keep that up when you get back. If you took time for breakfast while away continue it, at least on weekends, after you return. In this way you can keep the healing benefits of your travels alive long after you get back.

This post (sans images) was written as part of a collaborative blog post with several other authors. You can read the entire blog post here.

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Portraits of the British Royals

The day after the Ida O’Keefe exhibit in Dallas, I drove to Houston to visit the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. It was the last day for their Portraits of the Royals exhibit. I’m so glad I went! In addition to fabulous portraiture, beginning with King Henry VII, the exhibit was a visual history lesson! The signage that accompanied the portraits was very informative, giving relationships to other portraits along with personal details. Some were quite juicy!

I was intrigued to learn that Queen Victoria was a HUGE fan of publishing family photographs. She often had them made into postcards for distribution and sent them to family and friends with personal notes. And I was reminded that the current royal family, the Windsor’s are not, in fact, English, nor was their name Windsor. It was changed to that after World War I because they are actually German, which at the time was not, how shall I say, fashionable.

Apparently we were not allowed to take photographs in that exhibit because I have exactly none. Nor does the museum have any photos. I checked.

However, we could take photos in other parts of the museum, so I snapped a couple of pics of Maria Martinez’ pottery because it is just so outstanding. She is, hands down, one of my favorite artists.

Pottery by Maria Martinez at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston
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Ida O’Keefe, the Other Art Talent in the Family

In January of 2019, I went on an art adventure. I left my home and drove to Dallas to visit the Dallas Museum of Art. They had an exhibit of Ida O’Keefe works. Who knew Georgia had a sister who was also an artist — actually she had two artist sisters: Ida and Catherine. But this exhibit was all about Ida.

Ida led a fascinating and varied life. She was a nurse and a teacher who wrote and illustrated books she printed herself for her classes. She also taught art and studied under other artists every chance she got.

As a single woman during the Depression, her resources and choices were limited. She worked very hard and moved around the country a lot, but she never lost sight of her identity as an artist.

All of these paintings are of the same lighthouse. Over time the images became more and more abstract.

I purchased this book, Ida O’Keefe: Escaping Georgia’s Shadow, from the museum, but you can pick it up from Amazon. In full disclosure, if you purchase through that link I will earn a small commission which I will appreciate very much and that helps me continue posting about my travels.

I am not a huge fan of Art Deco or Abstract art, but I was fascinated by the evolution of Ida’s work that was clearly displayed in the exhibit. And I was impressed that she actually printed her own textbooks for her classes. Another striking comparison was between Ida’s art and Georgia’s. There were a couple of comparison examples there. One was a famous painting of Georgia’s of a seashell. In her painting that’s all there is, the shell. In Ida’s painting of the same still life, you see the shell in its surroundings, quite a charming scene.

Both Ida and Catherine were talented artists but Georgia let it be known that there was only room for one artist in the family and she was it. Sadly, Catherine gave up painting altogether, but Ida was not to be deterred. She left home and continued to practice her art for her whole life. Lacking a powerful sponsor like Alfred Stieglitz, she struggled become known and have her art promoted but she did not let that stop her either.

The next day I drove to Houston to visit the Museum of Fine Arts Houston with my sister. I’ll write a separate post about that experience.