02/12/2026
Hot off the heels of my first trip to Mexico🇲🇽 , I stumbled across a really interesting article (thank you, Instagram geo-targeting) that helped me better understand why I love to travel so much.
To paraphrase: travel does much more than give you a break. It actually changes how your brain functions. Simply because your brain is forced out of autopilot and into active processing.
Now, I am by no means a neuroscience nerd, but once you start digging into this idea, it’s fascinating🤯. As humans, we thrive on routine. We like not having to make constant decisions because, for the most part, we know how our day will unfold. Our subconscious patterns take the wheel. God forbid we have to think too hard🙃😆.
And on the flip side of that comfort lies safety, security, and predictability — a different kind of happiness, I suppose. So I understand its place.
But I also love the mind-altering reset of being somewhere new✨.
There’s something freeing about being in a place where no one knows you — and you don’t yet know “it.” Where your social role is undefined, and what’s left feels a little closer to who you really are🩵
Navigating the unfamiliar builds my confidence. It sparks creativity💡 that follows me home. Seeing how others live deepens empathy and stretches perspective — all things necessary for growth and, honestly, what makes life feel fuller.
And it doesn’t have to be far or fancy (although I’d go back to Sayulita tomorrow😉). It just has to be different. The brain responds to change, not distance.
Moral of the story is I’m going to challenge myself to be more intentional about building mini-adventures into my calendar for 2026😎
And last but not least — can someone please tell me… does living in a warm climate by the ocean ever actually get old?!🌊☀️