Happy Sunday!

There is a moment that happens on every trip. Usually, when no one is taking pictures. It is the moment between “what is next” and “where am I?” The moment when your hand reaches for your phone, your mind reaches for a familiar thought… and you get to choose what you reach for instead.

Most people think the big turning points come with big announcements. Actually, they are often smaller: a pause. A breath. A decision that lasts three seconds and changes the rest of the day.

Here is the idea I have been thinking a lot about lately:

You cannot control what shows up in your mind. Though you can control what you create space for, build a room for.

Some thoughts softly knock. Some thoughts come barging in. And some thoughts, you unknowingly furnish. You set out a chair. You offer them tea. You let them stay too long.

That is what I want to talk about. The hospitality you offer your thoughts.

Relationships are not only the ones you have with other people. They are also the ones you keep with old versions of yourself. The self who is still trying to explain something, prove something, undo something, or get a verdict that never came.

When you travel, you encounter different light. Different sounds. A different pace. And then, poof! Your usual “mental roommate” does not have as much control over the whole house.

I have watched it happen in real time.

A guest once told me, “I’m afraid I’ll take the same problem with me.” At first, that is true. Then, a place begins to offer you something different, physically different. Your feet adjust to uneven ground. Your eyes learn a new horizon line. You listen more attentively because you do not have the same context clues. Without realizing it, you stop building the room.

You start living in the part of you that can respond to what is real and happening now.

So here is the invitation:

The Practice: Change the Door

When a familiar thought shows up. The one that usually takes you away. Do not argue with it, analyze or chase it out. Just change the door you walk through.

Step 1 - Name the "door"​
In one sentence, identify what your mind is trying to pull you into.

"This is the door where I try to rewrite what happened."
"This is the door where I try to get an answer I can't get."
"This is the door where I audition for someone's approval."

Step 2 - Choose a different door (a physical one)
​Pick one immediate action that creates a new sensory input. Something concrete.

Wash your hands and notice the sensation.
Step outside and feel the temperature for ten seconds.
Walk to a window and find one thing you did not notice before.

What you are doing is reminding your nervous system: “I live here, not there.”

Step 3 - Give your attention an assignment

Ask one question that belongs to the present moment:
​
"What's one thing I can do in the next five minutes that respects my life?"
Then do that one thing.
Ask: “What now feels different?”

That is it. The whole practice. It may seem small or too easy. In reality, it is deep and often what works.

Photo Op + Action Opportunity: What You Almost Missed

Photo Op

Take a photo of something ordinary the moment you come back to yourself. Could be:

The chair you sat in when you finally exhaled.
The sidewalk where your pace changed.
The corner of a café where you stopped rushing.
Your shoes after you chose the walk.
Your hand on a doorknob—because you chose a different door.

Action Opportunity

Under the photo, write three lines:

“I was about to walk through the door of __________.”
“I returned when I __________.”
“Next time, I will make it easier by __________.”

This becomes a personal field guide. Not for perfect days. For the ones you are actually living.

Journeys Designed for the Return

If you are feeling ready to translate this practice into lived experience, this is where I would begin.

For those drawn to a sacred space →
Take a Shot at Happiness Nepal

Dec 8–14, 2026 | 7 Days | All-Inclusive

Sacred sites, daily rituals, mountain air, and a grounded rhythm. Let me guide you through mindful practices and reflections that help you choose what comes next without forcing a “perfect ending.”

This journey tends to call people who are standing at a threshold and know it is time to choose what comes next. People often come to an experience like this when they know they do not want to carry the same questions into another year.

Limited to 16 guests

See How This Journey Unfolds →

Other Ways People Choose to
Travel This Year

Not every season calls for the same kind of journey. These experiences are offered for inspiration and each speaks to a different way people reset their attention.

Celebrating the Artisan

For travelers drawn to craft, conservation, and human connection through making.

National Geographic–Lindblad Expeditions is supporting artisans where travel, conservation, and handcraft meet.

I am always looking for the small details that make a trip feel personal. The kind of detail that connects you to a place in a real way, not a surface way.

On board, Global Galleries is a thoughtfully curated collection of artisan-made pieces—jewelry, textiles, ceramics, and other handcrafted work—sourced from regions you visit, plus a few you may still be dreaming about.

What I appreciate is that this is not a souvenir table. These pieces come from real makers and real traditions. A portion of proceeds supports Lindblad Expeditions’ Artisan Fund (launched in 2007), which helps provide training, workspaces, equipment, and educational opportunities for local artisans.

On select expeditions, including voyages in the Galápagos and the Amazon, you may even meet some of the artisans whose work is featured on board. That is when your awareness shifts. You stop thinking about what you bought and start thinking about who made it, how they learned, and what their craft carries forward.

View NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC–LINBLAD EXPEDITIONS →

PONANT EXPLORATIONS
Voyages in Alliance with Smithsonian Journeys

For those who want intellectual depth and historical perspective woven into exploration.

These voyages are expedition travel with Smithsonian journey experts on board. The experience broadens your perspective on people, history, and places.

Learn More About PONANT Voyages →

Monaco Race Weekend Reimagined

For those who reset through intensity, immersion, and singular focus.

Monaco delivers intensity, beauty, and pure adrenaline. This experience is curated so you can stay present for the weekend rather than manage logistics. It is a powerful pattern interrupt: high focus, total immersion, then a clean return to ease. If your mind has been stuck on the same story, this kind of concentrated, sensory experience can reset your attention fast.

View Experience Monaco Race Weekend→

A Note on My Guided Journeys

For the journeys I personally host, your experience does not end when you fly home. Your trip includes my happiness online course Take a Shot at Happiness: A Happiness Explorer’s Journey (a $997 value) to support how you integrate what you noticed once you are back in regular life.

Why Travel with Me

I pay attention to how people arrive in a place—and how they leave it. What they notice once they finally have space again, and what becomes unnecessary when their attention returns to the present.

This is travel for people who care about how their time is spent and which moments stay.

Your fellow Sojourner,

Maria Baltazzi, PhD, MFA​
​Happiness Explorer | Wellbeing Teacher
Founder of Sojourn Explorers​
Award-Winning Author, Take a Shot at Happiness
​ Emmy-Winning Producer

P.S.: I write this newsletter for people who love travel and who care about how it changes them. These notes are part of an ongoing conversation about how we travel and how we return. Each issue includes a simple practice inspired by my book Take a Shot at Happiness—photography and a few lines of writing—to help you notice what is worth keeping.

If someone came to mind as you read this, feel free to forward it.

If you are reading this because a friend shared it—welcome. I send this newsletter twice a month.

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