Hello my beautiful community,

It’s Abby here, your sister in intentional living, motherhood, career balance, travels, and luxury lifestyle adventures. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that travel is more than just booking flights and snapping pretty pictures. For me, travel is about intention. It’s about pausing long enough to savor the beauty of new places, the richness of culture, and the deep lessons that adventures bring into our lives.

But I also know this: when you’re a busy woman juggling career goals, family responsibilities, and personal dreams, travel can easily slip into being another “task” on the list. Instead of being restful, it becomes rushed. Instead of being meaningful, it becomes stressful.

So today, I want to share with you my heart, my strategies, and my experiences on how to travel intentionally even when life is full of deadlines, school runs, and never-ending responsibilities. If I could do it, so can you.

What Does It Mean to Travel Intentionally?

Before we get into the “how,” let’s pause and reflect on the “what.”

Intentional travel means approaching every trip with purpose. It’s asking:

• What do I want to feel on this trip?
• How do I want to grow from this experience?
• How can this journey refresh me and connect me to my loved ones?

It’s the difference between rushing through a checklist of tourist attractions versus truly soaking in the rhythm of a place.

Intentional travel isn’t about how long you go or how far. It’s about how present you are while you’re there.

Why Busy Women Struggle With Intentional Travel

As women, especially mothers and career women, we often carry the weight of everyone else’s needs. We’re planners, nurturers, managers, and sometimes even the glue holding everything together.

So when it comes to travel, here’s what usually happens:

• Over-scheduling: Packing the itinerary so tight that the trip feels more exhausting than restorative.
• Guilt: Feeling bad for leaving work behind or for not being with family 24/7.
• Disconnection: Spending so much time capturing the trip for social media that we forget to actually live it.

Sound familiar? I’ve been there too. That’s why shifting to intentional travel has been such a game-changer for me.

Hack 1: Redefine What “Luxury” Means

Luxury isn’t always about five-star hotels or designer luggage. As a luxury lifestyle traveler, I’ve come to see luxury as freedom, time, and presence.

For you, luxury might mean:

• A quiet morning coffee in Paris without checking emails.
• Booking a hotel with childcare so you can sneak in a spa day.
• Choosing a destination that excites your soul rather than impresses others.

When you redefine luxury as intentional presence, every trip becomes richer, no matter the budget.

Hack 2: Plan With Boundaries, Not Just Itineraries

Yes, plan your trip, but plan with boundaries. For example:

• Work boundaries: Let colleagues know you’ll check emails only once a day (or not at all).
• Family boundaries: Divide responsibilities so you’re not the only one carrying the mental load.
• Personal boundaries: Protect time for activities that matter most to you, even if others want something different.

Boundaries create space for freedom. Without them, travel easily turns into chaos.

Hack 3: Less Is More

Intentional travel means slowing down. You don’t need to see ten landmarks in one day to “make the trip worth it.” Sometimes the magic is in doing less but experiencing more.

When I travel, I often choose just one or two main activities per day and leave the rest open for spontaneity. That way, I’m not stressed, and I allow space for unexpected joys like stumbling into a street performance, connecting with a local, or simply sitting by the beach with my children.

Remember: you don’t have to do it all. Doing less with intention is doing more with impact.

Hack 4: Involve Your Family in the Process

One way I make travel intentional as a mother is by involving my kids. Before we go anywhere, I ask them:

• What would you love to do?
• What kind of food do you want to try?
• What memory do you want to create?

This way, the trip isn’t just my vision, it becomes our shared experience.

And with my husband or loved ones, I do the same. We talk about what rest and connection look like for each of us. That way, nobody feels left out or overwhelmed.

Intentional travel is about shared joy, not just one person’s dream.

Hack 5: Protect Your Moments of Solitud

Even when traveling with family, I carve out pockets of solitude. It might be a sunrise walk, journaling in the hotel, or simply sitting quietly in a café.

Why? Because solitude gives me clarity. It allows me to reconnect with myself so I can pour more intentionally into others.

Mothers, wives, and busy women, we give so much. Protecting solitude while traveling helps us recharge in a way nothing else can.z

Hack 6: Capture Memories Intentionally

Here’s my truth: I love documenting my trips. But I had to learn not to let the camera rob me of the moment.

Now, I practice intentional capturing. This means I set aside specific times to take pictures and videos, then I put the phone away to simply live.

Because the best memories aren’t always the ones you post online, they’re the ones your heart carries.

Hack 7: Align Travel With Your Life Seasons

Not every trip will look the same. Some seasons allow for luxury getaways, others for local weekend escapes. And that’s okay.

Intentional travel means honoring your current season without comparison. If you’re balancing young kids and a demanding career, maybe a short wellness retreat nearby is what you need. If you’re entering a new season of freedom, maybe it’s that dream trip abroad.

Give yourself permission to travel differently at different times.

Hack 8: Bring Lessons Home With You

Here’s the most powerful part of intentional travel: it doesn’t end when the trip does.

Every trip has something to teach you. Maybe it’s patience, maybe it’s a new recipe, maybe it’s a reminder of how much you love simplicity. Bring that lesson home and let it shape your everyday life.

That’s how travel becomes transformative, it’s not just about where you went, but who you became along the way.

Final Thoughts: Travel as a Form of Self-Love

Dear sisters, traveling intentionally isn’t about being perfect. It’s about choosing presence over pressure, depth over distraction, and connection over chaos.

Whether you’re boarding a long-haul flight to Paris, road-tripping with your kids, or sneaking away for a weekend retreat, remember this: you deserve to travel in a way that nourishes your soul and aligns with your purpose.

Travel isn’t just an escape, it’s a sacred act of self-love.

So, the next time you pack your bags, don’t just think about where you’re going. Think about who you want to be when you return.

If I could create balance, even as a mother and career woman, you can too. And together. We’ll continue to make every journey intentional, purposeful, and unforgettable.