By Dr Charlotte Russell, Clinical Psychologist

Whilst 2021 was definitely NOT the greatest year ever, it was the year in which The Travel Psychologist project was created. Starting the website was an idea that I’d originally had whilst travelling around the Greek Cyclades islands in 2019 but for various reasons that wasn’t the right time. Flash-forward two years and a global pandemic and I was seriously missing travel. When I finally got away, it was to Funchal in Madeira. This wasn’t my first choice of

destination, however it felt incredible to be somewhere new. I was at a point in my life where I needed a project to focus on, and I immediately set up the website during my quarantine period at home. The rest is history, as they say.

I didn’t have a clear plan about what I was going to write, other than it being about travel and well-being, but it all just seemed to flow. Now here we are six months on. So I’ve put together a roundup of where we are and what I’ve learned so far:

Articles 

My ever blog post was titled  Is travel really a frivolous activity?  At the time travel was being painted in the media as somewhat unnecessary and I wanted to question this, and to explore whether travel can be helpful for our well-being rather than being a luxury. The thing that strikes me having written quite a few articles is that we are all so different and all have had different ways of dealing with the unprecedented situation that covid brought. For many of us, especially for those for whom travel has been a major coping strategy or an important part of who we are, it has been tough. That’s not to say it hasn’t been tough for other people, it of course has been. However it is important to acknowledge that suddenly losing a key factor in our well-being can have a big impact.

In the summer I wrote about  Expectations and holidays  and  intentional travel) . The theme running through both of these is that if we are going to be travelling less following the pandemic, how can we make the most of our travel experiences? Can we find a balance between being clear about what we want to gain from our trips, but not so rigid that it prevents us from enjoying our time away. These articles were thought provoking to write and I hope they had the same effect for you as readers.

Personality is always a huge topic and in July I wrote about Travel & Personality. Whilst writing I realised how interesting this area is and how much could be written. I can’t wait to explore this more in 2022!

The next series of articles I wrote were focused on the theme of how travel might help with certain aspects of our well-being and enable us to build on our strengths. So far these have focused on  personal growth ,  curiosity,  and  creativity and well-being . I have also looked at how travel may help to get us out of a rut and awaken our  appetite for life.

Summary

On a personal level, I have realised that I really enjoy writing and using my creativity when working on the Travel Psychologist project. It has been great to be able to focus a project during these uncertain times. I hope you enjoy the content we have produced and find the articles useful and thought provoking. Thanks so much for reading the blog and I’d really love to hear any thoughts you may have on what we’ve written so far or any ideas you may have for us for 2022.

Best Wishes for 2022 and let’s hope it brings us all lots of adventures!