Be a Mindful Traveler

The recent rapid growth of global tourism brings the opportunity for more and more people to experience the wonders of travelling. Simultaneously, travelling affects the quality of the experiences and the impact on nature and communities.

Tourism is essential for many cities and regions across the world. According to recent statistic, the 1.5 billion international trips and 13 billion domestic trips that take place every year are concentrated in the most popular countries and regions. The top 20 destination countries alone (Romania is not included, of course) account for 59% of all international trips taken within these countries. As a result, the world’s top destinations – like Venice, Rome, Barcelona, Machu Picchu, Bali, Paris, London, Taj Mahal –  face the risk of over tourism with a negative impact on both residents and tourists themselves.

Tourists’ experiences are being degraded by overcrowding, long queues and the commerce spirit. Over tourism brings environmental degradation, too. Unfortunately, the travel experience has changed enormously, and in so many ways, that it can even be bad for peoples’ physical and mental health.

While travelling, more and more people wish to experience wonder and find their inspiration. They want to explore, try, discover, relax and even detox from technology and daily stress. Of course, mass tourism, makes it difficult to develop slow travel and mindful tours with space for quiet contemplation.

A recent Columbia University study of business travelers found that frequent travel is associated with many health risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, lack of physical activity, smoking, alcohol dependence, trouble sleeping, anxiety, and depression. Another study found that leisure travelers are happier while planning and anticipating their trips, but are not generally any happier than non-vacationers back home, after their trips. 

Last year, after struggling with years of health and emotional issues, I discovered that spending more time in nature, trying forest bathing, meditation and yoga could really help me. Thus, I realized that nature, mindful activities and my cultural tours can mingle in a perfect combination creating new amazing experiences.

If nature and mindfulness helped me, they can definitely help my guests. Hence, I started to organize a few mindful hikes including: slow hiking, forest bathing, guided meditation, sound-healing and grounding. It was a wonderful experience for me and my tourists.

But being a mindful traveler doesn’t mean to necessarily do yoga or meditation. Being a mindful traveler means that you choose primarily off the beaten path tours. You choose place and experiences that are not mainstream. You try outdoor activities, explore nature, visit cultural places and integrate within the local community. Mindful travelers are curious to explore, learn and try the local food.

Our main goal is to improve the quality of tourism promoted in our region and diversify our offer to build resilience and support local sustainability.

Apart from our main products (cultural walking tours, cultural and theme day trips, hiking tours) we also integrate new tours like single/multi day mindful retreats that include accommodation in sustainable, eco-friendly rural places, mindful hikes, forest bathing, yoga sessions, spa sessions, grounding, meditation all of them combined with local cultural visits, a healthy culinary experience.

New wellness travel trends for 2024 – here

Our vision for travelling

Our vision is multidimensional, as we try to interconnect more areas:

• physical: nourishing a healthy body through healthy nutrition, good sleep in innovative locations, hiking, slow walks in nature, forest bathing, yoga etc
• mental: local culture and civilization experiences (promoting heritage, art, history)
• emotional and spiritual: mindful walks, meditation, grounding,
• social: connecting and engaging with the local communities in meaningful ways, involving the local people in various experiences, trying local crafts and food
• environmental: wildlife/ bird watching, biodiversity tours, foraging, sky gazing

Let us know what you’d like to visit and do in the region of Sibiu and we can tailor the perfect experience! Try a different vacation, be a mindful traveler!