The Meaning of Conscious Travel

Kamchatka, Russia. Matt Lim poses for a photo with Viktor, an Even woodsman in the forest. Matt Reichel.

We named Inertia Network after the invisible force that keeps objects unchanged. Inertia is our natural tendency to do nothing so that we can remain as we are. But life is about change. By radically shifting our perspective through travel, we have the ability to experience our lives in a whole new way.

Conscious travel is when you travel not so you can feel better, but so that you can get better at feeling. Being conscious isn’t always easy. Often, the meaningful moments in our lives come with some struggle.

We’re not the kind of vacation where you are given a Pina Colada by a chemically controlled pool, at a temperature controlled resort, where every inconvenience is handled by someone other than you.

Of course, these kinds of vacations are nice, but it’s not what we’re about.

Conscious travel is more about getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s facing your fear and deciding to go beyond that place and into something unfamiliar. Grab on to your intense feelings. The subtle ones too. They’ll bring you new experiences, new emotions, and new perspectives.

Sometimes it’s messy and we can’t understand what’s going on. Sometimes it means we’re swimming with the current and we receive more than we were expecting. It’s beautiful either way.

It’s the kind of beauty that disappears just as it arrived. Conscious moments can’t be captured on video or photographs - although we try. And they can’t be manufactured - we forget this. They happen when we make room for some magic - which we like to call a coincidence.

Consciousness needs to be experienced in the moment. These moments can come from an unexpected change of plan, a close encounter with disaster, or a fortunate meeting of two or more people.

Whatever the case, conscious moments leave us with small reminders that we’re alive. So enjoy.

We built this organization to share the journey with you. We aren’t your guides, although sometimes that’s the role we play. We aren’t doing this just for you, although you’re important to us. We wanted a vehicle to discover the world together.

To struggle together, to celebrate together but mostly to allow ourselves to be changed by one another.

If we’re lucky, travel changes us. My hope is when we travel we can leave some essence of ourselves behind - some good that reciprocates the transformation we were fortunate to have. Because when we travel consciously we don’t just share the journey with the people in our group, but also with the people whose cultures we visit. We can make a difference.

Inertia doesn’t need to be overcome through travel, it’s just the way we choose to invite change into our lives.

Life is better when we have people to share it with. When you’re ready.

I’ve saved you a seat.

-Matt Lim

Inertia Network 2021