Are you a nomad, road warrior, someone always attempting to make hotels your home away from home?  Me too!

For almost 5 years, I have spent an average of 9 months of the year away from my home and my familiar bed.  As a Tour Director, Travel Planner and Adventuress, I typically sleep in a different bed every night with two sleeps on the same pillow being a luxury.

It is this constant travel that fuels my soul and happiness but I always found myself missing home during bedtime and the early mornings until I established four rituals that make any space feel like home no matter where I am resting my head.

I noticed all hotels, AirBNB’s and hostels use different detergents and the inconsistency of scent never allowed me to feel relaxed.  That all changed when I came across Aura Cacia aromatherapy spray for the room and body! I almost never go to sleep without my lavender pillow spray now. This minor act coupled with my next bedtime ritual that has me fast asleep.

This ritual has changed my sleep life! I use to listen to a white noise playlist on Spotify but found it no longer working to send me into dreamland. The Calm app’s adult bedtime stories have the 5-year-old in me feeling super mellow within 2 minutes, and typically asleep well before the 12-20 minute story concludes.

This is where Calm has me feeling even more chill and ready for the day.  After a peaceful night’s sleep in lavender dreamland, I immediately stretch and then use this wonderful app again to start my daily meditation. They have a meditation for anxiety, peaceful starts to the day, resilience, and body scans. The meditations last anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour. I usually practice 10 minutes and then bounce into getting ready for the day.

I’m big on multitasking and love listening to inspirational and happy music intelligent words in the morning in place of the negative news that plagues the TV screens. I have curated my own list of podcasts and Spotify playlists to start my morning off right as I get dressed for my day of exploring and working.

Each morning I select one depending on my mindset, the theme or region I am traveling in or personal interests of the day. My current favorites are Melissa Ambrosini, How I Built This, and TED Radio Hour. There are thousands of podcasts on all topics to choose from, I am sure you’ll find something to brighten your morning.

Adding these rituals into my day has allowed me to feel more familiar with the unfamiliar spaces which translate to a happier traveler! I hope you find these rituals helpful. If you have some of your own, please share them below! I’d love to try them out!