Welcome to Issue #013 of Sojourn. Each week, I share two original essays to help you slow down, reconnect, and rebuild with intention (hence ‘sojourn’), in a private community that uses travel as a path to reinvention.
THE OLD COMPASS
Most of us grew up with the same compass:
North, South, East, West.
We use it to chase destinations—Paris for art, Bali for beaches, Patagonia for awe.
But if we’re honest, this compass has always been external.
It points us to where to go, not why.
And when you’re in a season of reinvention, “where” doesn’t always help.
WHAT CHANGED FOR ME
After my own turning point, I realized the compass I really needed wasn’t geographic.
It was emotional. Intentional.
Instead of asking Where am I going? I started asking:
What do I want this journey to give me right now?
Some trips were about rest.
Some were about creating.
Some were about reconnecting — with myself, or with someone I love.
The shift wasn’t about plotting coordinates.
It was about choosing direction with meaning.
THE COMPASS OF INTENTION
So here’s the alternative compass:
Reset. Reconnect. Create. Heal. Transform. Belong. Celebrate.
These aren’t itineraries.
They’re invitations.
When you travel with intention, a mountain isn’t just a view — it’s a reset.
A city isn’t just a skyline — it’s a place to create.
A coastline isn’t just sand and water — it’s where belonging takes root.
This compass points inward as much as outward.
And the truth is, it works just as well at home as it does on the road.
HOW THIS APPLIES TO STARTING OVER
Reinvention works the same way.
The question isn’t always What’s next?
It’s What do I need most right now?
Do I need stillness?
Do I need connection?
Do I need courage to celebrate or clarity to reset?
The external path follows the internal one.
Always.
A COMPASS YOU CAN CARRY
Reinvention doesn’t come with a ready-made map. But it does come with better questions. Think of this section as a compass you can use when you’re unsure of direction. Instead of pointing North, it points inward—helping you notice what matters most. I’ve written these prompts so you can copy them into ChatGPT (or journal with them) and see what answers unfold.
Prompts:
“What intention best matches what I need right now: reset, reconnect, create, heal, transform, belong, or celebrate?”
“If I were to choose one place or practice aligned with that intention, what would it look like?”
“What could I carry home from that place to shift how I live after?”
The compass isn’t there to tell you where to go—it’s there to remind you why you’re going.
PLACES TO REDRAW YOUR COMPASS
If you want to practice this, choose a place not by location, but by intention:
Reset → Vigilius Mountain Resort, Italy: reachable only by cable car. The silence resets you before check-in.
Reconnect → São Lourenço do Barrocal, Portugal: meals led by farmers, stories around long tables. You return closer.
Create → Belmond La Residencia, Spain: artists in residence, workshops, and a studio you can step into.
Heal → Six Senses Vana, India: Ayurveda, Tibetan therapies, and routines that soften your nervous system.
Transform → Tierra Patagonia, Chile: vastness so wide it rearranges your priorities.
Belong → Fogo Island Inn, Canada: every chair, quilt, and detail tied to a local name and story.
THE SHIFT
Because in the end, a compass isn’t just about where you are on the map.
It’s about how you want to live after the journey.
So if you feel lost, maybe it’s not because you don’t know where to go.|It’s because you haven’t asked why you’re going.
When you shift the compass from geography to intention, reinvention stops being a faraway trip.
It becomes something you can navigate every day.
~Ana