Grief Travel
What Is Grief Travel? Grief travel may not be for everyone but traveling in general can give you amazing restorative and contemplative experiences.
I offer my own experiences to relate with people who do think a trip may help them process their grief. We all process grief differently and there is no right way. Some people travel for healing after loss to process their grief.
Maybe you want to just relax in nature and think about your lost one, cry while only the plants and animals are listening.
Maybe you want to go where your family is from, or see the places they once saw.
Maybe you want to have an active adventure, stay busy and think as little as possible.
Maybe you have no idea what you want or need and just want to be away from day-to-day life and have the option to do what you feel like doing in the moment.
I want to help. And I try to help by offering grief travel services to help you in your time of need. After all, we all need someone there for us in such a difficult time.
What does grief travel mean to me? Go where they went or where they never could go.
Most of us have lost someone way too soon. We know they had more experiences to have and more to give to this world. Unfortunately, they are no longer on this plain of existence.
I remember when I was ten years old, and my favorite cat died. I thought she was my best friend. Then I realized that death happens. At 10 my cat felt like the closest thing ever to me and I grieved her for a long time. Obviously, in some ways I still do because I am talking about her now.
I lost my grandfather, my mom’s best friend, my mom’s partner of 20 years very close together. My mom’s loss was bigger than mine, but I realized that is not the point of grief. You cannot compare your losses. We all grieve and we all grieve differently. I also realized quickly that she still grieved her mother that passed away 4 years before her father. What often helped her the most was just being there for her during those times and talking about the loved ones that we lost and the amazing times that we had together.
My mom passed away a year after her partner. Sometimes I think it was from grief. It wasn’t but I’ve always thought since then how terribly the western world deals with grief. We want to just have a funeral and move on. If the lost loved ones’ names are mentioned months or years later we often just grow still and quiet and not sure what to do.
I lost my mother 11 years ago and I still grieve for her. I will always miss her but at this point I just want and need to talk about her sometimes. It isn’t meant to be sad; I am trying to keep her memory alive. I want people who are close to me but never knew her to feel like they did through my stories. She was a person, she was important, she was my mother. But I know some people think, “God it’s been 11 years, is she okay? Why hasn’t she moved on from this?” The answer is, “Because you don’t” and that is okay and even healthy.
Don’t get me wrong it is the most difficult in the beginning, you know this shouldn’t have happened, you shouldn’t have lost them, it isn’t fair, why did God take her? All of the questions. As time passes you grow as a person, and you grow with your grief. You remember that person you love. Sometimes you remember the bad times and sometimes the good, but you experience those feelings that there is no need to suppress. Grief will always be with us. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.
I know that grief is a huge part of my spiritual journey. I used to hate dreams of my mom because I would wake up thinking she was there. Now I wake up and am happy she visited me in my dreams. I saw her smile and heard her voice in my dreams.
Nine years after my mom passed, I lost my father. It was rough. I am still dealing with his estate. When he passed away, I knew it would be hard, I had been here before. And with my sister, I traveled through my grief and continue to do so. Everyone I have lost is still with me.
So how do I experience grief travel?
My mother died before she got to have many travel experiences and at some point my father just stopped living and became a hermit. So, I choose to live for them. I choose to travel for them. My father traveled through the military, both of my grandfathers as well. My grandparents also continued to travel while retired and absolutely loved it. On my fridge is a picture of my grandparents in Mexico, my grandmother wearing a mariachi hat, and both with the biggest smiles. I recently went to Puerto Rico and remembered my grandmother falling in love with Puerto Rico. She even had a coqui pendant. I found an old postcard that my grandmother sent and knew exactly where it was.
I love to travel. I want to experience places no one in my family has ever been. I want to travel for my mom. I want to go to the places that my grandparents have been and think to myself, “I wonder what it looked like then?” and feel their spirits around me.
In 2018, my sister and I started doing just that and vowed to travel to one international place each year for ourselves and for our mom. We went to Spain, Paris, Ireland and then the pandemic put things on hold but now we are traveling again.
I now go to Costa Rica at least once or twice a year because I love it. It also happens to be the first place that I traveled to Internationally and I went with my father. Those are the best memories I have of my father. That experience shaped me and my whole life.
Embracing Healing Through Grief Travel
Grief can feel isolating, but it doesn’t have to be. Wellness travel for grief NC offers a way to step outside of your daily routine and immerse yourself in a setting that promotes healing and self-reflection.
Whether you’re seeking solace in nature, the comfort of a familiar place, or the adventure of the unknown, grief travel packages for healing are designed to help you find the right experience for your needs.
As a grief travel planner NC, USA, I focus on creating custom grief travel itineraries USA that align with your personal journey. Each itinerary is crafted to honor your loved one’s memory while also giving you the time and space to connect with your own emotions. Memorial travel planning USA can be as unique as the bond you shared.
For those in need of more structured support, healing travel experiences NYC, USA offer planned grief travel itineraries that take you on a journey to healing from the loss you are navigating. These experiences can be a powerful way to share stories, release pent-up emotions, and find moments of peace amidst the chaos of grief.
Wherever you choose to go, remember that grief travel isn’t just about the destination – it’s about giving yourself the permission to feel, reflect, and heal in a way that feels right for you.