Soul-expanding travel — yes, even during this challenging moment — can do wonders to expand what I call your “inner wealth portfolio.”
While a traditional wealth portfolio breaks down into stocks, equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds, real estate, and all other segments of investing, an inner wealth portfolio breaks down as follows:
Body, Heart, Mind, Spirit, and Genius.
An inner portfolio has no beta. It’s steady and firm and solid.
It never diminishes. It only expands.
In other words, when you come to understand the greater meaning of your life, the next turn of your evolutionary spiral will only uplift you, whereas a traditional portfolio takes us for a ride on the roller coaster of life, particularly during a pandemic.
The return on investment (ROI) of a traditional portfolio may generate double-digit returns on money.
But the return on self (ROS) of an inner wealth portfolio is priceless and cannot be purchased…
… and yet can be cashed by creating an epic life – one on the scale of James Michener’s epic “Hawaii.”
As an advisor on quantum-level inner wealth for confidential clients, I can attest firsthand to the indelible impact of spiritually motivated travel on the inner wealth portfolio of some of America’s wealthiest men.
Transform Your Approach to Wealth through Travel
Travel helps to unfix long-set default mindsets. No more living in the future’s past.
Spiritual travel opens your eyes and ears, heart and mind to the limitations that material wealth offers. Compare this to inner wealth, which is boundless and infinite in its return.
You can’t put a price on harmony in your relationships, on your joy, and on your peace.
Emotionally meaningful excursions, like my trek into the high mountains of the Peruvian Andes, and deep into the Amazon rainforest, put this pricelessness into glowing relief.
“Where would you travel to replenish your feeling of inner wealth, and why?”
Jaclyn Sienna India, CEO of Sienna Charles, luxury travel and lifestyle agency
Today, I answer that question much differently. If you asked that question last year, I would say home was the place to replenish my inner wealth.
From 2012-2019, I traveled 200 days a year visiting clients, hotels, villas, yachts and trying out planes. Besides the fact that my obsession was booking, researching, and being on each and every trip, I would look forward to returning home to recharge once the thrill of being on each trip wore off, which was shortly after arriving. The pleasure of traveling was booking the next trip, not always being on them.
I would look forward to returning home for many reasons, to not miss any deadlines with work piling up, not overspending money, eating my plainly cooked food and not being constipated from too much consumption, not being dehydrated from too many planes, feeling fat from too many free but delicious desserts sent out at restaurants or cakes that were in my room on arrival. I craved to be back in control, which is something that I apparently lost when I was traveling. Over time, I realized I deliberately planned my schedule so I could avoid the realities of life.
Today, my answer of where I would travel to replenish my inner wealth is much different. The pandemic forced me to stay home, cooped up to deal with all the issues head-on that piled up over the last 10 years. I could not escape on a trip, and I could not blame anyone but myself. I had to look at each area of my life and see what had to be done in order to save what I destroyed. Only when I created a plan did I start to feel strong and back in control. That is something I thought I previously achieved because I lived an envious life that was filled with success and glamour.
Today, if asked that question, I would travel to Bali, Korea, or rural China to reconnect with the things I love and the certain sense of peace and calmness I find in these places through their culture. From that viewpoint, I will be able to reflect and admire the journey, rather than use it to escape in an undesirable way.
How I Traded the Rat Race for the Wild Place
After captaining my seven-figure real estate business in Los Angeles, a powerful epiphany struck me: the cement jungle of the City of Angels was no match for the wildness of the Amazon.
My material success afforded me an opulent lifestyle. Country clubs, custom-built Malibu homes, you name it. But none of this yielded the insights and wisdom and sheer abundance of the Amazon rainforest.
The jungles of modern life were about a dog-eat-dog world. I was competing, surviving and hanging on much of the time. My health and happiness failed as a result.
But the vibrancy of the jungles, how they flourished and lived symbiotically, fostered my longevity and my sense of fulfillment.
My Reading List for An EPIC Travel Adventure
Here are simple, easy, relaxing reads to inspire your epic and activate your genius, no matter where you may be headed next:
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Siddartha by Herman Hesse
- The Four Agreements by Don Luis
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- Shaman Sage Healer by Alberto Villoldo
- AND a journal, to author your own manifesto and life story
How Can Travel Enhance Your Wealth? Three Joyous Words…
In real estate, or so the adage goes, it’s all about “location, location, location.” When it comes to living your life to the fullest, it’s a square focus on “joy, joy, joy.”
The key to achieving this joy in triplicate? A not-so-hidden secret: spiritual adventure travel.
Spiritual travel, as compared to typical traveling, is not about deprivation or sleeping in a tee-pee or ashram. You may, but it’s not always necessary.
Spiritual travel is curated by the natural and supernatural worlds. Whereas adventure travel is facilitated by a well-thought out plan. Creating vast spaces of exploration from one stop to the next.
You are able to enter into the place of surprise and mystery that often reveals the magnificent beauty and brilliance of the quantum field.
In addition, spiritual travel will give you the opportunity to release ongoing dilemmas that may be confronting, confounding, or compromising your inner wealth.
Spiritual adventure offers a peek into the mysteries of the ancient past. In those mysteries, one can discover the genius technology that these cultures utilized over the millennia.
They often serve as a place to sit in deep contemplation and reflection to inspire your own innovative genius.
BEFORE You Book Your Travel… Is Your Destination Worth It?
In order to glean the wealth-enhancing benefit from travel, you must opt for the most spiritually profound locales.
Ensure where you go is worth your genius’s while. Run any destination you may be contemplating through the following criteria:
1) it offers an “edge-epic” experience. The destination is often unknown and less explored.
2) it offers a reasonable level of safety, certainty in a healthy environment.
3) it requires at least two flights to get there, plus possible additional boat rides, sherpa, donkey/horse, or other modes of transportation.
4) it requires a guide and facilitator of extraordinary knowledge and wisdom, who curates the journey in proportion to the sojourner/aspirant/initiate’s ability for infinite growth
5) it must be joyful!
“Where would you go to replenish your inner wealth and why?”
Edwin Smith, Editor of Spear’s, the wealth, business, culture and lifestyle magazine for high-net-worth individuals
One of my passions is skiing, so I think I’d go back to Chalet Hibou in the village of Le Miroir in the French Alps. The property is part of the Eleven Experience portfolio, which was founded by former Blackstone managing director Chad Pike as the ultimate side hustle.
Hibou is a brilliant base for heli-skiing out of La Rosiere (where you can cross over the Italian border, where heli-skiing is allowed) and everyone who works with Eleven – from the ski guides to the chefs – are absolutely first class. I’ve never met Chad, but what he’s done with the company – which has properties in Iceland, the Bahamas, Patagonia and New Zealand – makes me think we’d get along.
A Wealth Re-Think, Courtesy of Angkor Wat
As my eyes popped at the spiritual feast that is Angkor Wat, I felt moved to go deeper. I ended up enlisting a local guide whose family was wiped out during the Pol Pot genocide.
He shared the complexity of their culture and their tragedy. Instead of going on the scheduled tour, I asked this guide to show him places that are unseen and hidden from the eyes of tourists.
And so we went where most Westerners’ eyes would never see. At the orphanage, in the poorest neighborhoods, I witnessed abject poverty at its highest levels: no water, no electricity.
Yet I emerged awestruck by the joy and innocence of the children, and the simplicity and freedom of many of their residents.
I’m not advocating living this way. But I was able to glean how easily we in modern society forget the magic of our childhood, and the curiosity that fosters our personal spiritual growth.
When You Honor Our Planet… You Honor Your Mission
In addition, I cannot urge enough the importance of aligning your passion for travel with your personal ethos.
What are the moral, ethical, and existential values in your life? When you recall the environments that linger in your heart, how were those warm connections created?
And when you look around our planet, what issues call to you as an opportunity to foster change?
Spiritual adventure travel can allow for dramatically powerful and meaningful explorations of these key questions.
For example: planning to step into one of Earth’s lush jungles? “Sustainable travel” is your watchword.
Consider taking means to fight deforestation as you frolic. Plant a tree in between your bouts of pleasurable exploration. Patron worthwhile groups like Rainforest Action Network’s Protect-An-Acre (PAA).
And avoid souvenirs and gifts crafted from mahogany, ebony, and other types of wood whose future hangs in the balance.
When you travel responsibly, and when you uphold the positive energy of Planet Earth, you immediately 10X the ROI your voyage can provide you.
Travel During COVID: An Opportunity for Dramatic Soul Expansion
COVID offers us a great opportunity to delve deeper into our inner wealth portfolio to receive the dividends of our awareness. This moment is offering us the tools and practices to become the masters of our lives.
Remember the words of wisdom from A Course of Miracles: “the outside picture is the reflection of an inward condition.” There are no safe spaces, only safe people.
COVID can let us uncover the treasures from within, to move beyond the fear that’s propagated in the world at large. To become an unshakeable force that knows without a doubt its purpose and mission in your life.
Become a safe person by embracing your fears, be they death, irrelevance, or what have you.
When you do, nothing outside of yourself will force you to make decisions that you would later regret.
Do’s & Don’ts for Maximum Elation When Traveling
DO: create vast amounts of goodwill among the people, plants and animals along the way.
DON’T: expect anything – period!
DO: be willing to open your mind to experiences, places, and people that you may have previously thought unimaginable.
DON’T: do drugs nor drink to excess, with the exception of medicinal remedies as facilitated by a master.
DO: give of yourself your resources, light and brilliance, lavishly.
DON’T: see things how you want them to be; rather, you should experience them for how they are.
DO: do your best to always be present and simply show up to the best of your ability.
DON’T: try to be the self you think you are. Instead, honor your authentic self that always dwells in joy.
How the Right Travel Adventure Nurtures Your Inner Genius
Spiritual adventure travel – the temples, mountains, lakes, ruins, jungles, waterways, and exotic culture — has a profound way of altering your consciousness and rewiring your brain to foster genius.
What is more, it offers the sojourner who seeks to live his or her epic an extraordinary opportunity to engage with the quantum evolutionary field.
Why wait lifetimes for what you can do right now?
Heightened states of awareness that occur when you are on the spiritual adventure foster a profound sense of being connected to everything that’s alive, seen and unseen.
I often speak to clients of my adventure to the Andes as an example of travel increasing this awareness…
How Parched Thirst Padded My Inner Portfolio
In 2006, I journeyed to the sacred mountains in the wilds of the Peruvian Andes. My quest began at nearly 10,000 feet at sunrise each day, journeying toward the summit of Mount Pachatusan at 14,500 feet.
I was taken by the magnificence of the soaring condors and expansive space. Not long after our lunch break at the philosopher’s stone, I was struck by an unanticipated event: dehydration.
I labored to put one foot in front of the other.
Yet lo and behold, off in the distance, 1,000 feet below, I saw a heart-shaped lake. It rejuvenated me in body, inspired me in spirit, and lifted my heart to the top of the mountain.
Since that day, the ROI on that adventure has reaped dividends and encouraged me to have faith and trust that love conquers all, even dehydration.
Epic Travel, Epigenetic Boost
To executives and leaders looking for an edge… let’s talk “epigenetics” for a moment.
Epigenetics is a cutting-edge scientific arena that highlights how your behavior and environment can change the expression of your DNA.
That’s right: where you go and what you do impacts how your genes show up in your life.
Epigenetics holds that the environment is what activates your DNA. This underscores the phenomenal possibilities of spiritual travel when it comes to truly transforming you.
In Earth’s epic locales, there’s more going on than what meets the eye. Strongholds of nature, culture and history are, indeed, rewiring your brain for expansion.
When you travel to replenish your soul… you are actually re-enlivening your neurons in the same fell swoop.
Neuroscience holds that we must rewire in order to go quantum. So activate your frontal lobe through adventurous, spiritually inspired travel.
In doing this, you’ll create large amounts of goodwill for yourself and others along the way.
“Where would you travel to replenish your feeling of inner wealth, and why?”
Charles Ward, Founder and Principal of Idea Works Global
During my 30’s, I became a triathlete and learned to appreciate ocean swimming in places where I lived and worked on remarkable assignments, including La Jolla and Honolulu. I find it gives one a sense of humility (Mother Nature is always more powerful) and accomplishment when you can finish a ½-mile swim, or more, in the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Afterwards, as I returned to my daily routine, I would think about how I am surrounded by others who might never attempt a long ocean swim, and thus my feeling of inner wealth and power was restored.
In 40 years of running Idea Works Global, my boutique marketing and brand development firm, I have had the privilege to live near, and work with, some of the most spectacular resort properties around the world, in Montecito, Monte-Carlo, La Jolla, Sardinia, Perth Western Australia, Palm Beach and elsewhere throughout North America. Ocean swimming in such locales always proves to be therapeutic.
IWG brings together the world’s most coveted brands with UHNW families while they are at play instead of work — on polo fields, private jet terminals, and at curated events sponsored by the finest jewelers, spirits, automobiles, yachts and more.
Linking wealth and luxury becomes a win/win for clients and discerning individuals. Learn more about how our services can help benefit your brand at www.IdeaWorksGlobal.com.
My 2021 Prediction? Only An Inner Wealth Portfolio Will Get You Through!
2021 will be, like 2020, a year that poses many challenges.
In addition to COVID, amid existential threats to our climate, there are numerous storm clouds looming on the economic front, from recession and a potential mild depression to trade wars and other issues like AI and IP infringements.
These existential challenges will require you as never before to be grounded and connected to your inner joy-joy-joy zone.
Your inner portfolio is certain. It provides you with a safe refuge in the stormy seas of current world events. Why?
Because peace, freedom and joy are immune to such turbulence. This is because they are not conditioned on external events.
A COVID vaccine may inoculate you temporarily. But peace and joy provide stable, steady footing no matter what the year may hold.
Each of us has the power to choose.
Bringing The Joy Back Home Post-Traveling
When it comes to perpetuating, expanding, landing, experiencing joy-joy-joy, as a regular daily occurrence, it’s imperative that you practice this mindset wherever you may be.
Even in the chaos of commuting to work or in the office.
Take time-outs during your day. Turn your phone off for a quick shot of joy. Do it because you’re worth it.
And your joy is priceless.
Boosting Inner Wealth Without Travel?
If you don’t want to travel, adventure voyaging begins with an attitude and a mindset.
In other words, that mindset acts as a prerequisite to going on the adventure. The quest for the ultimate prize: freedom, peace and joy.
You don’t need to go anywhere to be living in your epic attitude. You only need to tap into it in your mind.
Three things that you can do:
1. Be still, be silent. A set time to sit quietly in your home or garden or nearby park. If possible, sit on the ground, and devote fifteen minutes to simply closing your eyes, listening to your heart, feeling your breath, and observing your busy mind.
2. Steep in nature. Find an aspect of nature out your window, be it a tree, the sky, the landscape, and exclusively focus your attention on it. Introduce yourself. Welcome it into your life. Be in gratitude for what it shares. A tree is sharing the breath of life. The blowing wind is offering the blessed power of change.
3. Take up an adventure journal. After being outdoors, in any capacity, reflect on your connection with nature. What did it reveal? Were you more aware? Did you see something that left you in a state of joy and wonder? Do you feel more relaxed? Write it down in your adventure journal.
Spiritual adventure travel is not about a destination.
It’s about living an extraordinary journey, as defined by you.
10 Steps to Enrich Your Inner Wealth Portfolio
– Adam C. Hall