From cooking, to getting dressed, to decorating your house, in every aspect of life you have the choice between doing something with presence and style and not doing something with presence and style. Nowhere is this choice more evident than in travel.

Nowadays, we consider travel more of a convenience rather than an adventure. Somehow our need to get the journey over with and just “get there” trumps the actual process of traveling.

For me, travel is a problem that is only getting worse rather than better and we have only ourselves to blame. For the sake of convenience and speed, we have forgone our achievements of culture and humanity. It seems that now when people travel all is fair, all is acceptable, and since we don’t care on how we are perceived, we don’t care about how we look and how we act.

I would like to put out the travel challenge. Let’s turn this trend around and go back to thoughtful, caring, exciting journeying. Here are five tips on how to get started….

1. Pause. Take a moment to be clear about why you are traveling. Then set intentions for your trip. Remember that yes, the destination is important, but the journey itself is the focus.

2. Now that you have clarity. What will you need? Do you really need to travel like a beast of burden or can you do with a bit less?

3. Chances are that you will be sitting down next to a complete stranger. Say hello. You will lose nothing by being courteous. I am often perplexed about how people can just sit down for 2, 3, 4 hours and not acknowledge someone that is just inches away.

4. Before setting out, look in the mirror. Would you like to be sitting next to you? This is not vanity, this is courtesy. Looking like you came from the gym or just got out of bed is not acceptable. I get comfort, and comfort does not mean being sloppy.

5. Open your heart. Thank the TSA agents for their work (how would you like to be scanning passports for 8 hours a day?), thank the agents at the airlines counter (think of how many complaints they get…it’s not their fault), and be kind to flight attendants (they are not only there to serve nuts…that’s a pun).

Pause. Be aware of your journey, Then…. go. Bon voyage!