Road Trip: Peace in Motion | Spirituality Today

As you read this, I hope I’m already in Chicago. The ticket is booked, the bag is packed, and the itinerary is set.

This week has brought international conflict, airport alerts, and rising anxiety. What should have been a straightforward trip has become a quiet test of cultivating peace amid uncertainty.

Travel brings movement and challenges our sense of calm. We check the headlines. We check our pulse. Even in transit, we search for something steady, some sense of home that travels with us.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R14ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R24ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

Years of travel have taught me that homecoming arrives in unexpected moments: a deep breath at a rest stop, a stranger’s genuine smile, the meditative rhythm of highway miles, or the sacred hush before dawn at an airport gate. These small sanctuaries appear when we stop rushing toward somewhere else and arrive fully where we are. Each creates a connection between ourselves and others.

This awareness begins before we leave. Yesterday, while packing, I caught myself in familiar patterns: extra chargers, backup plans, and contingencies for problems that might never arise. I was also packing invisible weight: mental lists, background worries, and tension that builds with each news alert.

Mid-fold, I paused and asked myself: "What am I ready to release?"

That shift changed everything. I chose fewer clothes and more breathing room. I scheduled a morning walk for connection rather than endless email checks. I decided to travel light in every sense. The world’s uncertainties will continue whether I carry them or not. I can choose how I move through this journey.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R19ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R29ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

The Hebrew word "teshuvah" means return: a turning back to our essential self. Every trip offers this possibility. The road becomes a moving meditation, each mile an opportunity to shed what weighs us down and rediscover what sustains us. This is how we foster inner peace through conscious choices.

Our relationships deepen through this practice. When we’re peaceful, we meet others with presence rather than projection. The anxious traveler sees threats everywhere; the centered traveler discovers companions. That stranger’s smile becomes a brief but real connection. The gate agent’s patience offers a shared instant of grace.

Consider your own inner journey this summer, whether you’re crossing continents or simply crossing town. What emotional weight might you set down? Where can you create small sanctuaries of peace in your daily travels? How might your inner calm transform your encounters with others?

I’ve learned that home is a quality feeling we carry within us. When we pause at a red light, in an airport lounge, or in the stillness between destinations, we find that peace has been with us all along.

AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1eekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2eekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe

The mystic Rumi wrote, "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray." As I head to Chicago through uncertain times, I’m trusting that pull toward stability and connection.

Safe travels, wherever your journey leads. May you find, as I hope to find, that the road always brings us closer to ourselves and each other.

Scott Tilley is the founder of CTS Ministries and an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. You'll be able to find this column, Spirituality Today, every Sunday at floridatoday.com. Contact Tilley at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Seeking Peace Amid Motion | Spirituality Today