✨ Is Travel Like Finding Your Soulmate? It’s All About Being at the Right Place at the Right Time
I was rewatching an old episode of Sex and the City when Carrie asked if timing is everything when it comes to finding a soulmate. Is every second of our lives controlled by fate? Or is life just a series of random occurrences?
Naturally, this sent me into a spiral — because if timing matters in love, does it also matter when it comes to travel? If I hadn’t postponed a trip… If my flight hadn’t been delayed two hours… If I’d chosen a different weekend entirely…
Would the trip have been different? Would my life be different? Would I be different?
Then I got to thinking — which is always dangerous — and I landed on a conclusion that feels both unhinged and deeply poetic: Travel might be the closest thing we have to finding a soulmate.
Not in the “I fell in love with a man named Luca on a Vespa in Rome” way (although if that happens, please contact me immediately). I mean in the way that travel, like soulmates, shows up when you need it, changes you when you’re ready, and makes absolutely no sense until suddenly it does.
Some people believe soulmates are written in the stars. I believe they might be written in your passport.
Let’s unpack this.
🌍 Travel Finds You When You Need It Most
You know how people say you meet “the one” when you’re not looking? Travel works the same way.
Some of my best trips weren’t planned. They were spontaneous, chaotic, and full of moments that felt like the universe nudging me forward.
It’s like the universe said, “Sweetie, you’re spiraling. Here’s a cheap flight to London. Go reset.”
So, I did.
Travel arrives the same way a soulmate does — unexpectedly, and if you’re lucky, right on time.
✈️ Timing Is Everything (In Love and in Layovers)
You can visit the same city twice and have two completely different experiences. You can meet the same person twice and feel something entirely new.
Just like finding your soulmate, travel is all about timing:
who you are when you arrive
what you’re carrying emotionally
what you’re ready to let go of
what you’re open to discovering
The right place at the wrong time feels off.
I once went to a tiny, charming island in Exuma, Bahamas — it was a complete disaster. Everything possible went wrong and ended with a full-blown melt down.
I swore I’d never go back.
But a couple years later, the opportunity came again and I felt I owed it to myself to redo my experience. And this time, everything aligned. It was a perfect trip from a flight upgrade, to multiple celebrity sightings, checked off a bucket list item going to see the swimming pigs, and so much more.
Same place. Different timing. Completely different experience.
The right place at the right time feels like magic.
💫 You Have to Be Open to the Unexpected
Some of the best travel moments happen when you ditch the plan or ditch the expectations. Some of the best relationships happen when you ditch the checklist.
I’ve had trips where:
I showed up to a city I knew nothing about and ended up in a 5-star cliffside resort in a city built out of fairy chimneys and caves
a wrong turn led to the best meal of my life
a missed tour led to everlasting memories involving the best jazz music you’ll ever hear with new friends
a spontaneous “why not” led to me leading an 8-hour tour in Ireland with zero experience
a random conversation shifted my entire perspective
Travel rewards openness. So do soulmates.
You can’t script the magic — you just have to show up for it.
💛 Both Teach You Who You Really Are
Travel shows you who you are when no one knows you. Soulmates show you who you are when someone finally sees you.
Both experiences:
stretch you — because growth never happens in your comfort zone
challenge you — because you can’t evolve without friction
soften you — because vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness
reveal you — because the real you shows up when you’re unguarded
Travel teaches you who you are when you’re alone. Soulmates teach you who you are when you’re loved.
And somewhere in the overlap — in the courage, the curiosity, the softness, the honesty — you meet the truest version of yourself.
🌙 Some Places (and People) Feel Like Fate
There are cities that feel familiar the moment you land. There are people who feel familiar the moment you meet.
You don’t know why. You don’t question it. You just feel it.
I went to Spain, and it instantly felt like home. I don’t speak much Spanish, but I felt like I could move there and start a life for myself. This place made me feel alive like my first great love.
Maybe it’s déjà vu. Maybe it’s intuition. Maybe it’s the universe winking at you.
Some places imprint on you the same way certain people do — quietly, deeply, permanently.
🌺 Not Every Place Is “The One” — And That’s Okay
Just like dating, not every destination is life‑changing.
Some trips are fun but forgettable. Some are chaotic but educational. Some are healing. Some are transitional. Some you don’t appreciate until they’re gone.
But every single one teaches you something:
what you want
what you don’t
what you’re ready for
what you’re done tolerating
Travel is basically the dating app of self‑discovery — except the views are better and no one says “sorry, I’m bad at texting.”
🌅 When It’s Right, You Just Know
There are places where everything clicks:
the energy
the people
the food
the version of yourself that shows up there
You feel grounded and alive at the same time. You feel like you belong without trying. You feel like you could move there tomorrow and start a new life.
That’s Spain for me.
That’s how soulmates feel too — effortless, aligned, and strangely inevitable.
✨ Maybe the Real Soulmate Is the Journey
Here’s the plot twist:
Maybe the soulmate isn’t a person or a place. Maybe it’s the version of yourself you meet along the way.
Travel becomes the love story. You become the main character. And the world becomes the partner that keeps showing up for you.
Right Place. Right Time. Right You.
