At the end of vacation, have you ever felt like the boat is about to flip and everything is going to wash downstream? You want to keep going with the flow and enjoying your journey, but stress about how to navigate post-holiday rapids has you fully gripped.

So, how to keep the vibe alive? In adventure education, we call this transference; how we take what we’ve learn in one environment and continue to apply it to other situations. Educators work to help students understand and identify ways to take their education wherever they go. To conjure this spell, leaders identify specific lessons delivered in extraordinary environments and illustrate how these fit in more ordinary environments.

To put it bluntly, we want the spontaneous, wonderful moments common in adventures to continue floating our attitudes when we head home. Grown like willows along the riverbank and baked to perfection like a backcountry pizza, here are five simple lessons we’ve found to be useful long after tan has faded.

  1. Be mindful of conditions: On adventures, conditions change as quickly as Taylor Swift’s outfits. To be successful, our actions must match how things are, not how they were or how we want them to be. By orienting our attention to the present moment and acknowledging the NOW, we proceed with accuracy and find success in any endeavor.
  2. Stay centered: Conditions are what they are; they don’t care about our feelings or opinions. Ultimately, our actions are truly the only thing we can control. If we don’t want to get swept away, we have to breathe, focus, and keep our seat. 
  3. Accept help: Do you ever wish you could just admit you’re not “crushing” it and would love a little help? There is grace in understanding we need assistance to keep our heads above water. Working together is a basic part of any expedition and one worth embracing back home.
  4. Gratitude is key: In wild places, as life’s distractions and to-do lists fade away, it’s easy to feel grateful for simple things like hot drinks, sun/shade, and beautiful views. While this seems easier to access beyond the grind, finding reasons to be thankful increases our awareness of the goodness in our lives and boosts our sense of contentment.
  5. Reflect: One of the best ways to learn from life is to pause and absorb its lessons (tweet, post, and blog about them later). Reflection takes us one step closer to being better at everything we do.

While mountain, canyon, and desert landscapes can seem far removed from our everyday existence, it turns out our experiences in wild places have plenty to offer in support of our routines in familiar habitats. Make a plan when you’re on an adventure to bring your experience home with you and keep the vibe alive.