Hello from California!

I was supposed to be writing this newsletter from Taiwan, but we had a slight change of plans! We left a few days early because super typhoon Krathon is on the path to hit Taiwan any time now. Fortunately, we had the privilege of switching our flights to an earlier date. Originally, we were told the typhoon was similar to the strength of Hurricane Helene which just devastated several places on the U.S. East Coast. Luckily, it seems that the severity of the typhoon has been downgraded, and we just hope that it does minimal damage. We are thankful to be home safe in California!

What's new for Mind Over Matter Travel?

We are a shortlist nominee for the Traverse Creator Awards. From over 800 entries across 11 categories, our Azores Discovered content was selected as a front-runner for “Best Local Content” by a panel of expert judges. After only starting our Azores Discovered brand about 7 months ago, we are honored to be selected among other incredible, well-established creators. We’ll be attending the awards show in London in November when winners will be selected! We’ve loved sharing about the Azores on our new blog and Facebook group, and look forward to growing this part of our brand!

Where we've been recently

This past month we've spent time in Bali, Timor Leste, Hong Kong, and Taiwan! We've been and will continue sharing all about our travels across Southeast Asia on our social media and blog.

Are you interested in visiting any of these destinations? We are here to help and provide personal recommendations based on our experiences. We offer FREE travel planning and booking services. Complete our travel planning inquiry, and we will reach out for an initial consultation.

Favorite experience

Timor-Leste was the most off-the-beaten-track country we've ever visited. With little tourism or tourist information online, we went into the trip kind of blind. We didn't know what to expect, but planned to spend 5 days in and around the capital of Dili and 3 days on a small island called Atauro.

Our experience in Atauro staying at Atauro Dive Resort was an incredible one and one we hope to relive in the future. The coral reef surrounding the island is one of the healthiest in the world and is filled with diverse wildlife making it a haven for snorkelers and divers. We've snorkeled in some pretty incredible destinations around the world, but what we saw in Timor-Leste blew us away. Snorkeling in Timor-Leste was one of our favorite experiences this year! Unfortunately, we didn't have an underwater camera to capture the incredible sights, but it will be forever ingrained in our memory.

Bucket list travel opportunity

A key way to have a transformative travel experience is by taking advantage of travel opportunities. I found this one for you:

Win a Luxury European Cruise! Hallmark is giving away a tour of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland including a cruise along the Danube! The deadline to enter is October 31, 2024. ​Enter before it closes!

Transformative travel tip

Disconnect from technology! Although the picture above may say otherwise, we spent a lot of time off of our screens when traveling in Timor-Leste. While we didn't exactly do it intentionally, we recognized the benefit of doing so on this part of our trip. Timor-Leste has poor cellular and wifi connection, so we ended up accidentally taking most of the week off work. But it made us connect with the destination in a different way. We got to talk more with locals and other travelers and relax while reading on the beach. For your future travels, try to limit your screen time to be more present and engage with your surroundings and the people you meet.

By using this tip, you can have an even more purposeful and transformative adventure!

Travel must-haves

For this past trip to Southeast Asia, we splurged on roundtrip premium economy seats to be comfortable on the long-haul flight. When I say we splurged, I mean that we spent a total of $70 for both of us roundtrip. How? Travel credit card points, of course!

Travel credit cards are a must-have to make travel more affordable! If you want to know some of our favorite cards to use, you can see them here.

What's next?

If you want to follow along with our travels, here are our tentative travel plans for the rest of the year:

• October: California
• November: England
• December: Italy

If you've been to any of these places and have particular suggestions, my inbox is always open! Or if you are looking for specific insight for me to share while I'm there, let me know.

If you want to follow our journey, connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

As always, thanks for being here 🤗

✨ Elaina