The Tofino Anti-Itinerary
- Forest Eden Greenwell
- 13 minutes ago
- 5 min read
When we think of going on a trip, there is a general consensus that we should make the most of our time. We’ve saved, taken time off, and have hustled to have a good time. But what if jam packing your schedule is actually taking away from the sole purpose of a trip - to disconnect from “need” and tune into “want”?
In our day-to-day life we sort of have to ride the waves of optimization just to get by, but the magic of a vacation is that we get to step away from the norms. Even the subtle norms that seem to infiltrate the most innocent an well intended aspects of our lives.
So we’ve created the Anti-Itinerary for you. Not a guide, not something that is telling you what to do, but an offering of what it could look like if you decided to go rouge from planning and lean into listening.
The Tofino Anti-Itinerary Essentials
While the essence of this is about making no plans, we do need a little bit of a container to flow in - how a river needs a river bed. You’ll need to book a room, plan how you’re getting there, and what you’ll need to pack.
And that’s it!
Whether you decide to come with a backpack or a car full depends on what you truly need to feel comfortable.
The Space
I like to think of The Essentials as the walls, Tofino itself as the foundation, and everything else how you decide to decorate. Having no plans is sort of like going to the thrift store - just listen and trust that what you need will appear (how many times have you found the perfect thing when you weren’t even looking for it?).
There is so much to do in Tofino you can easily get caught up in booking every thing and planning every second, but then there is no room for serendipity. One of the main things that Tofino can offer us (that you probably won’t see in a brochure) is space - to listen and be with ourselves.
The most special thing about Tofino, the thing that keeps people coming back year after year, is that Tofino is magic. Magic needs space to breathe and grow. It feels so powerful to be here because it reflects something back to us that most of the world is trying to get us to forget or disconnect from.
The Tofitian Magic
When we think of magic it’s easy to go to media-laden, wand-in-hand route. But true magic as we experience in day-to-day isn’t something that can be packaged up and sold to us - nor do we need to have anything particularly special within in order to access it.
Really, magic at its core is energy and experiencing the malleability & capacity of energy. It comprises everything we are and experience. So why does it feel so far away? And why does an anti-itinerary bring us closer to it?
When we stop planning every second, when we slow down and create a real opportunity to listen to ourselves and the world around us, we remove the barriers between the world and how we can be in the world. We’re reminded that we don’t need to do so much.
The Practice
I wanted to put into practice this Anti-Itinerary advice on my most recent trip to Tofino. While I did have some pillars in my timeline I needed to show up for, I left the rest of my calendar empty. Partly, because I just needed the space and rest. Partly, because I could feel the tugging of my intuition asking for my attention.
On one of my free nights I grabbed a slice of pizza and headed to the beach. I had no plans - not even to stay for the sunset. I just wanted to eat my dinner and breathe in the ocean air. When I arrived, the nearly full moon was pulling itself into the sky overhead and eventually, opposite it in the sky, a rainbow orb appeared.
Now, if you live in Tofino this kind of weather could feel more commonplace… but for me it was magic. It felt like such a potent reminder of possibility. All of my own symbolism for these two things brought forth so much understanding in me and I felt any other anxiety or pressing melt away.
[For me, a rainbow is always what I see when the universe is reminding me everything is going to be okay. The Full Moon in Libra was reminding me that when I prioritize balance, I can best serve myself on the path. It felt particularly relevant as I rested in the sand, eating pizza during my work trip, sitting between these two floating in the sky.]
I was reminded that whatever I make space for is whatever will appear. If I make space for the universe, for magic, for listening it will come forward. Especially on this sacred land that has been stewarded by those who have reverence for its power for hundreds of years.
Magic is sort of like medicine - we often need less than we think we do. Our bodies and deep wisdom remember how to take care of us, they remember how to guide us, they remember what we are here to do. It’s not a task on a list or something we can hit complete on - but it is something we can return to over and over again.
When I reflect deeply, I feel that so much of our “filling time” agenda comes from a place of fear. Fear we won’t make the most of it all, that we will somehow fall short, that we will miss something. And if this fear is what we choose from and build our choices on then that same fear is what we need to sustain that experience. The Anti-Itinerary moves us towards hope - that the right things will fall into place, that we can trust ourselves, that things will work out how they need to. It offers us peace as a platform for our experiences.
Are you interested in your own Anti-Itinerary Duffin Cove experience? We have a giveaway on with Westerly News to win a 2-night stay (and you can enter once a day until April 30th).
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