When Your Soul Calls You Somewhere: Understanding Astrocartography for Travelers

In 2026, I woke up in the middle of the night with an overwhelming urge to buy concert tickets. Not just any tickets—tickets to see Adele…in Barcelona. Never mind that she was playing an hour from my house the following week. Never mind that I had no logical reason to fly across the Atlantic for a concert.

I just knew I had to go.

That trip to Spain changed everything. Listening to Adele's voice filling that arena, I made the decision to leave my marriage. It wasn't planned. It wasn't something I'd consciously gone to Barcelona to figure out. But that place, at that moment, gave me a clarity I couldn't find at home.

A few years later, I was floating in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia, Turkey—another destination I'd felt inexplicably drawn to—when I decided to quit my corporate job and start my travel business. Again, not planned. Again, undeniable.

For years, I brushed these experiences off as coincidence. Then I talked to Sonia Cruz-Oro, a certified travel coach who specializes in astrocartography, and suddenly everything clicked.

Coming to the realization that I needed to quit my job in Turkey (2021)

What Actually Is Astrocartography?

"It's the astrology of places," Sonia explains. "A combination of astrology and geography."

Before your eyes glaze over, hear me out. This isn't your newspaper horoscope. Astrocartography takes your birth chart—that snapshot of where the planets were when you arrived on Earth—and maps it onto the world. It shows you where different parts of your personality and soul are amplified based on geography.

Think of it this way: You're still you wherever you go, but certain places turn up the volume on specific aspects of who you are. Some places make you feel more creative, more confident, more aligned. Others create friction—not to torture you, but to show you what needs to change.

"Some places are there for flowing energy," Sonia says. "But sometimes you need a place that creates tension so you can see a mirror for your life and make decisions that are going to help you."

Barcelona and Cappadocia were both friction points on my map. They were both exactly where I needed to be to make decisions I'd been avoiding.

The Difference Between Intuition and Anxiety

"How do I know it's intuition and not fear?" It's the question Sonia gets constantly. Here's her answer: Intuition is a knowing. It doesn't try to sell you with arguments or explanations.

"The mind will start telling you why you cannot do that or why you should do that—all the reasons that are head-based," she explains. "But intuition is just a knowing. You don't have any explanation. You just feel called to it."

When I booked those Barcelona tickets at 3am, I couldn't explain why. When every flight search recently kept telling me to go to Cairo, even though Morocco was where I wanted to be, I didn't have a logical reason to pivot.

When my coach, Bonnie, asked in the first 10 seconds of our most recent call, "Laura, are you thinking about going to Egypt? It keeps coming to me so strongly," it stopped me in my tracks.

We'd never discussed Egypt. I’d actually only told one person that I was planning to go.

Logic tries to convince you. Intuition just is.

You Already Know

Last month in Mexico City, I met with a shaman who does healing ceremonies with my Day of the Dead groups. She can read energy, and after her ceremony, she spends a few minutes explaining what she picks up on with each individual. When she got to me, she said just two words in Spanish:

"Ya sabes."

You already know.

I got those words tattooed on my arm a week later because she was right, and I didn’t want to forget it ever again.

I did already know. About the marriage. About the job. About Egypt. About every major decision I've second-guessed and overthought. The answers were always there. I just needed the right place to hear them clearly.

My fresh ink in CDMX (2025)

"Travel gives you this opportunity to step away from the daily noise and responsibilities," Sonia says. "It's like a magnifying glass. You can see your life with much more detail—what you like and what you don't like."

Not Every Place Is Forever

Here's what surprised me most: not every place that feels amazing is meant to be permanent. Sonia had a client who fell in love with the south of France during a sabbatical and ended up moving there, getting a university teaching position. But that's not always the story.

"Some places are just temporary or for a special purpose," Sonia explains. "It's important to differentiate."

Just like relationships. Some people are meant to be in your life forever. Some are meant to teach you something specific and then move on. Places work the same way.

How to Use Astrocartography Without Booking a Session

You don't need to become an astrology expert to start paying attention to how places affect you. Start here:

Notice where you feel called. Not where Instagram says you should go. Not where it’s trending. Where does your gut keep pointing you?

Pay attention to the "I could live here" feeling. Everyone says it when they travel. But which places make you feel it most intensely? There's information in that.

Trust the weird pulls. If flights keep showing you the same city, if multiple people mention the same destination unprompted, if you wake up at 3am wanting to book something—don't immediately talk yourself out of it.

Stop waiting for perfect clarity. I didn't book Barcelona thinking "this will end my marriage." I booked it because something in me said go. The clarity came after I went and during the trip, not before.

When You Can't Choose the Place

Sometimes you can't pick where you go. Work sends you somewhere. Family obligations require travel. You're already living somewhere that doesn't feel right but you can't move yet.

Sonia has advice for that too: "Surround yourself with the energy of places that are supportive for you. Connect with people from those places. Read books by authors from there. Listen to their music."

You can also tap into the highest expression of wherever you are. Every place has shadow and light. Every astrological archetype has its lowest and highest vibration. Personal growth doesn't erase your map, but it changes how you experience it.

The Real Magic

The most powerful thing Sonia told me is, "this call for adventure, this call for travel, is actually your soul calling you to go there because you have to experience that. You have to move to that place to channel the energy of that place to help you make decisions you have to make in your life."

Your soul already knows where you need to go. The trick is getting your logical mind to shut up long enough to hear it.

So if you're feeling pulled somewhere—even if it makes no sense, even if you can't explain it, even if everyone thinks you're crazy—maybe that's exactly why you need to go.

Want to dive deeper? Sonia offers astrocartography sessions where she maps your birth chart and shows you which places amplify different aspects of your life—creativity, relationships, career, healing, adventure. She also has a free guide to help you get clear on your travel intentions before choosing destinations. Find everything at travelawakens.com.

And if you want to hear the full conversation about astro-cartography, intuition, and life-changing travel decisions, listen to my episode with Sonia on the Type 2 Travel podcast.