Our Feng Shui expert explains how to attract positive travel experiences and 'helpful friends' through your home

Hand on heart, I love the impact of activating the travel and helpful friends area, whether in my own home or in those of my clients around the world. This is a Feng Shui area that does exactly what it says on the tin. It opens the opportunity to adventure near and far while drawing the positive energy of those regarded as ‘helpful’ people into your life, just precisely when you need them.

When we talk about ‘helpful friends’, these aren’t necessarily the friends you socialize with or have known since you were at school. These are the people who turn up unexpectedly and with perfect synchronicity when a pipe burst, the tire is flat, the kids need a costume, or you can’t make change for the car park.

‘Helpful friends’ are often strangers who, once the situation is resolved, you never see again. For this reason, some describe their presence as ‘angelic intervention’, although most of the helpful friends you’ll meet are very human and practical in the precise way you require.  

For some reason, you’ll never quite understand; they were simply in the right place at the right time. From an external perspective, it might appear to be coincidence or good luck. Still, it’s remarkable how the coincidences just keep happening for those who consciously welcome positive energy into their lives by using Feng Shui in their homes.

Activating the Feng Shui travel and helpful friends area in your home

The Travel element is another joyful aspect of using Feng Shui in the home, from finding yourself in blissful new destinations to having a smooth journey to visit relatives an hour away or getting a seat on the subway, the travel energy offers an additional level of support and reassurance. 

I’m not suggesting you won’t ever experience hiccups, but it does change your thinking about delays and traffic jams.  My recent experience of having a flight canceled and being rerouted at very short notice might have seemed like a problem. Still, I relaxed in the knowledge that everything was likely happening for a good reason. My faith was justified when I received a Business class upgrade and arrived relaxed and refreshed at my home airport 30 minutes before my originally scheduled time of arrival.  Knowing my home is energetically supporting my travel plans whenever and wherever I go makes life so much more enjoyable.

So, how can you boost the good vibes in your Travel and Helpful Friends area?

Find the Northwest part of your home

There are nine Feng Shui areas or ‘gua’s in a property.  If you visualize a tic-tac-toe grid laid across the floor plan of your home, you’ll get the idea. Each of the nine areas relates to a particular area of life, and these are defined by the compass direction they face:

Centre – Health and Wellbeing

Southwest – Relationships

Southeast - Money

North – Career

East – Family

South – Reputation

West – New Beginnings

Northeast – Learning

Northwest – Travel and Helpful Friends

Take a smartphone compass, stand in the center of your home, and notice which direction the NW (short for Northwest) is found. If you have two or more floors, each will have a Northwest to play with, unless your home is an irregular shape, in which case feel free to contact me for advice unique to your situation.

Have a close look around the space.  What are you keeping there? Is it cluttered or minimalist, what art do you have on the walls, how do you feel about the décor items – does what you see at face value represent the life you want for yourself?  Be prepared for some surprise revelations when you observe your space with fresh eyes.

As many popular TV shows attest, clutter is always going to compromise your home and your physical and emotional well-being. For this reason, I’d like you to consider decluttering and releasing anything that makes you unhappy or does not fit with your desire for a happier, more uplifting lifestyle.

Once you have cleared anything unsupportive from the Northwest area and spruced up the energy with a spring clean and some fresh air, it’s time to think about what you really want—now and in the future.

Activating the feng shui 'helpful friends' area

One of the women who joined an online Feng Shui teaching with me earlier this year shared her ‘win’ after hearing me speak back in 2023.  After months of waiting for an electrician to undertake essential work on her home, she was very stressed and sick of the mess. During yet another sleepless night of worrying, Janet followed my fun suggestion for drawing in the energy of a particular tradesman. 

She placed an image of a friendly electrician in the Northwest, expressed her gratitude to the energy of her home for having the work successfully completed, and went back to bed. Unusually for her, she went straight to sleep. The following morning, the electrician called, apologized for the delay, and arranged to start the work. She was thrilled and couldn’t wait to share the good news of how such a simple act of intention reaped the results she wanted.

Other people have similar success with lumberjacks, car mechanics, babysitters, dental appointments, restaurant reservations, and plumbers, among many other happy outcomes. These are just some of many coincidental ‘good luck’ occurrences in Feng Shui homes, which are also easily available to you if you’re willing to activate the positive vibe.

A picture isn’t the only way to boost the 'helpful friends' energy. Another option is to write a short note describing the aspects of the person or people you require, or even more specifically, when and where you need them. Treat it as a concise job description, and be very clear about what you want with no room for misinterpretation. “Please provide a trustworthy, unobtrusive cleaner or housekeeper who will do a great job of making my home shine and respects my standards and schedule” has worked brilliantly many times in homes around the world.  

You can add in any specific details like ironing, shopping, or concierge services if those are especially important. My client Michelle took her request a step further and included cat-sitting. She was delighted to connect with a local lady who has become an integral part of the household, moving in to provide wraparound care for the feline friends whenever the international news media correspondent packs her bags for an assignment.

You can ask your helpful friends to step up for any reason, big or small. When I want to make an appointment, I make a note of the time and day that suits me best, write it down, and then pick up the phone. Most of the time I get exactly what I’ve requested because my call ‘just happens’ to coincide with a cancellation. Call it coincidence, law of attraction, fate, whatever you like.  I call it activating my helpful friends.

But what about the instances when a situation occurs out of the blue? Perhaps you find yourself in need of a few minutes extra to get to the platform to catch the train, a parking space, a tall shopper to reach something off the top shelf, a willing weightlifter to carry a suitcase or pram up some stairs, or someone who hands you a safety pin when you have a wardrobe disaster right before an interview...  Ask!

“Hey Helpful Friends, I could really do with a ……. right now” is a great start. You don’t need to say it aloud, in your head or under your breath is just fine. Then, be open to the help that comes along.  

When you are clear about what you want and nothing is getting in your way at home, you’ll be astonished at how often helpful friends come into your life. Just remember two things: be careful what you wish for and always say ‘thank you’ afterwards.

How about boosting travel?

The most ridiculously easy way to do this is to put pictures of the places you would like to visit in the Northwest of your home. It’s that simple, but just to be clear, I’m not suggesting you throw an entire stack of brochures in a corner and leave them to gather dust, that’s not going to work. Instead, you have to invest some intention and feng shui magic in the process. To do this, focus on places you really want to visit, what you might do there, and if there is a particular time of year you’d like to go – Cherry Blossom time in Japan, for example – then choose your image to reflect your wishes rather than contradict them.

There’s no point putting a picture of a beautiful beach in Turkey if what you actually want to do is attend the Turkish Grand Prix. Get specific and invest time locating the perfect visual representation of your desire. You could also add a globe or atlas, books about the region, or hobbies you would like to indulge in while you are there. Chris loves to dive and doesn’t care where he does it as long as the water is warm and clear, so his northwest features photos of coral reefs and tropical fish. 

In our apartment, we have one of those collage frames with space for multiple separate images, and we update the pictures each year.  Where the northwest is in a shared part of the home (kitchen, sitting room etc.) this can have its drawbacks as you may inadvertently find other members of the family manifest the experience before you do, jetting off to Venice, Costa Rica or whatever destination you had in mind, while the closest you get is the rather galling job of chauffeuring them to the airport. For this reason, it pays to be absolutely clear about your intention and, if necessary, quietly activate the northwest area of your bedroom or another space private to you.  Even if you tuck your pictures out of sight, they are still working for you, but seeing them every day is even better.

Feng Shui is a multi-faceted approach to a happier, healthier, more enjoyable and successful lifestyle. Once you understand how each area of the home can support and enhance what’s happening for you and permanently discard the clutter and detritus holding you back, you make space to experience the good fortune missing from so many homes.

Now, I’m off to my northwest area to manifest a relaxed and enjoyable flight to my next destination!