What Do You Have in the Suitcase You're Taking on Your Journey?

There’s a powerful metaphor I often share when speaking with people preparing for an iboga or ibogaine journey. I ask them, "What are you packing in your suitcase?" And I don’t mean the clothes or your toothbrush, I mean your emotional baggage, your beliefs, your intentions, your tools. What are you carrying with you into this sacred space of transformation?

Too often, people show up to this kind of work expecting the medicine to do something magical, as if it alone will drop the answers into their lap. While it's true that great insights can arrive from beyond us, how much more powerful could those insights be if we had cultivated fertile ground for them to land in? What if the answers you seek were already quietly inside of you, just waiting for the right question to unlock them? What if that question came easier because you prepared for it?

Preparation is not just about readying yourself physically—though that's important too. It’s about self-responsibility. It’s about beginning the work before the work. The work of asking: Am I willing to surrender? Not just in the ceremony, but right now, in the mundane moments of life.

Have you ever truly surrendered to a meditation? To a walk in the woods with no destination? To a breath that shakes something loose? If the thought of doing that causes anxiety, then that anxiety is already in your suitcase. And guess what? You're bringing it with you. This isn’t about shaming what you carry, it’s about becoming aware of it. Only then can you choose what to keep, and what to set down.

So let’s get honest:

• What stories are you packing?

• What unresolved emotions?

• What expectations are you secretly hoping the medicine will fulfill?

• What tools are you bringing to help you integrate what you may learn?

Too many times I’ve seen people come into this work with a childlike view of transformation—wanting a quick fix or a magical cure. But iboga doesn’t play that game. It’s a teacher of deep accountability. It will ask you to meet yourself. Are you ready for that meeting?

Imagine instead preparing with intention. Imagine your suitcase filled with:

• A practice of journaling

• A few days of clean eating and hydrating your body

• Reducing screen time to reconnect with presence

• Small, consistent steps toward discomfort: a group activity, a breathwork session, a silent walk

• A written letter to yourself about why you’re doing this

These actions are not grand, but they are sacred. They are you choosing wellness before the journey. Not waiting for the reward, but committing to the path. This is the quiet maturity that psychedelics respond to. This is where the real transformation begins.

Let’s stop pretending that we’re going to find something completely new out there. Let’s realize that it’s in us already. But we need to clear space to see it.

So I’ll ask you again, as you prepare: What are you packing in your suitcase?

And maybe more importantly: What are you willing to leave behind?

This work is sacred. It is ceremony. And like all meaningful ceremonies, what you bring to the altar matters.

Pack wisely.