When I first generated my astrocartography map, I was nothing short of baffled. Astrocartography, which is often called “the astrology of place,” uses the location of the planets at the time when you were born to determine which places carry energetic significance for you. On an astrocartography map, this looks like a bunch of criss-crossing lines in various colors, each representing a particular planet and demonstrating where in the world you’re bound to feel its influence most powerfully. But after generating my own map, I mostly just felt like I was back in high-school calculus, trying to make sense of lines on a graph.

Learning how to read astrocartography and breaking down the significance of the lines, one-by-one, revealed a route to understanding what this chart might be able to tell me. Each line reflects the energy and meaning of the planet with which it’s associated, according to astrology. For instance, a sun line embodies the energy of the sun, which is tied to how we shine in this world and take up space. This means you might feel happier, more energized, and excited about life when you’re located somewhere on your sun line (or within about 250 miles of its placement). By the same token, a Jupiter line, by its association with the energy of beneficent Jupiter, runs through places where you can expect to experience achievements, celebrations, and all-around good luck.

A Jupiter line runs through places where you can expect to experience achievements, celebrations, and all-around good luck.

I became enamored with the idea of booking a ticket to a particular spot along one of these lines and watching my life follow suit. So last year, I packed up my Los Angeles apartment, terminated my lease, put my belongings in a storage unit, and embarked on a series of trips over seven months according to these astrocartography lines, which took me all around the United States, Mexico, and Europe.

Seeking out lucky breaks on my Jupiter line in Miami

Somewhere along a lucky Jupiter line felt like a good place to start my journey. But since there are four of those lines on an astrocartography chart, that still presented me with lots of options. I decided to focus on the Jupiter line that aligned with the Medi Coeli (aka MC) angle of my chart. This is the astrocartography equivalent of the midheaven (aka the sign associated with the 10th house of career) and is known to support career and financial success. My Jupiter/MC line goes right through Miami, so I decided to start my voyage there, jetting cross-country from Los Angeles to visit and stay with a longtime friend.

While there, a journalist friend gifted us all-access media wristbands to one of the most sought-after music festivals of the year. We were almost in tears of happiness when we got the tickets and even more so once we entered the festival through a side gate and floated past packed crowds to front-row seats for some of our favorite bands. A lucky break, indeed.

My friend and I spent the rest of the week going out to eat, laughing, and drinking our way through the city. She and I used to live together in Los Angeles and had years of memories together, but even our friendship itself felt luckier, lighter, and more prosperous when we came together on my Jupiter line.

Taking a chance on my Neptune line in Boston

Before leaving the country, I decided to visit my hometown and family in Boston—which, as it turns out, is located on a Neptune line in my astrocartography chart. Tied to the illusionary planet of Neptune, these lines are thought to signify places where you may feel out of touch with reality—either in inspirational ways, or escapist or self-doubtful ones.

Tied to the illusionary planet of Neptune, [Neptune] lines are thought to signify places where you may feel out of touch with reality.

I decided to stay with two of my high school friends, and when we accidentally ended up going to a different location of a restaurant than the one where we had booked a reservation, the mistake soon felt fated. An Italian soccer player who was in town for the week with his teammates approached us and decided to join us at the bar where we were headed next. All night, he flirted with me, but as Neptune would have it, this leg of my trip was filled with as much romance as it was disillusionment. As we continued to drink, we began to bicker, and eventually our kismet conversation ended in a heated exchange—no love connected to be found.

The next evening, I went out to dinner with my cousin, and in the middle of finishing a calamari dish, I began to feel lightheaded and short of breathe. After several hours in the emergency room, I was discharged at 3 a.m. and prescribed an EpiPen for what appeared to be a developing shellfish allergy. This was a misdiagnosis for who knows what, I would later learn. But that’s just another example of Neptune’s smoke-and-mirrors game.

Jetting off to my Mercury line in Amsterdam and Paris

For the solo part of my trip, I was eager to travel along my Mercury line—which runs through Amsterdam and Paris—given Mercury’s powerful influence over communication and connection. When located on a Mercury line, you’re thought to feel more mentally active and chatty, and I was curious how this would pan out for me while alone and traveling abroad.

The minute that my feet touched the tiled floor of Schiphol Airport, in Amsterdam, I felt different. Life looked and felt more romantic, and all I wanted to do was walk around Amsterdam and journal. I spent my time there meeting new friends and fleeting lovers alike, including one French cheesemonger who put me on the front of his bicycle and toured me around the magical city of canals.

When it came time to depart in a straight-shot down my Mercury line for Paris, I opted to take the train and sat beside a man whose family immigrated from Iraq to the Netherlands. His energy was gentle, kind, and safe—so much so that I soon fell asleep and woke up on his shoulder. He was headed to Paris to meet a friend, and we walked through the Paris-Nord station together until they found each other.

The rest of my trip was filled with short-lived romances, many hours walking through the Louvre, up the Arc de Triomphe, down Champs Élysées, and all around Montmartre where my hotel was situated. The energy of Mercury is social, stimulating, and never boring, and ultimately invites us to let go of beliefs that don’t serve us. Few if any of my perspectives weren’t challenged by and discussed with the people I met while riding this line’s energy in Amsterdam and Paris.

Bracing for impact on my Mars and Uranus lines in Portugal and Spain

Mars is the planet of aggression, sex, action, and forward movement, and I met up with this fiery energy in Lisbon, Portugal. While there, I spent most of my days admiring the city’s architecture from hilltop overlooks and my nights enjoying late dinners and the Fado music that rings through the streets.

A friend of mine happened to also be in Lisbon at the time, so we decided to have dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant, where we made friends with the restaurant’s chef and finished a few bottles of wine among the three of us. When we finally called a taxi, our driver, an older woman who excitedly shouted each time we pronounced a Portuguese word correctly, added to our already blissful energy.

My trip then led me to Spain, where I would spend time in both Madrid and Barcelona, which lie on one of my Uranus lines. Associated with the rebellious planet of Uranus, these lines mark locations that are thought to bring shake-ups and sudden changes. On my second-to-last day in Barcelona, I decided to cancel my next leg to Rome and instead return to Amsterdam and the friends I’d made there and sublet an apartment for a month.

Sometimes, Uranus delivers shake-ups in the form of a derailing. But the way I see it, it’s the shift that turns you off autopilot and moves you back into the present moment.

At this point in my astrocartography trip, I knew that staying in one place for an extended period of time would be the only way I could get enough rest to sustain this nomadic lifestyle. Sometimes, Uranus delivers shake-ups in the form of a derailing. But the way I see it, it’s the shift that turns you off autopilot and moves you back into the present moment.

Indulging at the intersection of my Mars and Venus lines in Italy

A magical moment happened only two weeks after I arrived back in Amsterdam: I opened Instagram to see a message request from a family-run hotel in Florence, sharing that they had been watching my travels through Europe and wanted to sponsor a trip for me to stay with them and model for their hotel.

Newly 27, I found myself living a childhood dream. Not only was I going to Italy as part of this transformational trip, but I was being flown there to stay in a hotel that was previously owned by Italian royalty and being paid to model. Italy lies at the intersection of my Venus and Mars lines, the first being associated with Venusian themes of love, beauty, and money and the second with Martian themes of work and forward momentum.

Naturally, the modeling gig was an opportunity to further my career in Italy, as Mars would have it, but I also had the chance to engage in all sorts of little Venusian luxuries, resting my head at night on a gaudy antique bed, exploring the Uffizi Gallery, and enjoying lots of pasta and gelato. When my assignment was done, I took a one-way train to Rome for a 36-hour adventure before finally flying back to the states.

I spent my final day in Europe at the Vatican, enjoyed a plate of carbonara in the middle of the day, and ended my day-long outing at the Trevi Fountain. It started to drizzle on my walk back home, and after packing up all of my belongings, I flung myself onto my final hotel bed, just moments before a six-hour thunderstorm started. Similarly, tears streamed down my own cheeks, as I felt awash in gratitude for having experienced this incredible trip inspired by my astrocartography map.

Returning to my Venus and ascendant lines close to home

Soon after arriving back in Los Angeles, I found the new apartment of my dreams in West Hollywood. The only caveat? It came with a two-year lease. I felt something inside of me shrivel. I couldn’t fathom the idea of committing to one space in one city for that long after letting astrocartography guide the trip of a lifetime.

So, I set the intention that if I were to sign this two-year lease, I would not give up on traveling. Not long after, I had trip after trip open up to me: Mexico City; a beachside resort in Zihuatanejo, Mexico; Boston; San Diego; and most recently, Sedona, which is positioned right at the intersection of one of my Venus lines and the ascendant angle (aka AC) in my astrocartography chart. This angle corresponds to your rising sign, or your outward identity, and amplifies the energy of the planet with which it’s matched—which may explain why being on my Venus/AC line in Sedona left me feeling so full of Venus’s loving energy, so observant of the beauty in my surroundings.

This overall sense of alignment is what followed me throughout my journey, as I embraced the energy of the planet linked in my astro map with each place I visited. If you’re feeling like you, too, could use a fresh perspective on life, I encourage you to stay open to something larger than yourself. Maybe it’s the moment that you allow yourself to follow an astrological map and step foot in some place you’ve never been before that your spirit finally breathes a sigh of relief and says to you, “I’m home.”