New Year’s is all about taking stock of your life and figuring out what you want to change and what you want to keep the same. We’ve all heard the normal culprits like losing weight, getting organized or getting into shape, but there is a whole new set of resolutions you should consider making as the new year starts off: 2015 travel resolutions.
Travel is an important part of everyone’s life, and even if you don’t have anything scheduled on the calendar, chances are you’ll get to travel somewhere in this new year. When you do jet-set to a new locale, try to keep one or more of these resolutions for a new, fun and exciting experience. Travelling is plenty of fun on its own, but adding these resolutions to your 2015 list will add an extra aspect of excitement.
Go somewhere new each month
This one may sound really easy to accomplish, but you’d be surprised by how quickly schedules fill up and how little time is left for travelling and exploring. By making this a priority, you’ll have trips scheduled before anything else takes over and you’ll get out of your normal environment and be exposed to new cultures, experiences, people, food…the list is endless. Don’t get us wrong—travelling isn’t all about the big dream trips. The most rewarding travel isn’t always the grandest or the most expensive trip. More often than not, the trips that leave the biggest impact are the budget flights, the spur-of-the-moment road trips and the places not too far from home. 2015 is the year to get out and get exploring regardless of how close or far to home it may be.
Get festive
Who doesn’t love a good party? In 2015, take your holiday planning a step further and try to make your trip coincide with a world-class festival or carnival. Whether you prefer your festivals loud and lively or quiet and more respectful, or even quirky and fairly unknown, there is a festival for everyone. Try the tomato-throwing madness that is La Tomatina in San Sebastian, Spain, or the cold-winter wonderland that is the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, or the famous party event of the year, Carnival in Rio de Janiero. Regardless of where you end up, you will be celebrating with the people of that country and getting a unique insight into their culture, their traditions and their lives.
Seek out unusual accommodation
We all know one of the worst parts of planning travel is figuring out where you’re going to stay—there are so many options and things to consider before you book anywhere. In 2015, instead of regarding accommodation as a chore, think of it as a fun challenge. Instead of renting the chain hotel room, step outside your comfort zone and find unique accommodations to equal your fun destination. There are tree-houses, resorts below the waves, hotels made entirely of ice…the unusual and quirky choices are endless. Not only will you look forward to coming home at the end of the long day, but your hotel will be as much a part of your holiday as the rest of the adventures you go on—a win-win.
Travel solo
If you’ve never taken a trip by yourself before 2015, this is the year to try it. There are so many benefits to travelling solo that we bet once you’ve gotten a taste of it, you won’t want to go back to big group holidays. You’ll have the freedom to do exactly what you want to do, on your own schedule, and without any interference by other people’s needs. The independence you will experience is eye-opening, and you’ll have a greater motivation to engage with the locals and get a completely unique and personal experience of the country/city you’re visiting.
Train your taste buds
If chicken fingers and French fries are your go-to meal, it’s time to expand your food horizons. Use 2015 as the jumping off point for training your taste buds to like new flavours and to try new dishes. Travel is one of the best opportunities you can have for trying new food, and if you have the opportunity, why not take it? On your next trip, make an effort to try at least one new thing a day—it doesn’t have to be fried insects or something unreasonable, but try the dish on the menu you can’t pronounce or have the waiter pick something on your behalf.
Now that you’ve got all these new ideas running around your mind, you may have to put pen to paper and change up your yearly new year’s resolutions so you can include one or two on your list. After all, who doesn’t want to expand their horizons and travel more? If you’re worried about budget, don’t fret. Travel insurance is a necessary part of your travel plans but it doesn’t have to be expensive too. Take a look at Cover-More’s insurance policies and decide on a policy that meets your needs and budget. Ready for 2015 to be the best year yet? Ready, set…go.
Image courtesy of Flickr user nedim chaabene