Discover some inspiring travel resolutions, including traveling freely, learning a new language, starting a travel fund, and more.
Care for a travel resolution?
Travel resolutions may be superfluous but marrying these two words doubles the impression.
A wonderful way to motivate yourself to start a year full of wander is booking a winter walking holiday before January comes along.
I truly believe that it pays to plan ahead so, you will be all set before the year begins.
Some travel resolutions to inspire you to travel
Aside from booking a year-launching holiday, here are some travel resolution tips (and life stories) that may inspire to make your own travel resolution.
Travel freely
Since I am spending my winter in France this year, I myself would like to take this kind of resolution – to travel at my own pace. I had joined group tours in the past and if you are not familiar with them, I suggest you to spare yourself from this tourist activity. Yes, you have everything planned out for you but believe me, you would feel like a prisoner. Okay, it might be a bit of an exaggeration but you would appreciate your freedom much more after taking a group tour. When I arrived in France last May, I had the pleasure to travel alone in Paris and boy, was it satisfying! I got the sensation to be excited and anxious at the same time. It was a feeling that is very difficult for me to explain. I walked the streets of Paris for at least 10km a day and though my feet were soaked, I had no traces of weary nor boredom. I could do it all over again.
Learn the language
My hostel was in the 14th arrondissement and all the streets leading to the great Eiffel Tower were no short of magnificence.
Everyday, after breakfast, I would gather some advice from the hostel staffs who spoke too little English yet enough for me to understand.
Luckily, being married to a Frenchman came in handy and I could understand half the words they spoke in French.
This reminded me of my second resolution – to learn a new language. Having spoken 5 languages already (4 of which I am fluent of), there are times that words scramble in my fallible brain.
There were countless times that I spoke three different languages in one sentence that shocked and confused some people.
Thefore, I want to prevent that from happening as much as I could so, I purchased a book online and borrowed a couple more from the mediatheque (media center) to help my learning process.
Plus, pretty soon I will have a formal education to learn the French language courtesy of the French government.
Hopefully, I will be fluent before my visa expires. *crossing fingers*
Try local food
I am not scared to admit that most of my travels are (in some way) influenced by food.
Looking back, majority of the places I traveled to are top-ranks in gastronomy e.g. Thailand, Indonesia and France.
I went to Thailand not only for the temples and beaches but also for pad thai and thai chicken curry.
I went to Indonesia not only for scuba diving and culture but also for nasi ayam and mie goreng.
And now, here I am in France not only for my husband and landscape but also for wine and cheese.
I consider food as an attraction which is sometimes difficult to resist especially for foodies like me.
So, I will keep this as my third resolution.
Start a travel fund
Well, let’s face it. Money is one (if not the most) significant factor for anybody’s holiday. Without it, you can’t book flights, hotels and activities.
If you come to think of it, you can’t do anything these days without it.
But instead of contemplating on that sad yet inevitable reality, why not manage it in a way that it becomes our friend.
For many years, I have been frustrated to travel because of financial issues that I refuse to discuss.
But since I started making extra moolah from blogging, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Forgive me for being over dramatic but I guess you can imagine the intensity when someone starts to fulfill THE dream.
All the money I earn from blogging goes straight into my travel funds and I intend to keep it as untouchable as I can until my next trip.
I guess what I am saying here is, if you are serious about keeping travel (or anything at all) as a part of your life, you need to accept the fact that money is a big deal so, starting a fund can be one of your resolutions to make it happen.
Ultimately, just go
Travel doesn’t have to be difficult and expensive.
Start small and simple.
When you begin to set aside some money regularly, you will soon realize that it can be enough for small and simple holidays such as a weekend getaway or a simple road trip.
Or, if you are always itching to travel abroad just like me, be keen for cheap flights and promotions.
You can’t imagine how many hours I have spent to scour the internet for the cheapest yet hassle-free flights for every trip.
At the end of the day, I can say that patience is indeed a great virtue.