Your New Year's Travel Resolution

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I've been reading and thinking about New Year's resolutions, especially those related to travel.  "I'm going to travel more this year" is always a popular resolution; was that yours?  If so, are you sticking to it? In my reading and research, I've discovered several valid points to consider for your New Year's travel resolution, here are some of my favorites: 

• Go somewhere you have never been
• We all have our “travel favorites” as far as places we like to visit.  How about considering something outside of your comfort zone or a locale you have never been to?  Ask around, chances are pretty good that you have friends and family who can share their favorite “go to” destinations with you – try one of those locations and discover why it is a special place for them.
• Try something you have never done
• Are you an avid cruiser?  Maybe a fan of Disney and that’s the only vacation you ever take?  Let’s have a chat, I would be happy to share some of the great vacations that I have booked for my clients, let’s find a vacation adventure that you have never considered. 
• Create your travel bucket list, stick to it and cross things off
• Travel Bucket Lists are really fun to create!  “Shoot for the Moon” as they say.  Go crazy and just start writing down everything you’d like to do, everywhere you’d like to travel, every culture you’d like to experience, the foods and languages that interest you and so on…there’s no right or wrong way to create your travel bucket list, just start brainstorming.  I have helped one couple map out three years’ worth of travel planning.  We started with their bucket list, narrowed down to their must-do travel favorites, created a budget and we now have a color coded, prioritized spreadsheet with all of their travel dreams laid out for the next three years.
• Set a travel budget
• Setting a budget is key to successful travel.  Travel experiences are invaluable, but let’s face it, they do come at a monetary cost.  Once your budget is determined we can work together to review travel options that fall within that budget.  Together we can set up payment options in a manner that works best for you.
• Don’t have travel envy - use it as inspiration to create your travel dreams
• As a shore excursion manager for Holland America cruise line, I have had the good fortune of traveling the entire world, but I still love hearing about where my friends and family travel.  I read about travel all the time and I have my own bucket list of destinations yet to be visited.  I get much of my travel inspiration by listening to others and learning about where they have been, how they traveled and what they experienced.
• When you travel, be thankful. When we are grateful about where and how we’ve traveled, we get more out of the experience
• A great piece of travel advice I learned long ago….be mindful when you travel that you don’t compare the travel experience to where you are from, to what you already know, to how you already experience life and how you already live.  Embrace where you are, take time to enjoy what is new and different, talk to strangers, meet people and simply enjoy the experience; after all, your vacation time is limited, get the most out of it, you’ll be back home before you know it.  

Happy travels!