As we closed the door on 2013 I’m sure many of you set wild and crazy New Year Resolutions for 2014 that you’ll try to keep (at least for the first few days). For those of you setting your sights on travelling more this year I want to say just one thing, please please please keep that one.
You could plan that big gap year escape to Europe you always dreamt about, took a winter break to Asia with some friends for some sun or just skipped over a state and see how the others live in Australia. It doesn’t matter what sort of travel you take this year it’s just that you take it.
And that is in itself the great thing about travel, it doesn’t matter how big or small the trip is, it’s all travel. I’ve travelled far and wide in the last 3 years and from every trip I’ve learnt something new and that’s what I want for everyone with travel dreams this year to focus on.
So to help keep you on the straight and narrow this year I want to share these 5 tips to keep that resolution to travel more this year.
- Travel doesn’t always mean trips to far away places. I travelled to Sydney for the first time in my life last year and had a great time (don’t tell my Victorian friends). You can seek out fun locations or cheap flights close to home all the time so make the most of those long weekends. You’d be surprised just what you can do in your own backyard.
- Don’t make it complicated. Travel should be fun so keep the itineraries light and leave yourself open to exploring. Some of the best fun I’ve had came at the most random of times. A tip from a local, walking left instead of right down a path or just leaving it all up to chance. The simpler you make it the more enjoyable it will be for everyone.
- Don’t wait on others to go with you, just go. For the longest time I was too afraid to travel solo. The fear of the unknown really got to me but once I’d made the leap and survived I couldn’t believe how silly I’d been. Solo travel was the cornerstone for me to growing into a more confident and outgoing person.
- If funds are tight but you really want that big trip abroad then setup your savings to work for you. There are some great online banks for saving money that offer better than average interest rates. And credit cards these days that will be your ideal travel card helping you save on fees while abroad.
- And lastly just do it. It doesn’t matter if your dream travel destination is the same as a million others or if it’s the next big city away from you. All this talk of having to travel off the beaten track or you can’t go there its too touristy is crazy. Travel to explore and satisfy your own curiosity not anybody elses. Visit the libraries in Roanoke, VA to learn more about places and find out where you could go.
I hope 2014 will be good to all of you. And if our paths should cross in this big world of ours then say hello and we can compare adventures over a beer.
I’ll leave you with this quote I found the other day because it seems a fitting way to start the year.
That is very good advice, Chris. And so simple. Why do so many of us make travel complicated? I also love that Nick Miller quote–I’d never seen it before. Thanks!
Thanks Gray. I’m guilty of over-complicating travel a lot so try and stick to these rules when planning my next adventure. As for the quote, its not bad at all.
Great stuff Chris! You’re absolutely right – you don’t have to go on a world tour, even just getting out and about in your own backyard is a great way to travel (we’ve just come back from two nights at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula having never really been there). There’s so much to see and experience and life’s too short – you just gotta have a sense of adventure and curiosity!
Love the quote too. 🙂
That’s the best way to look at it Kate. Don’t sweat the hard stuff and just get out there and do it.
Chris…great list. Love, love, love the Nick Miller quote as well. Happy travels in 2014 to you!
Thanks Corinne, its a great quote huh. All the best for 2014 as well.
I, too, love the quote and your “Just Do It” philosophy.
Wishing you wonderful travels in 2014.
Thanks Irene, all the best to you as well.
Good tips Chris. I agree with Gray, we over-complicate it. But I think it’s cause some of us are travel bloggers and it’s our unconscious mission to scour the earth for the next story or way to wow ourselves. ha ha…
love it! what a great little poem!
Really good advice Chris! I agree with all of it 🙂 I’d also add… pack light. That’s a very small one but geez, it’s something I wish I learned a lot earlier. Love the quote too. The traveller mustn’t be in America though because I doubt they’d be ’embraced’ for a 10% tip 😉
What a delightful read. I like the poem too.
Great tips, thanks, will definitely be keeping them in mind 🙂
Yep, just do it is right! If somebody wants something so bad, for instance to travel to . . . where ever. Than they will do everything they can to achieve that and these tips are some great advices to guide them in the right direction, cheers
These tips are so on point! Sometimes ‘traveling’ to nearby locations places can just as exciting, if not more exciting (because it makes you wonder how you went so long without seeing it!) but it definitely takes a complete mental reset on what it means to travel. I guess it’s all about how you look at the world ;c)
I’m headed out on my first solo road trip here in a few days and I am so excited to be going it alone (ok, in truth I am taking along my dog, so perhaps that doesn’t count).
Thanks again for the reminder that every day is an adventure!
Great post! Especially #1.. I live in Seoul and I haven’t made an effort to travel around Korea! I need to start planning more domestic trips around this country 🙂