For the Wanderlusters in the world, we know that traveling in itself is a unique experience. However, I feel that sometimes I get so caught up in making the trip perfect that I forget to enjoy the experience! There are times I love to have a trip planned in detail and others I wing it once I arrive. Sometimes I make it all about learning a culture and other times I selfishly relax and selfheal. It is never the same, but I think there are a few things I’d like to do better this year. So here are my 5 Travel Resolutions for 2019!
1. Enjoy the unexpected
To be honest, sometimes the things that seem the worst in the moment end up being the best. For example, we had a host cancel our house reservation 12 hours before our arrival! We ended up finding a new place to stay that was in better location and full of young adults our age that were so friendly!! Shout out to AirBNB for saving our butts! It ended up for the best and I need to roll with the punches better!
2. Plan at least one day for sight seeing
Even if I have already been to a place I believe there is always something new to see. That is why one resolution is to always plan a day for sightseeing even in my frequent destinations. I’ve realized that even after living in Southern Idaho for 20/25 years of my life I still haven’t seen everything it has to offer! So if I can’t even see my own back yard who is to say I have seen every single thing other cities have to offer? We used Sightseeing Pass in New York and loved it!
3. Plan at least one relaxation day
This is something I tend to forget, especially lately! With my work schedule being crazy I have been taking a vacation and then getting home either SUPER late the night before going back to work or getting home in the morning and going to work in the afternoon. So not only have I not been taking a rest day between vacation and work but I barely relax on vacation! It seems like I always have so much planned and people to meet that it is go, go, go the moment I arrive! I need to remember to plan a day to lay by the pool or curl up in my Airbnb and read a book. A vacation is supposed to be as healing at it is exploring!
4. Meet a local
This is something I used to be so good about doing! Now that I travel with my fiancé I feel like I don’t stop to talk to strangers in coffee shops as much. My goal for this year is to always make friends with a local. Whether that be asking them for directions and striking up a conversation or always meeting our Airbnb host in person! There are so many easy and great ways to meet new people. And locals know the town!! They have the best food and sightseeing recommendations.
5. Take less pictures
Now, stay with me here. I LOVE documenting our vacations and having memories to always look back on. However, I feel as though I have crossed the line of HAVING to document everything and just enjoying the moment. I need to remember that some things are so pure and so wonderful that just being in the moment is enough. I want to experience moments that I don’t need pictures to remember because I was so fully invested and so present that the memory becomes a part of me. And honestly, sometimes the best moments are not moments that need to be shared with the world but kept precious between those who were there.
These are amazing tips!! I’ll keep them in mind when traveling!
Great tips! It’s always smart to have a bit of rest in the midst of any adventure!
Very true! Got to come back refreshed 🙂
Love these tips! Especially meeting a local. It’s so important to really get into the true local culture of wherever you are.
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These look like really smart traveling resolution tips! I’ll keep them in mind for the next time we travel.
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Great things to keep in mind during your travels!
Love this! I’m going to Australia which is going to be a huge time difference so I know I might not be super awake for the first few days so I’m going to enjoy it as I go.
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I love this! I have a bad habit of planning and over planning our trips…I always want to make sure we make the most of our time spent away but I think it can make everything more stressful! I’ll definitley keep these tips in mind next time we head off somewhere!
Stephanie
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The relaxation day is where we have trouble. We are usually somewhere for such a short period of time that we pack everything in. We need to work on it!
We used to be the same way. It has been a lifesaver for us though! We come home feeling so much better.
These are great travel tips for anyone going on a trip. I especially love the idea of a relaxation day. Sometimes trips are so busy!
I have done that before, not planned a day of relaxation and what a mistake. You need that time to recoup and wind down, it’s super important
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These are all great points! One things I have learned over the years is to always try to leave one day open for relaxing or catching up on something we may have missed. Everything is so much easier with that little buffer! I wish I caught on to that sooner!
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I feel the same way! So many of our trips were jam packed and busy yet we’d leave feeling liked we’d missed something or missed out. Taking a day to relax or just not have a plan has made all the difference.
These are great tips and I know the feeling of taking too many pics and not living enough in the moment. 🙂
I think everyone can relate to that part! The first time I truly realized it was after a concert when I was watching my snapchat story back and realized that in my video there were 100 other people filming the same thing yet none of us were just enjoying the music we had paid to see. After that I decided that if people wanted to see the concert or the city or visit the museum they would do it themselves and no one was relying on my snapchat story to show them what they were missing.
This is such a fun idea for a blog post 🙂 I love this! As a passionate traveler, I totally relate to this, and I agree 🙂