The Travel Hack’s New Years Resolutions

I feel like New Years resolutions aren’t the cool thing to do this year. Everyone is talking about celebrating your achievements rather than setting yourself unrealistic challenges. Other people are talking about small ‘goals’ and other people have ditched them all together but they never stick to them anyway so what’s the point?

But I like New Years resolutions. I especially like resolutions that are written down or displayed on the internet for all to see. There’s that feeling of accountability when other people are reading them.

Myself and the rest of the team have been chatting about our New Year's resolutions. Hopefully we'll be checking back in at the end of 2016 so let you know how we got on!

 

Monica’s Resolution: To take more Weekenders

I’ve been bombarding you with information about Weekenders recently – sorry about that! But that’s because in 2016 I want to take as many weekend trips as I can.

For me, the way to take more weekend breaks is to simply be more organised. I want to get my weekends booked up with fun and exciting trips so I don’t end up wasting weekends with boring chores. Sometimes I’ll have a boring weekend and it gets to Sunday evening and I think, ‘We’ll do something fun next weekend’. But before I know it, it’s Saturday again and I hadn’t booked anything! So my aim for 2016 is to get organised with my Weekenders.

Elle’s Resolution: Slow down and appreciate travel experiences

I used to obsess over the number of places I had visited. It was a personal goal of mine to travel to as many countries in the world as I possibly could, and I've been lucky enough to have made excellent progress with this goal.

But one of the downfalls of trying to see more, more, more is that I have often forgotten to slow down and really appreciate a place. What I want in 2016 is to really get under the skin of a destination. To spend more time talking to locals and less time planning a minute-by-minute itinerary. To choose one or two things I really want to see rather than spending a full day running around trying to see everything.

Not only will I experience a richer, deeper kind of travel, but I think my writing will be better as a result. I'll be able to tell more stories, and see a destination through the eyes of someone not in a hurry.

Of course, I will have to resist the urge to keep devouring destinations like they're about to disappear. But my new year's resolution is to slow down and focus on quality rather than quantity in 2016.

 

Anne’s Resolution: Improve my photography and videography

My New Year's resolution, apart from practising yoga daily (to keep any mild irrational tendencies at bay!) is to improve on my photography and to take baby steps into the scary world of videography.

Whilst I feel my photography has come on a lot in 2015, I'm conscious that people want to see action, although a little video of a business class cabin in British Airways may not float everyone's boat.

Considering I'm still getting to grips with the potential of Lightroom and Photoshop, it seems a daunting prospect at the moment but the one day photography course I attended in 2015 really paid dividends so I suspect I will do the same thing with videography.

Of course, I always want to keep improving my photography so I will be working on that too.

 

Amy’s Resolution: Get out from behind the camera

My resolution is to make sure that my camera isn't having all of the fun when I'm travelling. In other words, I want to spend less time photographing from every angle and drafting social media posts and more time just being in the moment and appreciating it. The trick is in balancing the two.

 

 

Char’s Resolution: Travel in the UK

I’ve always known that I’ve neglected travelling in the UK. Overseas travel just always seems to top my list. However, now that I’m a mama I’m especially aware that I really don’t make the most of ‘my backyard’.

My plan for 2016 is to break my bad habit and to really take advantage of the gorgeous places that are on my doorstep (or at least an easy car drive away).

I went to the Lake District a few years ago and was blown away with its beauty. I swear it looked more like Austria than England. I vowed I’d be back and would explore more of the UK. During 2016 I’d love to visit again. I also think I should travel to Cornwall, Scotland (specifically to take a ride on the famous Jacobite aka the Hogwarts Express!), the Peak District…well, the list goes on.

The great thing about travelling in the UK is it’s quicker. There’s no getting to the airport, let alone hanging around at it. It’s often cheaper too, all of which is no bad thing with a baby in tow!

Do you have any resolutions or can you relate to any of ours?