1. Start saving now!
Open a savings account dedicated to travel and start dreaming (and saving) for an epic trip later in the year. Even putting a small amount away each month will add up quickly! Try skipping one coffee or meal out per week and putting that money towards your travels instead. It’s an easy way to save without feeling deprived.
2. Plan a trip around a destination workshop.
While exploring a new country and experiencing its culture, you’ll also come home with a new skill! Learn to block print in Jaipur, India, learn indigo dyeing techniques in Fujino, Japan, or learn to make ceramic tiles in Lisbon, Portugal through Ace Camps. You’ll open yourself up to other new experiences, too, as your travel companions will be artists, professionals, chefs, photographers, authors and others who share a common interest in learning, travel and culture.
3. Take advantage of a long holiday weekend.
All too often, the places that are just next door get pushed aside for the more dreamy destinations, so this year check those nearby gems off your travel list by going on a three-day road trip over a holiday weekend to a nearby destination you’ve always said you would visit. Added bonus: no need to use any of that precious vacation time!
4. Take a “staycation”.
How often do weekends fly by with little to no time for true rest and relaxation? Planning a staycation will give you the chance to fully relax without the planning, time and money involved with planning a vacation farther abroad. Try staying at a local hotel with an amazing spa, visiting that local museum you never find the time to visit, or taking a brewery tour. The world — or your city, rather — is your oyster.
5. Upgrade your luggage!
Treat yourself to some new luggage and and travel in style this year. Away Travel’s modern line of luggage comes with an 100-day no questions asked trial period and a lifetime warranty. Away Travel’s carry-on also has a built-in battery, so you’ll never have to search for an open outlet at the airport again.
6. Frame your favourite travel photos.
Put your favourite photos in beautiful frames where you’ll see them each day to stay inspired at home and dreaming until your next adventure. Seeing the adventures you’ve already been on every single day will keep you motivated to plan the next great escape!
7. Skip the international phone plan and take your vacation offline.
With WiFi so widely available, give your smartphone a break and immerse yourself in the local experience. Don’t worry — there’s always time to catch up on Instagram at a café. You can download maps ahead of time to use offline with an app like Maps.me or get lost with a paper map because it’s way more exciting and romantic than squinting at a phone screen.
8. Try Flytographer!
There’s nothing like the experience of meeting up with a friendly local (who just so happens to be a skilled photographer) and coming home with amazing memories of your trip with everyone in the photo. You’ll never say, “The photos don’t do it justice” again.
