This blog post was updated on October 5, 2018.
Most sappy Christmas movies display a ticker at the bottom of the screen, alerting you the days until Christmas. Apart from making me nervous because I have no gifts under the tree, I start to fret over what comes after the big day, New Years.
With the coming of the New Year, people head to their hair stylists for a fix up before holiday parties, their doctors for a yearly checkup or to the local mechanic to have the oil and tires changed on the car. I suggest doing a New Year travel planning check-up while waiting on those appointments. Here are just a few areas you may want to hone in on for 2011.
Start Planning Financially: A common complaint of travelers is that they don’t have the money to travel. As most make resolutions for the upcoming year around this time, it doesn’t hurt to start laying out a financial plan for your travels. If you make travel a priority in reference to your pocketbook, you may be more inclined to keep those resolutions to travel.
Set Out With a Mental Plan: Think about where you want to go in the New Year. What are your travel goals for 2011? This year, I am hoping to cross off some new destinations in addition to some places I have previously visited. You need to get in the mindset to travel, or like the money factor, you won’t go. Much of mental travel preparation involves being scared to travel, getting over those fears and figuring out what is important to you when it comes to travel. If you want to see all fifty states by the age of 30, 2011 is a great year to accomplish travel goals if you tell yourself so.
Make Actual Arrangements: Book your tickets. Buy your guidebooks. Start looking for where you are going to stay. Sometimes the hardest part is hitting that “purchase” button on a big plane ticket. If you make plans that are set in stone when you have mental travel preparation down, you are living out your travel resolutions instead of postponing that click of a mouse from the comforts of home.
Figure Out Your Priorities: In order to make the most of traveling in 2011, you must consider your priorities. Not everyone can travel all the time, but if you can fit in weekend trips here and there, you can still satisfy the travel itch. If seeing Antarctica is important to you, set aside pointless spending at home and other excuses. In order to live out travel dreams, you have to set your priorities and stick to them.
Take Time Off: If you can take time off, do it. If you can’t, it may be time for a new job. With a New Year, you can start to reserve your days off. If you know you want to travel, you shouldn’t let work stop you. Find a weekend. Utilize vacation days. All work and no travel can make me a very dull redhead.
Flickr: nhanusek
Leave a Comment