8 Intentional Travel Resolutions and How to Keep Them Posted on February 20, 2017November 16, 2025 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... It’s a new year, time for a new you, right? We all make resolutions this time of year, and we all break them by March. So why not make some travel resolutions? Here are a few tips on how to make intentional travel resolutions that the travel addict in you will want to keep traveling all year long. 8 Travel Intentional Resolutions and How to Keep Them 1. Stop Procrastinating Make travel intentional. One of the biggest obstacles I see people make is that they say “one day” or “I hope”. Just stop that. If you want to travel, stop putting it off and get off the sofa. Money issues? Start saving, make some sacrifices, or visit a friend or relative. Work issues? Book a work-related conference and extend it a day or two. Afraid to fly? Look into rail tours. Love wine? Book a weekend getaway with your girlfriends. See, you have no excuses. 2. Pack Lighter We all do it from time to time. Bring too many shoes, too many pieces of jewelry, or too many you name it. Packing lighter is a great travel resolution to master. It forces you to edit yourself in relation to your travels. Think about each item you place in your suitcase. Is that item going to help or hinder your travel? Do you need your camera, cell phone, laptop, and Kindle? Make sure you don’t pack the last minute. Take your time to pack and edit and edit some more. If you have your passport, a credit card, and a few extra panties, I think you’ll be ok. 3. Learn to Unplug Have you ever thought that if you didn’t put in on IG, I didn’t happen? I have seen people do some crazy stuff to get a shot, not for their gratification but likes. The irony doesn’t escape me, but from time to time, you should unplug and see the world through the eyes in your head and not your iPhone or camera. You will still cherish the experience if you don’t tell the whole world about it, and guess what? You can relax a little more and live in the moment. These side dishes are called “banchan,” which translates to “side dishes” and accompanies many Korean meals. 4. Expand your Comfort Zone Mind you; I said your comfort zone, not your “waist zone”… stay focused. I remember what I told my kids when faced with something I’ve never encountered. “How do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried or eaten it? That doesn’t mean do stupid stuff. But shake it up and try something different. Go solo, go with a group, wing it, or make an itinerary but say yes to an exciting sidetrack if one comes along. 5. Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist My friends say I’ll talk to anyone. I love to engage with the locals. And you should too. That’s how you find out out STUFF. Talk to the hotel staff offline away from the front desk. Ask them where they eat, shop, and play. Take a cooking class, walking tour, or street food tour. Learn a few words of the local language. Try to blend in by dressing like them, take public transportation, and for heaven’s sake, don’t wear the big DSLR around your neck unless you are using it. Hire a driver to take you off the beaten track to see more layers. You won’t be an expert, but you’ll appreciate the experience that much better. With that said. 6. Travel Responsibly With more and more people taking off and traveling the globe, we need to think about the footprint we leave when we do. You want to make sure you are leaving it better than you found it. Intentional travelers remember to bring the eco-friendly thermos and forgo the plastic water bottles and utensils. Traveling with your thermos will also help you drink more FREE water, as many locations have potable water spouts. Have you heard of the ‘Zero Waste’ movement? It is a movement to live without creating any waste by changing your lifestyle so that you are no longer relying on single-use items, particularly plastics, with the end goal of sending nothing to landfills. Does that sound impossible? It’s not! Out of all the things on the list, this is my steadfast resolution. Studies show that plastic deteriorates and may cause cancer. Besides, do your research and find ethical, humane, and eco-friendly tour companies that place safety and the environment above profits do not drug animals so you can get a photo with them or wreck the coral reefs with their boats and fishing lines. Some companies work as a partner to the communities and not despite it. Lest we forget, traveling responsibly also includes traveling with money we don’t have, to places that we aren’t prepared for or without balancing the travel with everything else that is taking place in our lives. Read all about it here –> A Travellers Guide to Zero Waste Travel – Guest Post by Amanda in Waste-Free Land. 7. Take Better Photos I take a lot of pics because I use them to fill in the detail when I write. Do you come with a bunch of blurry pictures, you can’t remember where you took them or a hundred shots of the same monument? Relax, focus on quality instead of quantity. Read the manual that came with your camera. I took a free course at the local museum on the necessary DSLR skills a few years ago, and it was a huge inspiration. Sign up with the photography meet up in your area or book a photo tour on your trip. 8. Intentional Travel Without Leaving Home Many people forget that the town, city, state, or country they live in also has some beautiful things to see, do, or eat. You may not have to leave home to experience something new and different. Go to the tourist office and see what’s available for “tourists”. Look for walking or biking self-guided tours. Ride the free double-decker bus, heck, just ride the bus and get off somewhere you’ve never been. Subscribe to local blogs, read the what’s happening section of the newspaper, look for visiting art exhibits, go to the Highlands, artichoke, and wine Festivals. The possibilities are endless. The key is to make intentional travel resolutions and NOT to lose that sense of adventure when you can’t travel. Like it. Pin it. I love sharing stories, lessons from abroad, and tips for curious travelers. If my work has inspired you or made you smile, please buy me a coffee. Your support helps me keep the blog running—at no cost to you. My articles are available as mobile apps for offline reading and GPS-assisted directions. Download my articles on GPSMyCity. This post contains sponsored and/or affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission. CULTURE, EVENTS & EXPERIENCES
These are all super great travel tips… my mother always used to say, get in front of the camera, not behind it, so that I could really experience what was happening in the moment. Nothing like traveling to fill your soul with gratitude! Reply
Travelling without leaving the city is an amazing idea because we have so much around us to explore. Reply
I love this article. I have never heard of a photo tour but definitely will start looking for them on our travels. I have thousand of pictures that are worthless but I still download them to sit in my cloud for years to come. We take are reuseable bottles everywhere we go and usually buy our souvenir coffee mugs when we first get somewhere so we can create memories to remind each other of when we are back at home drinking out of them. It usually starts out, “Remember that time when…”. Sometimes it was only a month ago sometimes it was years ago and we hadn’t thought of it forever. I love the idea of reducing our footprint and will make it a point to be more aware of my actions in our up coming adventures. Reply
We do the same thing… I love seeing some place we visited and we say “never been there before…” its great to have memories to share with someone. You’d be surprised at how ppl are reducing their footprint. Reply
‘Learn to Unplug’ – that’s the one for me. Should definitely try to unplug more and just relax on holiday! Reply
Great advice – especially packing light. I used to take so much stuff that I never used with me and it cost me an arm and a leg – for nothing! I’m so much more stingy about packing now. Katja xxx http://www.katnapped.com Reply
IKR. Its irritating not to use everything you bring, especially since some airlines are charging like you said… an arm and a leg. Reply
i loveee travelling but my husband’s ofc doesn’t give permit to take that many leaves.well great advice ,thanx for sharing Reply
THat’s why you have to look at exploring the city you live in, I’m sure there are tons of things you could enjoy seeing. Reply
These are some great tips and I feel like they might help me make some goals this year. I would love to make at least one family trip this year if funds allow. Reply
I am glad you found it useful. I hope you get that family trip, those were some of my best memories growing up. Reply
I am glad you found this post helpful. Nothing feels better than saving money on travel, hotels and transportation. Reply
We come up with all of these excuses to not travel and just stay at home. What we don’t realize is that we’re also giving up an opportunity to explore and experience the world! Awesome resolutions! Reply
Being able to travel more is one of the goals that I have for this year. These all sound like great ways to make sure that happens. Reply
I am addicted to travel but my funds are not unlimited so I look for ways to extend my funds in every facet of my life like limiting expensive coffee or shopping. Reply
Expanding our comfort zone is our favorite part about traveling. You’re so right to highlight it as an essential. Some of our fondest travel memories are for things that we didn’t like, but were glad we tried. Reply
These are great travel tips to bear in mind and to follow! Hope you have many more wonderful travel adventures this year! Reply
Learning to unplug is something I struggle with but I do find when I travel that I rarely use technology, so that is good at least! Reply
I loved that last bit about being a traveler right where you live. I’m a single mom building a business by myself, so there isn’t a lot of extra money and there isn’t a lot of “freedom” that would allow for much travel time. But traveling and exploring my own city? Sure, I could do that! Reply
Love this post, I definitely need to work on the whole packing lighter concept. I always say that when leaving on a trip, wish I only has one carry on instead of that plus two more suitcase. Reply
Thank you, what most experts say is to pack ahead of time, then go through it again and take half of that which should you closer to the amount of clothing you should travel with. Reply
Great post ! Pack lighter is definelty my point to improve as I always have to carry to much stuff I dont even use for the whole journey 😀 Reply
I think we all bring things we never use, it just weighs us down. You can’t stick and move with a heavy bag. lol Reply
Great advice for the New Year. My favourite tip is the first one: stop procrastinating. You are so right!!! Kisses from Cartagena Reply
Travel without leaving home is so true. . Every city has a story and we know the story of every city we visited but not our own. Reply
I love your advice here!! I think my favorite “tips” are the, relax, it doesn’t have to be an IG shot! AND the part about checking out what is local! I live in Tennessee, and there is sooo much I haven’t seen! We have a ton of stuff to do right here in our state. My goal is this next year to try and go check out some local places. Thanks for the inspiration! Reply
I watched a fight break out in front of Angkor Wat as a few people jockeyed for position. It was so sad because it was such a beautiful and magical place. And yes we all have things right in our backyards to explore, its just a matter of getting out and finding them. Reply
I am showing this post to my husband – he follows all of your tips! It is slowly but surely rubbing off on me. Except I really need to pack lighter. i LOVE to unplug when I travel. If I’m out of the country I tell people I don’t have access to the internet and my phone doesn’t have international calling just so I can have an excuse to unplug. Reply
I do the same thing except sometimes places are so hard to navigate with WIFI. This last trip to Chiang Mai we bought a SIM card for less than $8 USD for 7 days and it was great. Mostly because I had so much going on before the trip, I knew I hadn’t done all the research I usually do. Tell your hubby thanks and hey you need to get with the program too. I can use both of your support. Reply
They are both awesome places to visit. San Diego freaked me out though because the last time I was there there weather was exactly the same for an entire month– blue skies and sunny. It was kinda weird being a New Yorker. Reply
That’s a great list of tips. I’d love to go to Italy, but rigt now saving up for a trip is not a priority. Reply
Traveling responsibly is not traveling with money we don’t have. Italy isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and you’ll enjoy it even more when you aren’t pinching every single penny. Reply