News Article: 8 Travel Resolutions for 2013

CNN has a great article (here) on 8 Travel Resolutions for 2013. Written by blogger Maureen Jenkins, Urban Travel Girl, who is a freelancer travel journalist based in Paris. This article really caught my attention, because Chris and I are putting together our own travel goals, at the moent(to be shared soon). After reading her article, I added two more goals to my own list. Here is her list of 8 goals, you should consider in 2013 and my own commentary on each:


    1.                 Take off on your own -- even if you're traveling with a group

I love traveling by myself. I personally like the silence; not having to talk to people and being alone with my thoughts. Also, I like to people watch and its easier by yourself. However, even when I am traveling with friends or family, I need "me time." Be it a walk in a park by myself or a nap, I need that time to decompress. If you have never traveled on your own, I say go for it. Start small, a weekend away in a city in the United States. Learn how to eat by yourself, which isn't an easy thing to do. (My suggestion is always sit at a bar to eat at the beginning  you can always strike up a conversation with someone). After you have done a weekend, try a few days before hitting a full week trip like mine recent one to Tokyo. Traveling by yourself might be something you like, but don't let the fear of the unknown stop you from doing it.

    2.                 Don't let the lack of a foreign language keep you at home.

This is one I need to work on. Tokyo was one of my first time going to a place that I did not know the language, not a single word. Before you leave, learning a few phrases to get you by. When you arrive, understand you will be at a disadvantage, but with patience and pointing to items, you will get by fine. There are hundreds of languages in the world, if you limited your travel to those countries that speak the language you speak...your travel list would be pretty short.

    3.                 Say you're not a "tour" or "cruise" person? Give one a shot.

I dislike tours. I don't like being rushed to one place or another. I hate schedules on vacation. All I want to plan is when I am arriving and when I am leaving. Everything else should be up in the air. However, I might try a cruise in 2013. If I want to complete my goal of visiting all 7 continents before 2015, I am going to have to get over my dislike of tours and cruises, as a cruise is the only easy way to get to Antarctica. Unless I decided to become a scientist and get a National Institute of Science grant to study the mating pattern of penguins in the next 3 years, so I will have to get over my dislike of cruising. 

    4.                 Don't be ashamed to fall back on what's familiar.

Its ok to stop at McDonald's abroad for a hamburg, just don't do it every day. In India and have a craving for Pizza, go for it. One meal out of a dozen will not ruin your vacation, its when all of your meals have been at McDonald's that you have a problem.

    5.                 Vow not to leave vacation days on the table.

I am working on this one. Its easy not use vacation time and have it roll over. Many of my friends  who work for Uncle Sam, are not taking vacation time and having it roll over. There goal is to cash-out in the end. Yes, I know the idea that if one takes vacation time, they are seen as a slacker in the eyes of a boss. The reality is that many studies have shown that works who take vacation time have better productivity. Also, you are only young once. Take your vacation time and visit a foreign country, because it will be much more difficult, when you have a wife, kids, a mortgage and a dog named Sam. (I don't have experience with this, but I can only imagine its true).

    6.                 Start a travel-specific savings account.

I have a travel savings account. Each year a percentage of my annual bonus goes into the account and I can spend it on travel throughout the year. All your travel expenses should come out of this account (ie annual fees for credit cards, mattress runs, mileage runs etc.) The savings account becomes a travel budget. Setting yourself a travel budget is important, because you can get caught up in the "game" and wind up spending yourself into debt. I have been meaning to do a post about the need for a travel budget, so expect one soon (especially after a frank conversation with my friend and coauthor Chris about the need for a budget.)

    7.                 Do at least ONE thing that scares you while you're on the road.

All I can say is AMEN to this one. Its something that I preach every time, I hear someone is going on vacation. Try something new to eat, go somewhere off the beaten bath or do something that is outside of your norm. On my trip to Tokyo, I went to a public bathhouse. Well, the rules at a bathhouses in Tokyo require you to be buck naked. Yes, I was naked with 500 other men. It was actually got liberating. On top of that, I treated myself to a pedicure, which consisted of hundreds of fish eating the dead-skin off my feet and legs (lets say it tickled.) Back to this goal, I actually believe you should do something out of your norm or different each day of your trip. When I vacation, I eat things I never would at home. The way I do it? I don't ask what I am eating until after I am finished . . . roasted pig ears, anyone?


    8.                 Don't let other people's fears keep you from going.

This one is key. My Jewish grandparents lament on how they have never visited Israel. Them not going to Israel is not because of money, but rather fear. I had many opportunities to go to Israel for free, but I never went because my grandparents talked me out of it. I was not scared to go, they were. Similarly, before I went to Niger, many people told me I should not go, because I could get kidnapped. I didn't let there fears stop me and I had a great time. At the Tokyo public bath, I struck up a conversation with a gentlemen named Mike (who went to school in Washington, DC before moving to Japan), and he was telling me how he wanted to go to Israel, but his GFs and his families told them not to. I was frank with him, I told him to go, but buy great travel insurance. If the security situation worsens before you leave, using the travel insurance to get your money back. Don't let other people dictate where you travel, you need to make your own decision. However, going back to goal # 7, if you are a worry wort - sometimes you need to do things that scary you, but still buy great travel insurance.

I think all 8 goals are perfect for all travels. Regardless, if you are beginner, an avid traveler or a points addict, I think each of these goals makes perfect sense for people who share the travel hobby. For example, if you only stay at chain hotels on vacation, why not try a B&B. (Yes, I know its about the points, but its also about the experience, lets not forget. Spending as much time as we do earning points, we must get something out of it) I am personally adding #3 & #5 to my list this year. #5 (vacation time) might be hard, since I am new to the industry and job, but I will just have to make it work. 

Have you started your goal list for 2013? Do any of these 8 goals make it on to your list?