I love the start of a new year because it is a new beginning for everything. I am so ready to plan everything I want to do in the upcoming year. Aside from professional goals, I have a long list of personal goals too. And it includes my most favourite thing in the world: travelling!
I feel it is essential to have personal goals, so you are more focused on what you need to do.
So what is that you want in the new year? Do you want to travel more often?
I feel that some people are stuck when it comes to travelling. They may think it is costly or it is too dangerous, especially when it comes to solo travel. And they are not sure where they want to go.
So I came up with ten simple things you can do to help you travel more in the new year.
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1. Get inspirations from Instagram and Pinterest
Not sure where you want to go in the new year? Well, there’s no time better than the present. Start research and get inspired!
For me, I get the majority of my inspirations from social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. How many hours have I lost from scrolling through all the pretty photos on Instagram? And also get sucked into the vortex of Pinterest?
Gathering all your ideas on either social media platform is easy.
For Instagram, whenever you come across a travel photo that inspires your next travel, add the photo to your collection. All you have to do is tap the button at the bottom right of the post. Either tap it once to save it in your collection or tap it and hold it and save it to a specific collection.
As for Pinterest, you can set up boards and collect all the pins that inspire your travels. Once you found an interesting pin, create a board and save the pin! That’s it! That is how easy it is!
Over time, you will have a collection of photos that peak your travel interest. You may even see a theme or a pattern of what type of things you like to do or see. And those are the places that you should see.
RELATED POST: How to stay safe as a solo female traveller
2. Dream big!
Whatever it is you want to do and wherever it is you want to go, go for it! Always aim for something big!
I can’t tell you how long my travel bucket list was when I first started travelling. I had lists with categories and subcategories, etc. Yes, I took it very seriously.
And you should take it seriously too! If there is somewhere that you’ve always wanted to go, you should totally go for it. There is nothing wrong with have big dreams! It just means you want a lot out of life and want the best for yourself.
If you don’t already have a bucket list of places you want to visit, start now!
RELATED POST – best activities for solo travellers
3. Don’t believe everything you hear from the media
You often hear travel stories that have gone bad in the media especially when it comes to solo travelling. And I’ve heard numerous horror stories and reports about how unsafe it is for solo female travellers to be galavanting around the world.
When I was planning my trip to Colombia, all my family and friends told me that I shouldn’t go alone because it is dangerous and I would get kidnapped. For a while, the media portrayed Colombia to be a scary place where people should not visit.
Despite what I heard and read, I still went anyway. Let me tell you, nothing happened, and I had the best time! I thought Colombia is a beautiful country and with wonderful people. Nothing remotely happened to me, and I’m so glad I went.
But of course, bad things can happen at any time. But you can be smart about it.
As a solo traveller, always have some safety precautions wherever you go. Be smart about yourself and your safety. But you do not need to be overly nervous or paranoid either.
Whatever it is that you hear in the media, it is not as bad as it seems.
And if you are thinking about visiting places that may be questionable, do your research. Most of all, talk to people who have been and get their honest feedback. There are many online groups, especially on Facebook, where travellers share information all the time.
Whatever you do, do not let your fear stop you from travelling anywhere you want to go because the world is a wonderful place and there are many places you should explore.
4. Plan ahead (especially if you want to save money)
Planning a trip is half the fun! It is a time where you can dream about the places you will visit and all the exciting things that you will be part of.
And planning can potentially save a lot of time and money.
For most travellers (probably 99% of us), a budget is a big concern when it comes to travelling. With proper planning, you can still enjoy a trip and not spending an exorbitant amount of money.
Here are other money-saving tips for planning your next vacation:
- plan your trip around public holidays so you can stretch your vacation a bit longer
- if you are already travelling for work, tag on an extra few days at the end of your business trip
- if you are limited to high season travel only (i.e. summer, Christmas holiday, etc.), book early so you can get the cheapest flight tickets and accommodation
- and if you are flexible, watch for airline seat sales. And sign up for airline newsletters and wait for seat sales. Whenever a good deal comes up, book it! This brings me to my next point…
If you follow some of the planning tips and other money-saving tips while travelling abroad, you can potentially save lots of money!
RELATED POST – how to effectively plan a trip using google maps and saved pins
5. Don’t hesitate – book the ticket!
Whenever you are online and see a fantastic deal for a flight, just book the ticket!
Cheap flights don’t come around too often. Sometimes they are gone as soon as you see it because someone else took it before you did.
Whenever I plan a trip, and I see a decent price for the ticket, I just book it. I want to secure a ticket and start planning. Most of all, I don’t want to spend all my time looking for the same ticket over and over again.
With that said, you don’t need always to be online and look out for deals. Follow some tips on finding cheap tickets online, sign up for airline newsletters and other travel websites for cheap flight tickets. Some sites are dedicated to searching for deals and flight price errors.
Whenever you come across a reasonable price for airfare, just book it! You still have 24 hours to cancel it and get all your money back if you decide to cancel. But don’t cancel!
6. Stop buying things you do not need
Okay gals, we can all use some sort of financial diet from time to time.
I used to buy a lot of things only because I want them. Not because I need them. And at some point in my life, retail therapy was a big part of my life!
However, I wanted to travel more and see the world. It means I need money. And it means I need to cut back on things I do not need.
All of a sudden, fancy clothes and purses are no longer important. And I don’t need to have a latte every day! Just once in a while! Ha!
If you want to travel more, you have to trim your spending. One way of understanding your spending is by tracking everything you buy. Once you see all the purchases you make over a month; you’d be shocked at how much money you are throwing away.
So goodbye, frivolous purchases! See you later, late-night online shopping binges! And sayonara to everything that does not contribute to my well-being and my travel funds.
7. Open a travel savings account
If you don’t have enough money to travel, you will have to start somewhere to grow your travel funds.
Open a savings account just for travelling. Most savings accounts are free to open, and fees are minimal.
You can automatically deposit a percentage of your income each month and watch it grow. The account will grow without you thinking twice about it. You would be surprised how much you can save over time! Then you can take your dream vacation!
8. Live a minimalist lifestyle
I used to be someone who likes to shop and buy everything I want.
But these days, I live pretty minimally because it suits my personality, my lifestyle and aligns with what I want in life.
I moved many times in my life, and every time I throw more stuff out. After a while, I feel guilty about spending a ton of money on things that I will eventually get rid of.
I realized that I don’t need a lot to sustain my life. Especially now. Living a nomadic lifestyle almost requires one to be minimalistic. There is only so much you can travel with!
But I love it! I love living minimally! I put less focus on buying material things while I place more emphasis on creating experiences and building memories.
Honestly, I would rather have no possession at all and travel the world with my 24-litre backpack and a laptop.
By being minimalistic in how I live, I can prioritize my money spending habits. It allows me to save everything I can and spend it exactly the way I want to.
But 100% minimalism is hard to achieve. Even I don’t think I am there yet.
But you can take what resonates with you and apply what you can to your life. Perhaps it is time to (re-)evaluate what is important to you.
Read more about minimalism and travel:
- how having a minimalist mindset helped me save money to travel
- minimalist travel packing list: my ten must-have items for every trip
- minimalist mindset: challenge yourself to pack less for your next trip
9. Set your priorities
If you want to travel, you have to make travel a priority.
As with anything in life, if you make it a priority, then you can make it happen.
We all have different priorities. Career. Family. Friends. Ourselves.
So you have to think about what it is that you want out of life. Is travel a big part of your life? Is exploring the world an important aspect? Will you regret not travelling down the road Those are all critical questions to ask yourself.
Setting priority is especially important if you have never travelled before. Or travelled solo before. Ask yourself why do you want to travel? and travel solo?
Once you answer those critical questions, it will be apparent to you what you need to do.
Whatever it is that you decide to do, write down your goals and watch it all happen.
10. Write down your all goals for the new year
This brings me to the last point.
I am a believer when it comes to setting goals. I believe that as soon as you write down something, it will happen. It all has to do with Law of Attraction.
When I was in my late 20’s, I was in a job I didn’t like and always felt like I wanted more. I wrote down a list of things I wanted to achieve within the next few years. Some of those things included apply for interior design school, quit my full-time job, find a part-time job while I am in school, and get a minimum grade of B+ for all my courses.
And I wrote down my travel goals too. Including I will travel every Christmas break while I am in school and travel abroad during the summer months.
To my surprise, everything happened exactly the way how I wanted. I went back to full-time school for three years while working 20 hours a week drawing for a furniture company, and my grades were a solid B+. Ha!
And during those three years, I spent five weeks in South America, few weeks in Asia, numerous trips to New York City, two months of backpacking in Europe and two months interning in Shanghai.
When you write your goals, be as clear as possible. Write down specifics and details of everything you want to manifest. When you write down all your goals explicitly, you are putting the energy into what you want.
If you genuinely want to travel in the new year, make travel your priority and set your goal of travelling more.
I hope that was helpful to you! Let me know in the comments below!
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