Sticking to Your “Travel More” Resolutions

While January has come and gone and we’re rolling through the new year, it’s still early enough to add on some resolutions or work on the funs ones you’ve already made — like traveling more.

Whether you want to spend more time with the extended family, vacation more with the kids or take time away with your partner, there are a few ways to achieve your travel goals. Consider it self-care and work on collecting memories with your family this year, not things, with this list of easy ways to stay on track and travel more.

Make Better Use of Your Weekend

Weekends are prime real estate for getting something going for a vacation. Yes, you have errands to run and kids to bring around town, but it’s also a great time to plan that big summer trip that will be here before you know it. Try to break the bulk of your planning into sections and knock a few out at a time. Take care of the flights one weekend, hotels and various transportation the next and any tours, excursions or extra adventures you want to add on in the weekends to follow. By breaking it up, you’re giving yourself more time to organize and make payments on your various plans, while keeping stress to a minimum.

Family spending time together by the lake © Alena Ozerova | Dreamstime.com

In the meantime, your weekends are also the best time to explore your local surroundings or take a quick getaway while the kids are at a sleepover. Basically, don’t let your weekend go to waste. You can work with the kids’ schedule and enjoy a daytrip to a new location, or further explore your own neighborhood like a tourist. Either way, you’ll enjoy quality time with the kids while feeding that need to travel.

By utilizing the weekend as a quick getaway to a nearby locale you’ve been meaning to visit or that day hiking trip you haven’t had time to plan, you’re already actively sticking to your resolution.

Update as You Go

Keep a list of travel resolutions and update as you go. You can involve the kids and delegate different responsibilities, while keeping a watchful eye to make sure it actually gets done, but this way they will feel involved and you can focus on the more essential aspects of the trip.

A list can help with organization and by keeping your long-term and short-term goals in mind, you’ll be more likely to stick to them. It’s always rewarding to check a few things off the list and even add to it as you go.

Change Your Travel Habits 

Try packing lighter. Rather than loading everything your family might need, or not, into a bag, be more thoughtful about what you actually want to take. By lightening your luggage, you can skip the extra charges at the airport and all the difficulty of lugging a bag around. By instilling better travel habits in your kids and partner, you can ease the entire experience and make it simpler and more efficient for future trips.

Another good habit to get into: setting goals for yourself and family. By having dates in mind to have different trips taken or aspects of your vacation planned, you can keep the group in check and invested in family time. Set a few deadlines and have a few set family travel goals — whether it’s having a five-day vacation planned and paid for before summer or three weekend  trips crossed off your list by St. Patrick’s Day, it’s great forward momentum for keeping your family from slipping further away from those resolutions.