Keeping up New Year’s resolutions isn’t an impossibility as long as you don’t set the bar too high from the outset. If you have the discipline of an elite athlete, of course, you may succeed in going to the gym four times a week, or doing an hour of yoga before work every day. The stats show, however, that most resolutions rapidly become dissolutions within weeks. If you see yourself more of an aesthete than a high-achieving elite, we can recommend some adventures that take you to beautiful places this year, while also motivating you to keep any resolutions around positivity and sustainability. Here are a few ideas on how to add a bit more pep to your life this coming year, and for many years to come. Rather than wasting time giving yourself pep talks.
1. Keep the bar at the right height
The secret of ringing in the new year with some healthy change is not to set the bar too high, while also seeking out something with a positive end-goal to keep you motivated and excited. Such as a long-distance walking or cycling trail, which you can start getting ready for in January and, in so doing, improve your physical and mental wellbeing in the build up, with a bit of learning thrown into the mix.
2. Make your dream adventure a sustainable one
If addressing the climate crisis is one way in which you want to change your lifestyle, we hear you. The Natural Adventure was founded by people who love hiking and cycling in wild and wonderful places. Places that we want to keep that way. Responsible tourism has, therefore, been at the heart of what we do since the get go. If you choose a walking holiday in a remote part of the Balkans, for example, you are sustaining small accommodation providers, traditional tavernas and local transport companies every step of the way. You may also be re-instilling pride of place within small communities which were left disenfranchised and damaged after years of conflict. And this is just one example of over 50 destinations that we offer where you can travel with a positive impact.
3. Make your dream an affordable one
By not aiming too high financially, you may be more likely to holiday in a way that aligns with your vision for the new year. It also means that you may even be able to sprinkle joy throughout the year, by not only saving up for your summer holidays but also for one in a never-ending November or a freezing February. You can go walking in Málaga for five days for under £500 for example. Or, for a similar budget, you can trek to the top of Toubkal, North Africa’s highest mountain in Morocco, as well as Olympus, Greece’s ultimate odyssey. Here are all of our adventures that come in at a similar budget. Although we do have plenty of holidays in a higher bracket, we always offer adventures with no frills but just as many thrills.
4. Don’t tell yourself you’re not able for adventures
The adventure industry is packed with images of people bungee jumping or downhill skiing. Quick thrills (or destroying hills) tourism is not our bag, however. We have adventures that cater for all abilities. We totally get that not everyone wants to be summiting at sunrise, counting cols or focusing on their Fitbits. We respect that people have varying degrees of mobility and also different adventurous aims. For example, we supported an extraordinary woman who took on the Camino de Santiago in her wheelchair, (that’s 780km in 41 days by the way), but we also have a plethora of family or friend groups with mixed abilities, and we can adapt our holidays with trails to suit. So if you want to ramble in the Rhodopes with your grandmother, or persuade your teenage cyclists to do Scotland’s Great Glen Way with you, or take on one of our 700 other adventures, we’d love to make that happen.
5. Find a travel buddy
While people are in the mood to find something new for the year ahead, it’s a great time to find a travel buddy and commit to taking on an adventure together. We have many happy customers who don’t see each other very often, but reunite on a rambling trip or a cycling adventure. If your chosen travel buddy doesn’t live too far away, you can also get into training together, meaning that you’re much more likely to achieve your goal for more adventures this year. Or even if you aren’t close by, you can motivate each other using shared exercise platforms in the build up to your actual trip. For more inspiration, check out our blogs on preparing for a hiking holiday, or training for a cycling adventure.
6. Find ways to travel without flying
If reducing your carbon footprint is on your new year’s list, travelling by train is a no brainer. But planning and booking trains can sometimes give you brainache. Which is why we’ve clearly labelled all our adventures that are easily reachable by rail when travelling within the UK or Europe. We’ve also put together a library of loco tips and trails. If you haven’t explored it yet, the European rail network is a gift to natural adventurers and, if you book in advance, you can get some great value tickets too. You are also cutting your carbon costs big time. So, if you’re resolving to travel the green way this year, we can get you on track.
7. Travel with an open mind
You may have set yourself the goal to travel and explore more this year but, in order to manage your expectations, it’s important to adjust your mindset sometimes, and keep it open. In fact, if we had to recommend one thing to incorporate into your new year’s resolutions this year, it would be to find ways to achieve mindfulness when travelling. And, just to get your zen voyage off to a good start, we’ve a blog to set you on your way, with tips on journeying the joyful way.
8. Get in training
This brings us back to the notion of not setting the bar too high if you want to really achieve your New Year’s resolutions for positive, impactful travel this year. You don’t have to head to the top of Mount Olympus or Mount Aconagua, although we can definitely take you there if that’s your aim. Our adventure holidays are all categorised according to their difficulty levels, which you can read about here. As mentioned above, we also have detailed blogs on preparing for a hiking holiday, or training for a cycling adventure, so take a peek and start a plan.
9. Start getting in gear
As well as training, you may want to start thinking about travel gear. We don’t think it’s necessary to spend thousands on gadgets and gear. However, by starting to think about it now, you can start asking around to borrow some things, or look online at the many second-hand options, and then you have time to use them during preparation hikes and cycling outings. Check out our blogs on What to pack for a hiking trip and What to pack for a cycling trip.
10. Get in the know about the good way to go
If one of your new year’s resolutions is to travel in a slow and sustainable way, then building your knowledge about responsible tourism issues is key. On the majority of our destination pages, you can scroll down to find responsible tourism advice. Such as being sensitive to discussing the war in Kosovo, using water sparingly in Spain and respecting Ramadan in countries like Morocco. We also have a series of responsible tourism blogs, with insights into topics such as photography, overtourism or conscious consumption on your travels. As experts in responsible tourism, we write regularly about the subject in our blog.
We hope you’ve enjoyed thinking about ways in which you can achieve your new year’s resolutions when it comes to travel but also taking a more sustainable and ethical approach to the world. If you have, it’s time to shake off the duvet, shake up your life and make this your year for adventure. For more information on any of our tours, don’t hesitate to contact any of our adventure specialists. Oh and ask them if they’ve got any new year resolutions, and see what they come up with!
