What are your resolutions for the new year? If you’re anything like us, your list probably includes at least a few of the following:

• Spend more time with loved ones.
• Live in the moment.
• Try new and exciting things.
• Make memories, not purchases.
• Step outside your comfort zone.
• Spend more time outdoors.
• Don’t let stress and busyness keep you from doing things that make you happy.

Sure, this list of resolutions may seem a bit ambitious. But luckily, there is a single activity that you can do more of in the new year that covers each and every one of these items: travel more.

Of course, most people would like to travel more. But it’s so easy to get bogged down in the humdrum of daily life that it can be hard to seize the opportunity when it’s ripe for the taking. Then there are the all-too-common excuses: “I don’t have the time.” “I don’t have the money.” “It’s too much work to plan.” “I don’t have enough vacation days.”

But as professional world travelers, these excuses don’t fool us for a minute. We believe that most everyone can and should travel more. In our many years helping clients fulfill their travel bucket lists, we’ve learned a thing or two about how those who are lusting for adventure can incorporate more travel into their busy lives. Here are our expert tips on how to travel more in the new year:

 

1. Destination family reunions

If you always go home for the holidays, it may be time to mix it up. Rather than argue about whose family you’ll celebrate with this year, consider turning an annual family visit into a family vacation. Using services like HomeAway or Airbnb, you might try booking a house in a scenic area that’s big enough for the extended family. Breaking your holiday routine might just do the trick to enhance the quality time you spend together.

 

2. Working getaways

Maybe you can’t break away from business for too long, but this is 2018: many of us don’t need to be physically present to handle every aspect of our jobs. Pack your laptop and head for a new city for a week. You can spend business hours working in coffee shops or coworking spaces, and evenings exploring your surroundings. The change of scenery might even give you a boost in productivity.

 

3. Visit old friends

Have any old work colleagues or friends from college who have since moved to a distant locale? Go visit them! One of the best ways to travel around a place you’ve never been is with a friend who lives there as your guide. You’ll get insider tips, have amazing company, and possibly even free lodging to boot. Visiting friends is one of the best excuses to travel to places you might have otherwise never considered.

 

4. Let professionals sweat the details for you

If travel was as easy as just flying in and flying out, we bet people would do it a lot more often. But it actually can be that easy when you let professional travel organizers plan your trip for you. Especially for massive international events that include complicated ticketing, competitive hotel booking, serious crowd control, and communication in a foreign language – the stresses of organizing these trips can detract from the joy of travelling. Professional tour providers like Bucket List Events can alleviate these issues so that you can actually relax and enjoy the trip.

 

5. Day-trips count, too!

If your least favorite part of traveling is that you don’t get to sleep in your own bed, let us remind you that travel doesn’t always need to be overnight. No matter where you live, we bet there are plenty of interesting destinations that are less than a 2-hour flight or drive away. Head out early, make it to a new city by lunchtime, spend the afternoon exploring a new city or hiking a gorgeous trail, and eat a great dinner before heading home in time for a good night’s sleep.

 

6. Make the most of your business trip

Traveling for work doesn’t always include the most exciting destinations or much time for leisure, but it pays to take an inch where you can get one. Talk to your company about tacking on an extra day or two to your stay. You can use this extra time to wander around the location, or rent a car and drive out to somewhere more exciting.

 

7. Take advantage of standard holidays

You can get a lot more mileage out of your vacation days when you sandwich normal holidays in between them. Big U.S. holidays like Thanksgiving or 4th of July are also an excellent opportunity to go abroad. While everything is closed in the States, you can be living it up in a foreign country where everything is open for business.

 

8. Be willing to take detours

Driving a few hours to visit family? Instead of taking the most direct route, consider taking a few extra hours for the trip so you can stop off at park or site along the way. Booking a flight? Maybe that 24-hour layover in a random city could make for an adventure. Receive an invitation that’s not part of your itinerary? Seize the chance, as it may not come again.

 

9. Stay inspired

So maybe the bucket list trip you have in mind isn’t the kind of trip you can just squeeze into a fully-packed schedule. Maybe it’s the type of trip that takes months, if not years, of saving and planning. Even if the trip of your dreams isn’t slated for the coming year, you can still resolve to make moves towards getting there. Subscribe to flight alerts so you can anticipate when flights are at their cheapest. Watch travel specials about the nature, history, and food of the region. Read up on the cultural events or exciting activities in the area. Use language apps like Duolingo to teach yourself some useful phrases in the language of the destination. Don’t let the daily grind lead you to lose sight of your bucket list trip.

 

Travel doesn’t always have to look like a vacation at a beach-side resort or an intrepid months-long backpacking excursion. With the right attitude, you can recognize opportunities to incorporate more travel into your daily life and get more out of the vacations you do take. How to travel more isn’t necessarily a question of having more time or more money – it’s more about the chances you create for yourself.