7 Travel Resolutions Every Adventurer Should Make for 2026.
After 5 years of working towards Permanent Residency in Spain, 2026 is the year we get back to full-time travel. With the new year days away, we’ve thought about travel resolutions that we – as well as all travellers – should aspire to in 2026.
This post covers 7 travel resolutions every traveller should make for 2026.
1. Get off the Beaten Path
I believe the most important travel resolutions for 2026 start here. In fact, “Getting off the Beaten Path” is something we’ve always espoused. When we previously travelled full-time (2014 – 2020), our most vivid memories were from the “off the beaten path places” that we visited. Places like Ukraine, Armenia, Colombia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa, and North Macedonia. That’s not to take away from “popular” destinations. We love places like Germany, Spain and Italy. But the downside to those places are hordes of tourists, high prices and a sense of seeing something that everyone else sees. It can leave you jaded to travel.
I compare it to discovering a good wine bottle. Sure, it’s great when everyone tells you about a great bottle and you try it and love it. But it’s even better finding a great bottle of wine that nobody’s told you about. Authenticity, that’s what’s special about off the beaten path places.
2. Slow Travel
I’ve written previously about why we slow travel. Firstly, for anyone looking to travel long-term, it is the most financially-sustainable way to travel. Renting an apartment somewhere for a month is much more cost effective than city-hopping and staying in hotels everywhere you go.
But there’s a lot more to slow travel than just cost. Slow travel means really getting to know a place. You might join a gym or take some sort of class, meeting locals along the way. You can explore lesser-known highlights, things most travellers will skip in their quest to explore the next city on their list. But the main reason to practice slow travel is to enjoy travel and not burn yourself out. I’ve seen too many travellers over-plan and over-extend themselves. Travel ends up being a chore. Long term, slow travel is the most sustainable way to travel.
3. Learn a country’s history, customs and a few words
When we first started travelling, history felt like something that we should know but that seemed like a chore. But the more we travelled, the more history tied in many of the many places we visited. Consider Austro-Hungarian empire: we’ve explored both Vienna and Budapest, stood on the spot where Franz Ferdinand – Archduke of Austria – was assassinated in Sarajevo (setting off World War 1), and walked through Maximilian I’s castle in Mexico City. The more you travel, the more history ties places together. And that makes history much more interesting. Next year, visiting both France and the UK, I’ll be brushing up on my French and British history in preparation, because learning a country’s history better allows you to appreciate what you are seeing in person.
But besides the above, we shouldn’t be ignorant of the history of the places we visit. I have one story that exemplifies that: visiting Istanbul, I had a nasty shopkeeper agitatedly point at the bill of local currency in my hand while asking “Who, Who??”. Obviously he thought I was an idiot coming to his country with zero knowledge and he wanted to call me out on it.
“Ataturk” I calmly responded. He begrudgingly nodded and shut up.
* Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the first president of Turkey and features prominently on the local currency.
Bottom line: it’s good to learn some basics about a country you’re visiting, things like history, prominent figures, local customs, dress codes, and things that should be avoided in all conversation. I’ll also add to that list a few words in the local language: I’m not great at languages so I’m not going to suggest that you can learn a language in a few weeks or even a few months. But there are 2 words I always make a point to learn: ¨Hello” and “thank you”. Locals appreciate it and you’ll endear yourself (especially if you massacre the pronunciation).
4. Be more Adventurous
Be more adventurous: I’ve covered getting off the beaten path. But being more adventurous means more than that: it can mean doing more activities out of your comfort zone, like hiking, diving, or bungeeing. South Africa was one of my favorite destinations simply because I hiked Table Mountain and paraglided from Lion’s Head. Lissette bungeed from Bloukrans bridge, the highest bridge bungee jump in the world. If you’re not into physical activities, adventurous can mean trying out exotic foods everywhere you go (Stinky Tofu in Malaysia, horse meat in Italy, crickets and silkworms in Thailand etc). Travel should be about getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new.
5. Be more Flexible
Being more flexible, especially if things don’t go to plan. Many years ago we were scheduled to fly Montreal – New York – Rio de Janeiro. A snow storm hit and when we arrived at the airport in Montreal we were told that the flight was cancelled. Our first reaction was to be upset…but we pivoted. We had the New York – Rio flight changed to the next day and we went from the airport straight to the train station where we bought train tickets. We had a great 24 hours in New York city before getting on that flight to Rio.
Travellers often make the mistake of making rigid itineraries that don’t allow for unforeseen circumstances. Sometimes the best experiences are those that were never planned.
6. Walk without a map
I mentioned “rigid itineraries” above. It’s amazing sometimes what you’ll see when you’re not following directions given to you by Google maps. We’ve lived a bit over a year in Granada and over that time have made it a point to get somewhere by just following our noses. They’ve taken us to places with some of the most fantastic views of the city and mountains, places not officially marked as “miradors”.
Granted, this “walk without a map” is best suited when you’ve got a lot of time on your hands. But if you can at least make a slight deviation off the beaten path when visiting a new city, you might end up seeing something unexpected.
7. Say “Yes” more
We’ve had a lot of occasions where someone has contacted us through the blog, saying something like “I see you are in______, maybe we can meet for a beer?”
We’ll usually squirrel our way out of it. You never know who that stranger is, they could be a serial killer who hated your last blog post. But, looking back, some of our best personal experiences have been with people we’ve met on our travels.
So going forward into 2026, we’re going to try to be more open. We’ll try to say “Yes” more…
What are your travel resolutions going into 2026?
Related: 9 pieces of Advice for those thinking of living a Nomadic Lifestyle
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