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5 travel resolutions for 2014: how I plan to travel

16/1/2014

8 Comments

 
5 travel resolutions for 2014
By Roxanne Reid
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge believer in making New Year’s resolutions I know I’ll break before the New Year’s bubbly and balloons have gone flat. Eat less chocolate? Ain’t gonna happen. Go on a round-the-world cruise? I don’t have the budget for that so it’s a dream, not an achievable resolution. But I can make small resolutions about how I plan to travel. Here are my 5 travel resolutions for 2014.

1. As a travel writer I'm often too focused on getting all the elements I need for the story, so one of my resolutions is to be more fully present in each moment. In 2013 one of the best moments was eating farm bread by candlelight in an unusual Karoo guesthouse.
Stuurmansfontein corbelled house in the Karoo
I want to be present in every moment, like when we ate farm bread by candleight at a corbelled house in the Karoo
2. I want to continue to work on opening up conversations with random people because that's often where the most interesting tips and stories come from. On a recent trip to the Richtersveld, chatting to a Nama shepherd we passed was a chance to do just that. I want more of the same.
Nama shepherd in the Richtersveld
I want more of chatting to people we meet, like Nama shepherd Matthew Joseph in the Richtersveld
3. I’m supremely lucky to be able to do a fair amount of travelling each year, but sometimes it’s to the same places I’ve been dozens of times before. This year I’m determined to include at least one trip to somewhere completely new and previously unexplored (at least by me). My first trip to Lesotho in 2009 was the start of a whole new love affair with that country and I want to fall in love again with somewhere new.
At the top of a pass, Lesotho
Travelling to somewhere new can lead to falling in love with the place, as we did in Lesotho
4. I’ve used various modes of transport on my travels, from car to 4x4 and Kombi, train to plane, bicycle to pony, helicopter to hot air balloon. This year I’d like to travel in a new and different way, even for a short time.
Hot air balloon ride, Sossusvlei, Namibia
A hot air balloon is a fabulous way to travel; I want to travel in a new and different way this year too
5. I want to continue to try to be a traveller rather than a tourist. A traveller moves among real people in their own milieu and learns from them, soaking up their wisdom and philosophy, their way of being in the world. A tourist just skims across the surface, cramming in quantity rather than quality, and comes away with her soul and imagination untouched by the wonder of a life lived differently.

What are your travel resolutions for this year? Share them in the comments below.

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za
8 Comments
Becky Padmore link
16/1/2014 09:15:12 am

Last year I was determined to make 2014 the year I went to Cuba before it changes too much. I'm going in two weeks and I can't wait!

Reply
Roxanne link
16/1/2014 11:07:22 am

Ah, Becky, don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Have a wonderful journey.

Reply
Di Brown
17/1/2014 01:09:05 am

Lovely piece Roxanne. My resolution is to take every opportunity for travel that comes my way this year. So much of South Africa to see, and so many old favourites that I have been away from for to long. Starting in Feb with an eoic Gorilla advebture , the rest of the year I hope to #shotleft at least once a month. Fingers crossed that the finances co-operate.
Di

Reply
Roxanne link
17/1/2014 02:40:24 am

Thanks Di.You're right about South Africa. I could happily take 6 months to explore and still not cover it all properly. Enjoy your gorilla adventure...

Reply
Sheleph Burger
12/2/2014 07:33:49 am

The planning and organising of our 2014 trip to Germany and France is done and dusted! We will be leaving SA on 22 August 2014 and return on 8 September 2014. Going to the Belgium F1 GP and also be attending the 2014 World Equestrian Games in CAEN, Normandy, France. Excited!!

Reply
Roxanne link
12/2/2014 09:54:05 am

That sounds good. You seem to have your priorities straight anyway!

Reply
Charl link
19/2/2014 12:38:52 am

Firstly, nice website. Weg! and the likes can take a lesson or two in unpretentious journalism from you. Five travel resolutions: 1. Hike more, drive less - booked Naukluft 8-day in June. 2. Take less pics, look more. 3. Travel more to places 50km or less away (we live in central Jhb...) 4. Find at least two weird places to stay over in. Like up in trees, on an island, in the middle of a mealie field, something like that. 5. Go stay over in Hibberdene. I haven't been there since I was, oh, nine or so. Does that count as a weird place? If so... 5. New tyres for the Landy. The present ones are pretty chewed up after the Bastervoetpad.

Reply
Roxanne link
19/2/2014 01:39:42 am

First, thanks for the vote of confidence, Charl. I appreciate it greatly.
And I love your resolutions. The one about travelling closer to home is a particularly good one, given the cost of fuel these days. And there are so many fab places we overlook because they're nearby. That's why I think the #ShotLeft campaign encouraging travel in our own backyard is terrific.
I also love weird places and am always looking for more, so share your secrets when you discover some good ones!

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    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    My travel buddy and husband Keith is the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
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