At the beginning of every year, travel pundits proudly present their freshly phrased lists of road resolutions. I was laboring over my own fresh phrases earlier this week, when it occurred to me that it would be wise to see what I had written in the recent past.

To my amazement, I discovered that the resolutions I had posted three Januarys before, from the depths of the pandemic, in many ways mirrored the travel tips I was writing this year. This gave me pause: Had I not learned or grown at all in the past three years?

But on closer reading and reflection, I realized that while the basic themes remained the same, I have indeed learned and changed. And so, I rethought and revised ten resolutions from years before and then wrote three new travel goals for 2024.

And now I humbly present them here: my thirteen resolution-tips for better travel in the new year!

1. My fundamental resolution for this year is to take each step with deep mindfulness and respect, to be keenly aware of my effect as a visitor on the local people, culture, economy, and sites, to be attuned to the preciousness and precariousness of Earth’s infinite mosaic pieces, and to share the lessons this mosaic teaches.

2. I also resolve to travel more slowly and attentively, to take my time as I wander the road, whether in my California backyard or halfway around the globe; I resolve to follow the mantra that travel’s goal is not to win a race, but to spend deep-layering days in an enriching space. I resolve to welcome silence and stillness at their own pace, and grow in their infinite embrace.

3. I resolve to be a better asker of questions and hearer of replies, to listen unfettered and unfiltered to the heart and the mind, to search for the soul-beat of a people and place, and attend with ears open to unexpected grace.

4. I resolve to stay in the moment as much I can, to deflect the world’s distractions and demands, to focus on the here and now, and find abiding wonder in the humble wow. I resolve to resist the allure of the digital stage and crowd, and root myself in the local ground.

5. I resolve to hone all my senses wherever I wander, not just to see, but to taste, smell, hear, and touch each adventure, to honor every place that I choose to explore by savoring it to its sensuous core.

6. I resolve to keep refining the sacred rites of patience, compassion, kindness, and light, and to thread these into the skein of my everyday life.

7. I resolve to recognize that we are all truly in this together, whatever our station and belief, and that every person I meet embodies a tale of losses and loves, trials and needs, triumphs and failures, detours and dreams. I resolve to part the stereotype-curtain too easily made and seek the deeper story behind every face.

8. I resolve to honor every journey as a pilgrimage, to celebrate the sanctity of every place, to plumb the wisdom of every space, to treat every encounter, wherever I may be, as a blessed opportunity.

9. I resolve to practice the fine art of vulnerability, to enter a place with a wholehearted embrace, to abandon embarrassment and fear without measure, and let serendipity guide me to its truth and treasure.

10. I resolve to keep my mind and heart as open as I can, wherever my path may weave, and to pour into the world all the love that I hope it returns to me.

11. I resolve to get lost at least once on every journey, for unknowing opens a path to deeper learning.

12. I resolve to venture beyond comfort’s confines, not with life-threatening dares or gut-roiling feats, but rather with those gentle leaps that alchemize life’s boundary lines.

13. I resolve to honor the truth I have learned, that travel is truly a two-way street: I resolve to cherish the people I meet and the life-changing gifts they give me to bring home, and the life-changing gifts I give them on the road.  

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What new year’s travel resolutions do you have? Please share your tips, inspirations, or travel goals for 2024. We’d love to hear from you!