With the New Year comes a fresh season to see travel with new eyes. The holiday season of 2020 is no exception as it’s been the year that has kept us grounded and given us time to reflect on what travel really means for you. While we’re all hoping for a brighter 2021, now is a great time to keep that spirit alive with a renewed perspective whether your ventures take you near or far.
Cooking with the Sani Warmi women’s lodge in Ecuador
Up Your Cultural Literacy
Travel isn’t just about sites and places, it’s about real people and life experiences rooted in the culture and traditions of a place. Gain cultural competency skills by referencing Hofstede’s Country Comparison tool, the Lost Geographer’s Country Snapshots or downloading the CultureMee app on your (Android) phone. These sources give insight into the cultural dimensions of nearly every country on earth, providing you with the nuances of that location that matter, like facial expressions and hand gestures, the perception of time, or approach to relationships.
Riding camels into the sunset in Morocco.
Create a Book List
Whether you have lots of travel planned for the year ahead or are just dreaming of the place you want to go, travel writing is a fantastic way to see, hear, smell and imagine another place. Try out something inspirational from this list of books, or go destination-specific with lists for these countries: Morocco, Peru, or Vietnam. See all our recommended book lists here.
Invite a Friend
There’s nothing like newness to inspire us, be it a new city, country or continent. Why not consider inviting a friend to join in? Perhaps you have a friend that hasn’t traveled much and just needs a nudge from someone they trust, or maybe you have plenty of globetrotting besties but have never actually traveled together. Pick a theme or destination like nature, hiking or yoga and use it as a time to bond and create new memories together!
A multilingual group in Morocco.
Brush Up Your Language Skills
Learning a new language can be daunting, but the value of knowing even a key few words when traveling abroad can be the difference between a genuine smile and an annoyed dismissal. Just because your high school Spanish is rusty doesn’t mean that it’s a loss! Try a language app, take online classes, or get super serious about it and sign up for a class at your local community college.
