What do you remember about trips you've taken in the past? What sticks out to you? What do you remember fondly, even years later? Special memories are one of the most incredible rewards of travel, and can offer special times to be close with the ones we love.
Resolution #4: Enjoy Moments Big and Small
There are lots of wonderful, big moments that I remember about traveling. I remember celebrating my 30th birthday at Walt Disney World. I remember the first time I visited Rome and saw the Coliseum. I remember the first time I saw the Atlantic Ocean. Travel is fantastic for big firsts, big memories, and big moments, the kind that stay with you forever and change the way you see the world.
Travel is one of the ways we celebrate big moments. I get to spend much of my time assisting clients with plans for their anniversary, their honeymoon, their birthday, their family reunion, their graduation, their retirement celebration, and so on. Travel and the extraordinary memories it creates are wonderful ways to mark the biggest, happiest moments in our lives.
But, travel is all about the small moments, as well. For me, travel is also about sitting on the beach with my mom waiting for the fireworks to start. It's remembering, not when I saw the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the first time, but watching my friend's expression when she saw it for the first time. It's sitting on a bench in Disneyland watching people go by. It's my sister and I laughing ourselves silly after trivia on a cruise ship when she was the only one in the whole atrium who knew the super-secret bonus musical question was the theme from the anime 'Cowboy Bebop'. The small moments, the moments shared with family and friends, are often the things I remember the most fondly, and that still make me smile years later.
Travel is all about bringing out these moments, so be sure to stay in the moment and enjoy them - they're the truly wonderful thing about travel. For this resolution, stay in the moment as much as possible. Enjoy the big, planned, celebration moments, but also enjoy the small, spontaneous moments just as much.