2008 travel resolutions - what are yours?

How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? Have you given up on them already, or are you still waiting for them to kick in?

I’m just starting to write mine, and this year my resolutions will stick because I’m creating them to be travel focused. Besides, who says we can’t categorize resolutions to fit our lives: personal, career and recreational.

So, here’s my Top 5 list of travel resolutions. They seem doable, don’t you think? Use the comments to chime in with your 2008 travel resolutions.

1. Carbon offset my trips. I’ll admit it — I haven’t consciously offset the footprint of my trips yet. There are so many ways you can do this, even if you just purchase your travel through companies that are making an effort to reduce or offset carbon emissions. This year, I’m going to do my part to offset my travel footprint.

2. Take a risk, trust the Priceline. It’s easy to be a hotel snob. I’ve found that lately I’ve been expecting more and more out of hotels, and that means I’m paying more to stay in nicer digs. As I raise my personal bar, it becomes and harder and harder to use travel websites that don’t reveal the name of the hotel in the process of finding you a bargain. This year, I’m going to make sure I use Priceline (Name Your Own Price) or Hotwire at least once each and take what I get on a room that costs less than $100.

3. Support California. There is so much to explore in California. Even though I was born here, I can easily say I haven’t seen the half of it. So, the next time I want to get away, I’m going to look to California first. I especially want to spend time in smaller towns that I haven’t been to before. I’ll be having a thorough read of Travel special: The Golden 15, but feel free to make suggestions.

4. Contribute to more travel communities. I get excited when I find a new online travel community, but I rarely take the time to participate in it. Instead, I just turn to them when I need something. I know that’s not how a community works, so this year I’m going to try to give back to some of my favorite travel communities. I’m a longtime member of BootsnAll and a new fan of Everywhere. Lets see if I can contribute something.

5. Participate in user-generated reviews. User-generated content and citizen journalism have the power to improve other travelers’ experiences, whether on the road or still in research mode. I love what Orbitz is doing with its Traveler Update section, but I have yet to send in my mobile notes when I’m traveling. This year, I hope to change that and start writing hotel reviews and rating restaurants.

Join me in contributing to the Los Angeles Times Travel website. We can

• Upload travel photos and videos [new!] to YourScene
• Rate, review and suggest new hotel, restaurant and attraction listings
• Discuss and plan travel via the moderated Travel message boards
• Email feedback, news, tips and questions to the L.A. Times Travel team, for investigation

Here’s to a well-traveled 2008,
— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Photo: GeeCruzer / YourScene]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3, 2008 at 6:36 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Business Travel, California, Frequent Flier, News, Tips & Advice, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.