Going on a vacation is always relaxing, but it can become a bit boring if you follow the same routines every time. It might be that you pick the same retreat every time or you do the same things when you visit a new place. To ensure your vacation is exhilarating and offers you new experiences, try these five things on your next vacation.
Something spontaneous
Although you should always plan your holiday a bit in advance to ensure it doesn’t end in a disaster, you should do one spontaneous thing on your holiday. Giving tips for this is essentially pointless, as you shouldn’t plan for the spontaneous activity at all. What you want to do is wake up one morning, look outside of your hotel room and come up with something out of the blue. Perhaps it’s to rent a car, stay by the pool for the whole day or try your hand at golfing – just don’t plan for it the night before. Being spontaneous will open your eyes more and help you view the location in a different light. It can also add a sense of adventure to your day and make the holiday seem a bit more exciting.
Something local
Too often we pack our bags, go abroad and end up sipping the same cocktails and eating the same tourist dinners. It’s rather easy to fall back on the traditional dishes, whether it’s a burger or a pasta dish. If you don’t venture outside of your holiday resort, then you are missing the local flavours. Even if your hotel has a ‘localised’ menu, chances are the taste is not the same as it might be in a small café down the alley. So, make sure you try a local delicacy or dish at least once and try doing so outside of your tourist bubble. This means venturing outside of the main market or city centre, away from the holiday resort or tourist centre. Pick a local pub or walk to a local supermarket and buy something local.
If you can’t see yourself at least trying a local delicacy, you can just try something else that’s local. Find out from the reception what is the most popular activity the locals do. Perhaps it’s dog racing or dancing flamenco; just find something the locals love to do and give it a go. It can help you understand your destination and open your eyes to new experiences and ways of doing things.
Something educational
While you definitely want to spend your vacation relaxing, learning new things is actually much easier when you are rested. So, picking up a new skill or enhancing your talents can be much easier on a holiday. Think of something you’ve always wanted to learn and give it a go whilst on a holiday. Perhaps you want to download Duolingo on your phone and learn to speak Spanish. You might be interested in yoga and you could pick some classes at your destination. You could even just take a trip to the local zoo and take a guided tour to learn more about the animals! The key is to add an educational and fun element to your holiday. Not only will you learn faster on a holiday, you are going to have a lot more fun doing smart things rather than just staring the sea all day long.
Something charitable
There have been plenty of talk about sustainable tourism in recent years, with tourism’s impact on the environment being at the centre of discussion and concern. While tourism does a world of good as well, there’s nothing wrong with trying to do a little extra on your holiday. Often the act of giving isn’t much either. You could give a donation when visiting a local zoo or animal sanctuary. Did you know, for example, that you could have a fun time at Flamingo Land resorts and then adopt one of the furry animals you’ve met on site? The holiday resort often runs a lot of discount campaigns on flamingoland.co.uk and you can give a little bit back to the community as well.
Furthermore, you can always check with the reception at your hotel where you could drop unwanted holiday clothes. Perhaps you found a new pair of slippers and you could gift the old ones for someone in the area. Little things like this can have a big difference.
Something you’ve always wanted to do
Finally, you should do something on your vacation that you’ve always wanted to do. It’s easy to push things forward and think, “One day I’ll do it”, only to find yourself still thinking about it a year later. Use the occasion of being on a holiday to let go of your inhibitions and do something completely different. It doesn’t even need to be something extreme like going skydiving. You might have always wanted to write poetry or read a historical novel! The most crucial thing is to live your dreams – no matter how small they might seem at the time.
So, next time you are off to a vacation, remember to do these five things. These will add a bit more flavour and fun to your holiday and ensure you return back home with tons of new memories.