Motivation Monday: 6 Travel Intentions for 2016

Travel Intention #3: visit more National Parks like Elk Island National Park.
2016 Travel Intention #3: visit more of Canada’s National Parks like Elk Island pictured above.

Happy New Year!

I’m a fan of New Year’s resolutions and goals. Call me a planning nerd, but there’s nothing like opening a new calendar, writing down dates, goals, birthdays and/or deadlines. This year instead of writing down some hard/fast resolutions (save more money, eat more greens, sleep more, snore) I thought I’d set some travel intentions to act as little nudges for the next 366 days. Sharing these with all of you will hopefully keep me on track.

So here goes – my most public list of travel intentions yet: six ways I’m going to explore, embrace and giggle more in 2016. Happy 2016 – hope your goal setting process was as fun as mine. 

  1. Embrace ‘koselig’ – if you live in a northern climate you might have read some stories about the Norwegian word ‘koselig‘. Basically it means sucking it up and enjoying winter – embracing the cold and cozy, bright days and dark nights. For me, nurturing koselig this means making sure I have access to the stuff I love about winter – from drinking hot chocolate or going snowboarding to taking more photos of my kid’s mega cute snow adventures to visiting mountain places like Jasper or Saskatoon or Canmore.
  2. Find a couple of cabins, gather some friends – I hope to corral my friends for at least two cabin adventures this year. Bring on the board games, red wine, forests/lakes/oceans and gaggles of wild little kids and cuddly dogs.
  3. Visit more of Canada’s National Parks. One of the best birthday gifts I received last year was a parks pass that allows my family entry to any national park or historic site across Canada. I’m dying to check out Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan or the lesser known Rocky Mountain parks like Yoho or Kootenay. A trip to the Pacific Rim or to Gwaii Haanas for some ocean fun would be lovely too.
  4. Read more – I have a stack of books next to my bed. I can’t wait to tell you all about a couple of sweet Canadian books I was gifted in December – one is a coastal cookbook and another a mega gorgeous travel book. Reading in a cozy cabin out of town would be even more rad.
  5. Laugh more –  I’ve laughed a lot in the last few weeks, I’m determined to keep the giggles coming. Whether that means watching the magic that is Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on SNL or having a great visits face to face or via FaceTime with friends or seeing a live show, I’m going to seek out more gut-busting activities over the next year. Comedy festivals/shows/podcast/ book recommendations welcome.
  6. Meet the neighbours – in a figurative sense, that is. I’m well acquainted with British Columbia but I’ve yet to step foot in Saskatchewan or the Northwest Territories. Trip planning here I come.

What are your 2016 resolutions/intentions/goals? Share yours in the comments below. 


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23 responses to “Motivation Monday: 6 Travel Intentions for 2016”

  1. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Love this list and can’t wait to cabin with you! Also, a park pass is such a rad gift idea!

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      Sounds good – let’s figure out a halfway point. Maybe Kootenay or Yoho this summer?

  2. Kate Avatar
    Kate

    Keep me posted for kids and cabining!

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      I’m on it Kate – I’d love to gather a bunch of small wildlings and their parents for a weekend sometime.

  3. Valen-This Way To Paradise Avatar

    I love your goals for the year. Cabining, reading, laughing. All will make your life so much more rich!!

  4. Emiel Avatar

    Cabining seems to be a real travel trend for 2016, I have read about it in magazines last week!
    I would go along with you on those Canadian adventures…if only I would live closer by 🙂
    That koselig one grabbed me. I really like it. Here in the Netherlands we have to go back a couple of years since our last real winter. We could use a real cold winter!!

  5. Angela Avatar

    Awesome goals! I’ve never heard of koselig before but I love the concept. We are from the Midwest and you have to learn to embrace winter or you’ll just be miserable. Happy new year!

  6. Carol Colborn Avatar
    Carol Colborn

    Wow, Canadian adventures! That’s what I will be doing too. I will be babysitting my grandson in Calgary for 6 months beginning March. I will have a chance to do much of what you want to do, too…on weekends! Koselig, Northern Lights, etc. Come to Banff!

  7. Solo Traveler Avatar

    Hi.. You have set some great goals for 2016.. In your post you called yourself a “planning nerd”… Well, I would hardly call you that. You simply have a vision and have laid out the goals that you want to accomplish that will make your heart sing! I admit that organization isn’t one of my best of skills, but we share our love for travel. 2016 is my “get my ducks in a row” stage. Lower debt, downsizing my life, etc… so I can spend more time traveling. Great post. Well, I’m going to go browse the rest of your blog now. Looking forward to it! Thanks and happy travels! I also look forward to reading your newsletter 🙂

  8. Alouise Avatar

    Love this. Never heard of Koselig, but it’s definitely something I should do more of (and I’m from Edmonton…winter here is a given). Saskatchewan is beautiful, my friend and I did a winter road trip to Saskatoon last March (it was -30C still). I will say there aren’t any mountains around Saskatoon, but I think they have a manmade ski hill near the city.

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      I’ve heard Saskatoon is a lovely city – Paris of the Prairies I’ve read. I find that achieving Koselig is a lot easier this winter than last. I think it’s because of my better winter clothing. Warm boots are the best.

  9. Castaway with Crystal Avatar

    Those all sound good to me! My NY resolution (first one ever, mind you!) is to eat 30% less meat and 50% less carbs. Wish me luck!

    Crystal recently posted… How to Kill a Man with Your Bare Hands

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      That’s a new year’s resolution I could get behind. 🙂

  10. Laura Nordberg Avatar

    Great list! Reading more is a top priority for me too. I feel like I get smarter with every book I read haha 🙂

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      Me too Laura!

  11. Nathalie Avatar

    I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to embrace koselig!

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      I hear you Nathalie. I keep on running this quote through my head, “There’s not such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” It applies to hot weather too. This winter has been about more hot drinks and higher thermostat settings. 🙂

  12. Nathalie Avatar

    I agree with that, I definitely don’t have proper winter clothes 🙁

  13. Alana Gidycz Avatar

    I try to embrace koselig and I don’t mind the cold so much but the late sunrise and early sunset are killing me!

  14. Leigh Avatar

    All great suggestions. Getting outside always gets the happy hormones going.

  15. […] Post enumerates her travel intentions for the coming year, with lots of close-to-home fun on her […]

  16. Madi | Restless Worker Avatar

    I’m definitely with you on the cabin adventures! I would love to do that this year too.

  17. Dave Avatar

    Mulhurst Bay makes an interesting and scenic winter stop, just an hour from Edmonton. Icefishing huts dot the lake. The Cedar Crest restaurant has reopened and Mulhurst Bay Books and Gifts (open Saturdays in winter) offers a huge selection of used books in a quaint building that has functioned both as church and schoolhouse. Cross-country skiing trailstrails are available at nearby Rundle’s Mission and at the Provincial Park. Pigeon Lake village is 15 minutes away.

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