Key Takeaways
- If you’re like me, you know how hard New Year’s resolutions are to keep. “New year, new you” starts with the best intentions, but after a couple of mo
- Old habits die hard, but they can be broken if they are replaced with good ones.
- We’re at the start of a new year (and decade), so — as someone who loves a good cliché — I’m going to use this time to build the habits that create a
If you’re like many travelers, you know how hard New Year’s resolutions are to keep. “New year, new you” starts with the best intentions — but after a couple of months, it’s often back to new year, old you.
Old habits die hard, but they can be broken when replaced with intentional, sustainable ones.
We’re at the start of a new year (and decade), so — as someone who embraces thoughtful reflection — we’re using this moment to build habits that support long-term well-being and purposeful living.
After many years on the road, last year marked a shift: settling into Austin with a furnished apartment, nurturing indoor plants (only two have died so far!), and purchasing a car for the first time.
Daily life now follows a rhythm: wake up, cook breakfast, work from WeWork, hit the gym, return home, read, prepare dinner, read again, and rest.
This is the kind of grounded, routine-driven life many travelers once sought to escape.
And for the first January in years, there’s no airport departure to plan — just quiet mornings and local walks.
Surprisingly, this stillness has been deeply refreshing — so much so that the thought of boarding a flight now evokes mild dread, akin to a childhood dentist visit.
We used to equate routine with rigidity — the antithesis of spontaneity and discovery.
But experience has shown us that structure doesn’t stifle adventure; it enables it. A consistent rhythm creates space — mentally, physically, and emotionally — for what truly matters: growth, connection, and meaningful exploration.
So we drafted a personal initiative called “Stop Being Boring,” listing experiences to embrace while based in Austin: getting out more, volunteering, attending city council meetings (the first is next month!), joining social clubs, hosting community meet-ups, and rediscovering our own city — now with a car, expanding trips across Texas and the American South.
Rather than trying to read more, we’re committing to *being* a reader.
Rather than aiming to go to the gym, we’re choosing to *be* the person who shows up.
While progress has already been made on nutrition and fitness, the real test comes in February — when travel resumes. Will old patterns resurface? Possibly. But intentionality remains our compass.
This year is also about deep focus.
We’re prioritizing undistracted work — minimizing phone calls and social media — to finish tasks efficiently and reclaim evenings for rest or curiosity.
The internet easily stretches four productive hours into ten unproductive ones — especially when working independently. Now, focused presence means faster, higher-quality output.
Next month, we’ll head to Hawaii and Taiwan for three weeks before returning to Paris and Berlin. When Austin’s summer heat becomes intense, the Balkans call — and later in the fall, Central Asia beckons. November may finally bring us to Peru.
Though travel volume will decrease this year, each trip will carry renewed presence: no laptop, no remote work backdrop — just immersive, unhurried engagement with place and people.
We’re determined to make “new year, new me” more than a slogan — a sustained practice. And if we slip, we welcome gentle accountability from readers of Route for Less.
That’s what’s been unfolding in these quieter months.
What are your goals for the new year?
