Most of us make New Year's Resolutions to correct human failings in our daily activities. I do something of the same, but limited to the times when I leave my home for a trip. Here are my this year's resolutions, meant to maintain and improve my travel life:
(1) I will continue traveling. I will not permit fear of terrorism to reduce or limit my vacation trips, as they have for some of my fellow citizens. And by so doing, I will help to defeat the nefarious schemes of ISIS and Al Qaeda.
(2) I will remain patient, silent, calm and cooperative while in security lines at airports; I will work to assist those T.S.A. personnel charged with keeping us safe.
(3) I will remember to bring charging cords on my trips, to keep my cellphone, laptop, and kindle alive and well.
(4) In advance of traveling to a new destination, I will read about the history, culture, lifestyle and politics of the places I am about to visit. I will not rely on a bored tour guide to tell me what I am looking at.
(5) I will limit myself to one of those smaller suitcases, to keep myself lightly packed and without excess and unnecessary clothing.
(6) I will remember to tip the underpaid chambermaids at the hotels I use.
(7) I will favor and patronize those few remaining budget airlines, like Spirit, Frontier, JetBlue, and VirginAmerica, in order to keep the overpriced "legacy" airlines honest and competitive.
(8) On all my trips by air, I will bring along sandwiches made at home, avoiding those tasteless and overpriced airline snacks.
(9) I will pay no heed to those easily-manipulated "user-generated" websites in which amateur members of the public set forth their appraisals of hotels and restaurants. I will rely instead on experienced journalists.
(10) Instead of simply focusing on the cultural attractions of foreign countries (museums, art galleries, theaters, monuments and the like), I will also pay attention to the political policies they follow in dealing with social, urban and economic problems. I will do that by posing questions to the locals I meet, hoping to form opinions, both pro and con, that will help me be a better informed citizen at home.
(11) I will take one meal a day picnic style, from fresh ingredients purchased in a local grocery or food shop, thus avoiding overeating (the bane of restaurant meals) and eating better for health .
(12) And, to repeat an earlier point, I will never give up the joys of travel.
Happy New Year! And Bon Voyage!