Why make travel your New Year’s Resolution for 2020

Happy New Year from all of us at HolidayRentalontheWeb! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that 2020 will be a fantastic year for you all.

What were your New Year’s Resolutions this year? The most common tend to be based around improving health and how we look, such as exercising more, losing weight or quitting smoking. Others involve self-improvement such as learning something new, taking up a new hobby, reading more, or getting organized. Others are based around finances, such as saving more, paying off loans, or budgeting better. Last but not least is our favourite – travel more. This is an achievable goal and something you can set in motion in January by choosing your bucket list destinations and making a plan for when and where you’ll travel in 2020.

Travel is good for you and there are many benefits to yourself, your health, your family and the destinations you visit. Here are the top benefits to travel and why we think more travel should be your top resolution this year.

Travel is good for your health

When we travel, we disconnect and slow down, reducing stress and breaking negative patterns and behaviours. Stress can be very damaging to our mental and physical health, so by regularly travelling, we can reduce stress over the year, reducing the negative effects to our health and putting the problems we struggle with at home into perspective.

According to Dr Oz in Forbes Travel Guide, the health benefits can be huge. “Taking vacations can lower men’s risk of death by 21 percent and mortality from cardiovascular disease by 32 percent. Among women, a lack of vacation is associated with a higher risk of heart disease and death from heart disease.”

Travel encourages learning and self-development

When you travel you are constantly learning about new cultures, trying new foods and understanding how things work in a new place. Travel widens your horizons and deepens your knowledge of the world around you. It also encourages you to learn a new language, which enhances listening skills and memory and can help you get ahead in your career. Challenge yourself to prepare for trips with an online course, audio course, or by studying a phrase book. Get the whole family involved, everyone will learn and if you can speak some of the language you will enjoy the trip even more.

Travel improves relationships

Whether you travel as a couple, as friends, or as a family, it improves and strengthens bonds between you. The shared experiences and memories deepens friendships and relationships and will give you something to remember and talk about for years to come. For families it gives you precious  time to spend together, without the constraints of work and school. Parents and children can share incredible experiences and learn more about each other, giving everyone the chance to speak, reconnect and enjoy quality time together.

So now you’ve seen why travel is beneficial for us, now’s the time to decide where to visit. Short haul destinations are easier, cheaper and quicker to get to and by travelling to them off-peak you can save a huge amount.

We’d recommend at least one trip to Andalucia this year, there are so many things to see and do – here are a few ideas. Fly into Malaga airport and stay close to this fantastic city, for easy access to the Costa del Sol and the stunning places to the east of Malaga such as Nerja and Granada. If you’re interested in somewhere with easy access to the airport and these great places, we’d recommend a destination such as Benalmadena. To explore the western Costa del Sol, the Costa de la Luz and places such as Tarifa and Jerez, fly into Gibraltar airport and consider staying in the areas of Sotogrande or Manilva.

There is so much diversity on the Costa del Sol and it offers you easy access to so many fascinating destinations. It is a great place to visit year-round, with a sunny and warm climate, there are many interesting events and it’s a great place to be active. Find out more about where to visit on the Costa del Sol on our website, or ask us for recommendations.