Resolution Trips For The New Year

Instead of New Year's resolutions — usually abandoned by the second week of January anyway — I've come up with seven trips that qualify as New Year's revolutions. These are vacations, that is, that will change your life. At least a little. Whether your goal is simply starting the year by becoming healthier (and thinner) or nurturing your sense of humor (by, for instance, letting go in clown school), taking your resolutions on the road can prove fulfilling in unexpected ways.

When you come back from one of these jaunts, you may or may not look any different. But your heart will be bigger, your sense of purpose will be clearer, and the petty things that used to seem so overwhelming will shrink and sort of just disappear. These vacations, all from my book The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life, will help remind you of what you probably really want out of life — which is not just to give up sweets for a few weeks or try to show a little more patience with your co-workers, but to really contribute to the world around you, to create, and to grow.