Scuba more, fly less and travel with kids: These are our 2025 adventure resolutions

Just recently, we sat ourselves down and asked—what do we really want to change, or do more of, travel-wise in 2025? The answers ranged from wanting to become a more confident solo camper and get trek-fit, to resolving not to buy any more new gear. These, friends, are the Adventure.com travel goals.

Kassondra Cloos, news and gear writer

Reconnect with my hometown and see ‘home’ in a new, more exciting way
After reconnecting with my Rhode Island hometown this year, I’m resolving to appreciate ‘home’ like an outsider might at every possible opportunity. And I mean both my RI hometown and my actual home, in London, where I live. I’m putting random dates on my calendar to go for walks in my favorite parks, I’m following local influencers and magazines reporting on the places I walk past every day, and I’m setting reminders to make hiking plans during the spring bluebell blooms. Life is too short to forget to appreciate what’s right in front of you. 

Further minimize flight travel
Aside from being bad for the environment, air travel has lost its magic for me. Airports are usually far removed from city centers so they’re time-consuming and expensive to get to, and they can feel like a cultural no man’s land. So, in 2024, I replaced flights with trains on four out of six trips between London and continental Europe, including one all the way to Arctic Sweden. This turned mere trips into full-fledged journeys, and I met more interesting people and came home with much better stories. In 2025, I expect to spend more time in the US, my home country, where public transit is in shorter supply. I hope to find ways to get creative with transit, so I can report back on how to travel sustainably around the most flight-reliant country in the world.

Engage more critically with history
There are few things I love more than when a piece of historical context clicks into place. Take, for example, the Boston Tea Party. As an American who grew up in a coffee-dominant culture—as a result of that very protest—the significance of tea never made sense to me until I moved to London and learned just how important it is in British culture. In 2025, I want to spend more time engaging with the ‘hows and whys’ behind the places I visit. I resolve to be that guy who has one too many questions for the tour guide, and I am not one bit sorry about it.

From Rhode Island and living in London, Kass focuses on slow travel, urban outdoor spaces and human-powered adventure. Read her stories on Adventure.com here

Oliver Pelling, editor-in-chief

Take more adventures with the kids
When you have young kids it’s very easy to not take all the adventures you want to take. When a simple trip to the supermarket leaves your nervous system more zapped than a hungover ride on a chicken bus, just the thought of taking your kids on a camping trip or loading them onto an international flight can trigger a bout of pre-TSD.

But kids will surprise you. And mine often do. Despite the challenges we have going about our day-to-day, their general behavior, moods and overall vibe has always been better when we’re on the road. Every family bike ride is ‘the best day ever’. Every flight we’ve had to take with them has been the most exciting day of their lives (if not the most stressful of ours). And on one father-daughter camping trip in particular I found myself fighting back tears because I had never seen my daughter so happy, calm and curious. Like I somehow just met her for the very first time. I’m going to aim for a bit more of that in 2025.

Take more microadventures
I love big adventures: weeks-long road trips, where-the-fuck-am-I overnight bus rides, what-did-I-just-eat street market explorations. You name it. But mini adventures are just as fun.

Life has been busier the last few years—having kids will do that to you—but taking the time to take smaller trips in 2025 is high on my list of things to do. I bought a gravel bike a couple of years ago, and while I’ve held off loading it up with all the camping and cooking gear up to now (I know a financial black hole when I see one), next year I want to head off on one-night adventures whenever I get the chance. The idea of loading up the bike, walking out of my front door, and ending up wherever I end up screams a certain type of freedom to me. And that’s a feeling I’m keen to chase a little more of.

Be more grateful for everyday life
I’ve always found it fascinating how we become the most obsessive photographers that have ever walked the earth when we go on adventures, but rarely orient ourselves to capturing our everyday lives with the same gusto. I think it stems from this idea that our travels are fleeting and time-bound, while our lives and routines at home will always be there. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Our lives can change in an instant. We can lose people, lose jobs, lose livelihoods, move away, get promoted, get sick—there’s an infinite gauntlet of surprises (good and bad) waiting for us every single day, any of which could yank us into the complete unknown. And yet we plod on as if tomorrow is promised. I reckon that’s a bit daft. There’s a quote from Robert M. Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (my all-time #1 book) that goes: “It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow.” All I’m saying is, I’m going to try and spend more time appreciating the sides of the mountain next year. 

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Ollie will–At any given moment—do almost anything for a taco and a cold beer. Read his stories on Adventure.com here

Nicola Bailey, photo editor

Get confident camping solo
I’m an avid camper, having camped since I was a kid on family holidays, and these days, one of my greatest joys is packing up the tent and getting away to the bush for a few days with friends. But solo camping is something I’ve always felt nervous about. There is something about being a woman alone in a flimsy tent, with very basic navigation skills, in a country with one of the highest percentages of deadly animals, that puts me on edge.  It’s really the trifecta of potential nightmares. That said, some of my most rewarding travel experiences have been on my own… so in 2025, I want to bin the catastrophic thinking, figure out my safety strategy, and build my confidence camping alone.

Try traveling with one camera and one prime lens (!) and get creative with less
Photography has always been an integral part of traveling for me. Aside from the obvious aspect of capturing memories, a camera also motivates me to view things differently. I pay closer attention to the details as well as the wider scenes, gaining a greater appreciation for those things around me. Yet I’ve also struggled over the years with the sheer weight and bulk that comes with carting around camera gear, not to mention the uncomfortable way a big lens can draw attention to you. Next year, I want to try to travel with one small, light 50mm lens and see what happens. While I’ve no doubt there will be moments when I’ll long to be able to capture more of a scene, I expect it will also force me to be even more creative with the photos I take.

Find adventures that are accessible to kids with disabilities
My daughter is like many kids; she’s vibrant, curious, and a bundle of energy. She also has cerebral palsy and other disorders that mean there are certain activities and places that are less accessible to her. I was inspired recently by a feature on Adventure.com about accessible adventures in the Canadian Rockies. Reading that, I realized that skiing, a sport I hadn’t considered would be an option , became possible. I went down a rabbit hole with my research and a result, plan to make 2025 a year when she gets to experience new things in ways that feel comfortable for her.

An award-winning photographer living between Sydney and New York City, Nicola has a particular interest in remote and challenging locations. See her photo stories on Adventure.com here

Emily Barlow, partnerships and campaigns manager 

Learn to navigate with a map and compass
I think it’s amazing that adventures have become super accessible due to digital tech allowing us to retrace another’s steps and share intel, with GPS apps like Gaia, Strava and All Trails. But I hate that I become reliant on my phone when I’m out in the backcountry. Google maps has also inadvertently led me down some pretty sketchy local ‘roads’ this past year. So, I’m ambitious to learn the old-school skill of navigation using paper maps and a compass; first by taking a course, then by trialing it when ski touring, hiking and kayaking—and hopefully finding my way more easily in the wilderness.

Progress my beginner language-learning from Duolingo/Babbel to IRL conversations
Language apps make learning feel suspiciously easy, with gamified formats and serotonin-boosting sounds and symbols of approval. While I have no problem saying “Hablo un poquito de español” a million times in the mirror, actually speaking to someone in person and getting through a basic conversation is another level—I get so nervous, believing my accent or vocabulary isn’t good enough yet. To get over this fear of speaking, I resolve to stop the ‘I’ll try it soon’ mantra and join my local Spanish conversation group. I know I’ll feel rewarded later in the year when I visit Oaxaca and will be able to order food and ask questions about it from a street vendor.

Not buy any more new gear
Part of moving to a new country means inevitably picking up new hobbies and hobby-related things along the way. I’m in the Canadian Columbian mountains where everyone is ski-obsessed in winter while summer is all about mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, hiking and more. And it’s difficult not to catch the adventure sports bug. I do try to purchase secondhand whenever I need more gear, but my track record has been far from perfect. So in 2025, I resolve to not purchase anything new—it’s time to make do with what I have, buy secondhand if I’m really missing something crucial, or get creative.

Based in the town of Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada. See our latest campaign with Greenpeace here

Tayla Gentle, managing editor

Learn more about the Indigenous traditional owners at every place I visit
And I mean, every place. I recently moved to the United States, to a very quaint part of southern California, and discovered that the ‘Laguna Woman’—a hominid fossil found in 1933 and once considered ‘The First American’—was actually found down the road from a surf shop I frequent. Not a plaque in sight. Decolonizing our thoughts and practices is incredibly important, and growing even more so with every day… so beyond supporting causes and trying to be the best ally I can, I want to be more intentional with my learning this year. It might be as simple as a Google: ‘What Indigenous land is this coffee shop/botanical garden/supermarket/festival on?’ Perspective is key; acknowledgment is crucial.

Use my decade-old scuba diving license again
Much like rock-climbing and skiing, I loved scuba while I was doing it, then the pain of having to travel with extra gear, keep certifications up-to-date and just generally remember not to accidentally kill myself became a little too much. But recently I realized I don’t have to go full outdoors pro (what a welcome revelation)—I can just rent gear, and I can do a day dive instead of a dive trip. So in the spirit of bite-sized adventures, I vow to dig out my old PADI cert, take a refresher course, and just get out there. The marine world is too pretty to miss.

Take a completely solo trip
Solo travel—as a 19-year-old backpacking around Guatemala—is what made me fall in love with the world, and set the trajectory of my career. Since then, I’ve done a heap of independent travel, but usually with a friend, or a partner, or a photographer for work. I’m now craving an entirely solo adventure, one that includes reflective time on the road, serendipitous encounters with strangers, and eating meals alone with a book. I want to reconnect with my 19-year-old self. But with fewer hangovers.

An award-winning writer and video producer, Tayla specializes in responsible adventure travel. Read her stories on Adventure.com here

Meera Dattani, executive editor

Put the camera down
Before smartphones and digital cameras, you’d get your photos printed (the days of Truprint, Bonusprint and co.) from a roll of camera film—you’d even decide before going somewhere if this was a ‘24-photo’ holiday, a ‘36-photo’ job, or a combo. The photos would go into a physical album which you’d carry about with you, and show/bore whoever you met up with.

Digital cameras changed that, but I’d at least download the pics off the SD card and place images into travel/event folders on my computer. But smartphones changed everything, creating an endless gallery of images, memes, screenshots of cloakroom tickets, other people’s dinners. Unless I share at the time or post on social media, these travel memories will die a death on an Android phone.

So for 2025, I’d like to think about what photos I take, what and who I want to capture and remember. I want to, to use a cliché, be more present. I want to focus on the experience, really get into a place, and have proper chats before I immortalize them into an image. I want to come away from a trip that has a digestible number of images I can look through, instead of feeling so overwhelmed by 800 photos from a week in Italy that I barely look at them again.

Be more air mile and loyalty point-savvy
I know I’m not the only traveler who has airline loyalty accounts all over the shop, doesn’t do much about them, and eventually loses the perks when they expire. I am always in awe of those who understand how it all works and manage to make the flying and travel experience a little nicer by actually doing something with those rewards. This isn’t just about wanting to travel in a higher-category cabin; getting an upgrade isn’t that simple anyway, plus I’m aware it’s far less environmentally friendly to travel that way. But saving money on flights, accommodation, lounges, transport etc. I can get on board with. I know I need to spend a dull afternoon consolidating various cards, accounts and schemes, but getting organised with travel admin will probably pay off when I make a cool saving in 2025…

Get fitter and trek-ready
I know a hike isn’t a race and I’ve no aspirations to be leading the pack on any walk, but we all know where we’d like to be fitness-wise—and mine isn’t ‘huffing and puffing 50 meters in.’ With a significant birthday in early 2026, I have my eyes set on completing a beautiful but not super-easy hike to mark it. And I’d love to do it without worrying incessantly if I’m up to it.

I’ve long realized that ‘urban-fit’ isn’t the same as outdoors-fit—no amount of social engagements that require mad dashes across London crowd-dodging between the Tube and the street have made me ready for any of the ascents I’ve so far huffed and puffed my way up. To that end, I’ve done what I haven’t done in 15ish years and joined the gym, motivated by the structure of a class, and my fellow exercisers. Between spin and body tone and stretch and absolute abs, I guess I’ll be as ready as I can be for those mountains come 2026.

Also a freelance travel journalist, Meera has an interest in food heritage, wildlife, conservation and culture stories. Read her stories on Adventure.com here

We hope our travel resolutions have provided some food for thought and if you’re setting any travel goals, good luck!

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