January is a great month to take stock of your life and make plans. Travel plans are the very best kind of plans to make and fantasize about. One recent study by booking.com showed that twice as many people would rather travel than lose weight this year! They’d also rather drink less than have more sex and are more keen to improve their mental health than their physical health. Go figure.
How happy does travel make you?
Back to travel, research shows that travellers are happier people – not because they’re so blissed out after spending a week in the sun. Unfortunately, that quickly wears off after your return. No, travellers are happier because they have something exciting to look forward to. But what if you have no clue where to go or what’s available to you?
A fun way to pick a new travel destination
One cool thing I recently stumbled upon is this Resolution Translator. This fun tool offers travel inspiration based on your New Year’s resolutions. First you enter your resolution, then it serves up a unique translated resolution that combines bettering one’s self with travel. I put in that in 2016 I would “focus” and was recommended a vacation in Salzburg, Austria. I immediately felt intrigued. Why would it suggest that? What’s in Salzburg? I had a happy few minutes researching and getting excited about a vacation possibility I’d never dreamt of. And because I know you’re probably wondering, if you want more sex, you should head to Lyon, but maybe that’s just me?
The point is, it’s free and fun to dream. Just give the globe a spin and take your pick. One travel trend I’m loving is how tourists are no longer limiting themselves to hotel stays. Booking.com is the site I’ve used most regularly in recent months and over 70% of accommodations available on this site falls outside the traditional hotel category. You can stay on a boat (super popular to do in Sweden), in a treehouse, on a farm stay, or even in an igloo. They’ve got like 30 different categories for accommodation. Here’s a look at some of the more unique options I came across.
This grand looking building is actually the HI- Ottawa Jail Hostel, a former jail, where you can spend the night behind bars. (If that isn’t a worthy Facebrag, I don’t know what is…)
Fancy bedding down in the cockpit? One way to join the mile high club is with a stay at STF Jumbo Stay Stockholm and “sleeping” inside a retrofit Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. Thankfully the bathrooms have been expanded.
In Norway you can sleep in an igloo, complete with hot tubs and a sauna to warm up. It’s BYOT (thermals) though….
Or how about resting your head inside a cave? At Italy’s Sextant Le Grotte Della Civita, guest rooms are set in large caves. It’s set right on the edge of a national park and breakfast is served in a former 13th century church. Swoon!
Have I sparked some wanderlust? If you could go anywhere in 2016, where would it be?
I would definitely go for a stay in the plane cockpit in the jumbo jet or the cave hotel in Italy. And yes, the Booking.com survey is right: I am happier when I have a trip to look forward to. Can’t wait to try out the resolution translator. 🙂
Would love to hear what you plugged in and what the translator served up for you.
People would rather drink less than have more sex? That’s got to be an error… on many levels. Thank you for sharing these cool ideas! I would love to do the ice hotel with our kids. They’d be so into it.
Your kids sound super adventurous!
Some fabulous ideas for finding new places to travel. Love that treehouse at the top!
Me, too. That would be a dream to stay there.
Really love these unusual ideas – and clever suggestions for places we’d never think of. I think the cave would be top for me. Looks utterly fantastic. My kids would love that and the cockpit especially I think!
I agree. It would be hard to get the kids to sleep if they were sleeping in the cockpit though….
Hey Jody,
A wonderful list of unusual places that one can plan to stay off.
all the places listed are just fab.!!!
Frankly speaking I loved all the places.
Will definitely plan to visit these places with my fiancee specially the igloo,and the Sextant Le Grotte Della Civita 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by, Sagar!