In the New Year I Will…

Lose weight. Organize my closets. See my friends more. Volunteer. Eat kale. Watch less tv.

By Saturday I’ll be sitting in my bed covered with clothes that no longer fit me, spooning through a container of Peanut Butter Half-Baked while watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey and texting my friend who lives around the corner.

The self-improvement goals may fall quickly by the wayside, but I will make an effort to honor my travel resolutions for the new year. Inspired by Geoff Kohl’s terrific article, I’m sitting down this week to define my goals for 2015. I love his suggestion to “have one really rural experience.” I’ve visited my niece’s alpaca farm and have no interest in getting that country close again. But I have always wanted to camp. Like deep-frying a turkey, it’s an activity that terrifies me. Maybe I’ll take the leap this year. The latrines aren’t getting any younger after all.

But the article’s lead resolution is the one that really inspired. He reminded me that you don’t have to travel far to travel well. I therefore resolve to explore my own backyard in 2015.

I’ll pretend that I’m going to aggressively rent my house on Airbnb and need to market my local area as a vacation destination. I’ll assemble a binder-full of recommendations for restaurants, destinations, activities, events and answer all of those pesky questions like “What’s the best way to get into the city?”, “Where are the most scenic hiking trails?” and “Can you get a decent báhn mì in the Hudson Valley?”.

My approach will be similar to the Piña Colada Song. Sorry. I just put that in your head and it’ll be stuck there for days. If you don’t know it, check out the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. The hero is in a stale relationship so he places a singles ad in the newspaper – ISO someone who likes making love at midnight in the dunes on the Cape, etc.. The precious twist in the song is the ad’s answered by an exciting stranger who turns out to be his own lovely lady. A distant vacation destination is the sexy lover beckoning with exotic enticements. Can you get the same rush from exploring your own backyard? That’s what I’ll try to discover.

Do you want to escape too? Get out there, explore your neighborhood and tell us all about it. Leave a comment here, upload photos on Instagram, create a Pinterest board or post on FB. Hashtag your entries #GoHome2015 and I’ll share them on my feeds.