When I was 18 I gave myself 33 New Year's resolutions. How come I still remember that it was exactly 33 of them? Because I have yet to keep them. Yeah, they're still on the list. Copied into a new diary every single New Year's Eve (who am I kidding, I don't even copy them anymore, I just have that page ripped out from my 18 year old self's diary - it's like a sisterhood of travelling pants by now), never kept - yet most of them have not been broken (I have not learnt to speak Russian nor have I learnt to drive a car but I haven't gotten any worse at it, so that counts right?). We are all guilty of this, aren't we? But when we're already breaking those New Year's resolutions why not break them in style? Whilst doing something worthwhile? Surely doing a naughty thing whilst doing a nice thing cancels each other out!
✏️ Your resolution: I'll eat less food & get healthier
📍 Where to break it: The Balti Triangle
If there's one place I'd go to eat until I couldn't breath (don't fool yourself, you love doing that too) then it would be the Balti Triangle in Birmingham. You could have a curry takeaway, yes, or you know - make one from scratch (who are you & where is my Friday dinner invite?) but nothing beats the experience of going to a proper old-school curry house papadums everywhere and 54269832 different types of naan on hand. You can find some of the oldest British Balti houses in the Balti Triangle - so that's basically a sightseeing we're doing here, right?
✏️ Your resolution: I'll drink less alcohol
📍 Where to break it: Much Marcle
If you've read about that beautiful bright autumn day with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it I spent at Weston's cider mill then you know what I'm talking about. Cider tastes the best at a cider mill whilst overlooking the very orchards the apples came from. FACT. And it's technically not drinking it's more like devouring and tasting, isn't it?
✏️ Your Resolution: I'll save loads of money
📍 Where to break it: London
You'd think that I'll name a couple of shockingly expensive boutiques and tempt you to go & spend your hard earned monies there. You couldn't be more wrong. I say sign up for a membership at the BXR London gym. This state of the art facility designed by Anthony Joshua has got its own Joe & The Juice, a boutique boxing rink and you can apparently meet even Victoria Secret angels there! All that for a mere £150 per month (plus £150 joining fee) - but technically you're not being spendy, you're kicking off your new year's fitness journey, right?
✏️ Your resolution: I'll stop biting my nails
📍 Where to break it: Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is an enchanting magical place as it is but did you that room 203 at the Mercure Stratford-Upon-Avon Shakespeare Hotel is haunted? So I've heard! A bearded man in a pub (always a reliable source for local history if you ask me) once told us that apparently when you stay in that room you will see a little girl standing at the bottom of your bed & crying. Biting your nails is not even optional here, is it!
✏️ Your resolution: I'll stop procrastinating
📍 Where to break it: Brighton
Brits spend ridiculous 24 days a year procrastinating (a scientist that wants to remain anonymous said). That's almost a month of scrolling aimlessly through Facebook, tidying up a clean house and making a cuppa you don't really fancy. Travel to Brighton instead and float in a pod full of water & Epsom salt at the Float Spa. There's nothing less you could do (literally - you're just floating on your own in absolute silence) yet it's a floating therapy, the trendiest way to improve your health these days!
And if these UK destinations don't cut it for you then pop over to this post by Cheapflights, they are a bit more adventurous than me, saying go all out and break your New Year's resolutions in proper style (I'm talking Las Vegas kind of ride!).
How are you getting on with your New Year's resolutions so far?
Still on top of them or have you ripped out the page from your diary yet ready to file it under to-do-in-2018?
💭 This post is in collaboration with Cheapflights however the inability to keep New Year's resolutions is my very own, cultivated over the past 9 years. Go me! Follow