Travel like it.
A guide to travelling like it's a hobby in 2026.
In a New Year goal-setting session at our local cafe, my boyfriend and I reflected on the year that was over our regular order of a miso-chocolate cookie, a twice-baked hazelnut croissant, one oat flat white and a batch brew.
As I reviewed the list of milestone moments I’d written down the evening before, I started to chuckle at a seemingly prosperous yet very real reflection.
“I just realised that travelling could probably be defined as one of our hobbies. That’s how often we do it. How ridiculous is that,” I scoffed through flaky pastry.
Ridiculous, because travel as a hobby feels like a pinky-up concept reserved for wealthy retirees, not a couple of creative freelancers holding it together by a financial shoestring. I can’t believe I’m in a position where I’m able to indulge in my favourite ‘hobby’ so often.
2025 was my biggest year for travel yet. I visited 24 different places — ‘places’ being the various cities, towns or islands I’m privileged enough to have visited.
There were many local cuisines savoured, and countless beaches lazed upon. A few eight-hour Flix buses lamented, and a couple of long, sweltering pilgrimages to budget hostels endured. Endless oceans explored, and some pretty spectacular mountain ranges traversed. A handful of parties I can’t remember and a diary of unforgettable moments I’ll treasure for an eternity.
I started writing this piece in December of ’25 from my twenty-fourth (bucket list) location, New York City. A place I’ve been dreaming of visiting since as early as I can remember.
As a young woman shaped by frequent visits to Melbourne’s theatre district, grainy bootleg videos of Broadway shows, and an endless list of movies and TV shows about fabulous women chasing their dreams as a [Publicist/Journalist/Advertising Exec/Marketing Girly] in the city that never sleeps, it’s unlikely that the above proclamation is a surprise to you.
That said, I don’t think I’ve ever placed such high expectations on a location before, and it was interesting to reconcile the NYC from the movies/books/Met Gala red carpets and the like, with the NYC I experienced around me. There is so much media out there — whether that be from New York City Influencers on my FYP or reruns of Sex and the City— that could influence how I did New York.
This brought me to reflecting on the ways I like to travel and how, in the big, adventurous year that was 2025, I got the most out of my globe-trotting.
So, if in 2026, your goal is to travel like you’re making a hobby of it, here are a couple of tips I can impart from my big, adventurous year that was.
Avoid TikTok recs
There’s almost always a line, and it’s rarely as good as it looks on your phone.
Instead of curating a list based on TikTok virality, ask your most worldly friends for the coordinates of the real hidden gems — rather than the not-so-hidden ones saved by 150k people globally.
Ask your chicest, bargain-hunting friends for the best vintage hot spots (and make sure to leave a little room in your luggage for finds that simply must come home with you). Ask your favourite foodie friends to share where they enjoyed their frothiest beach-side beer, the rooftop bar with vistas for days or the fluffiest flatbread going ‘round.
You’ll have a much more authentic, connected experience by taking inspiration from the tried and true recs of people you love, rather than purely seeking out photo ops.
Better yet, if you can, have a local show you the ropes. Couch surfing optional, but strongly recommended.
Some of my best memories involve a day spent being taken through an IRL DITL and crashing, 25,000 steps later, on an air mattress on the floor of a mate’s living room. There’s no better way to explore somewhere new than through the eyes of someone who calls it home.
Schedule in time for the unknown
As a self-proclaimed Type B+ (read this one for context), I’m partial to planned activities. However, to push myself, I planned (lol) a small stretch of I-don’t-know-where-I’ll-be-for-these-dates time during my big backpacking Euro Summer.
In addition to travelling alone for the first time, this added element of the unknown nudged my intuition forward to the driver’s seat.
Carving out time for no fixed plan allowed me to follow those I’d met on my travels to their next destination and deepen those new connections. It created space for me take recommendations from locals about where to find the best restaurants and natural wonders. And most importantly, it led me to corners of the world I wouldn’t have explored otherwise.
PLUS, by keeping TikTok saves to a minimum (as above) and going wherever the travel winds blow you, you leave room for your own taste.
If going into an overseas stint sans-plan sounds a little too far out of your comfort zone (fair), try injecting a touch of spontaneity by waking up in your destination with no firm agenda.
Walk down a street near your accommodation and see what tickles your fancy. Wander into the lesser-known boutiques, trattorias and trinket shops near the sites you plan to visit. Prepare to be charmed by the unexpected.
Trust me, spontaneity only allows your travel taste to blossom. You’ll thank yourself later.
Don’t let solo days stop you
As a raging extrovert, I was surprised at how much I learned to love my solo days. I’d tick off so much on my list of places, plates and activities I wanted to try that a previous version of me wouldn’t have dared to do alone.
Sure, there were short bouts of loneliness — an inevitable side effect to embarking on a journey alone. But solo days taught me that there’s a certain power that comes with wanting to do something and then just… doing it.
Seeing the artist of my lifetime in one of my favourite cities in the world (love you Queen Bey). Hiring a bike and exploring Corfu’s beaches and Tavernas armed with nothing but a Kindle, two wheels and a tan. Busing around Italy’s Salento coast with no plan, high on espresso, pasticciotto and visions of new crystal blue to dive into. All dreamlike experiences I did alone and honestly, wouldn’t have had any other way.
No need to compromise. All the more time to indulge.
While travelling, I began to crave days alone as much as I typically crave social time. Meeting new people is half the fun of travelling. But what I found is that the other half of that time —time spent in solitude — is just as valuable.
‘Table for one?’
Let gratitude ground you
Reading back on my travel journal—something I like to do when the winter blues hit—I noticed that the common thread woven through all my entries was gratitude. I wrote about how grateful I was in droves.
Expressions of gratitude for the hard work that went into getting me to where I was. Gratitude for the waves that lapped against the beach I was sitting on. Gratitude for the peaks I got to climb. The friends made along the way. All of it.
Allowing gratitude to ground your experience is a sure-fire way to come back to what matters, tap you firmly into the present and remember how amazing what you’re experiencing truly is.
What a joy it is teleport back into this mindset through the pages of my moleskine today and let it ground me moving forward. Travel is a #PRIVILEGE! #ACTLIKEIT!
Make it a priority to find a quiet moment to journal, connect, and check in with your feelings while you’re away. Note the subtle things and the big stuff that left you totally awestruck. Scribble what you can see, even if you think it looks shit. Recount the day or just allow all the feels to pour out of you as you notice, really notice, even in the tougher times, how lucky you are to be where you are.
Bonus points for asking the friends, old and new, that you’ll share these adventures with to write an entry for you. This is prime time-capsule building behaviour that your future self will be thrilled to read back on when you’re home.
Bon Voyage! xx
You inspire me everyday!!
Channeling this vibe on my travels this year - LOVE