How to Break Out of Your Holiday Routine: 5 Different Ways to Travel

Often, we get stuck in a rut of choosing the same type of holiday — and sometimes even the same destination — every year. After months filled with work, deadlines, family commitments, social plans and everyday routines, the annual holiday can start to feel like another thing to organise. So we take the easiest option: return to the familiar cottage by the sea, pack the same things, revisit the same places and spend a week doing very little.

There is nothing wrong with returning to a place you love. Familiarity can be comforting, and sometimes what we need most is exactly that: a few days without having to make decisions. But if every holiday follows the same pattern, it can be worth asking whether you are actually looking for rest — or simply repeating a routine somewhere else.

Travel doesn’t have to mean booking the most adventurous or exotic trip you can find. Sometimes, simply changing the way you travel is enough to make a holiday feel new. A quick getaway can be just as refreshing as a round-the-world journey if it takes you out of your usual rhythm and gives you something unfamiliar to experience.

Here are five different ways to approach your next holiday.

Photo by Rachel Claire from Pexels

The Beach, Alone

If your usual beach holiday involves a partner, family or group of friends, try doing something completely different: go alone.

Solo travel doesn’t have to mean trekking across a remote country or spending weeks on the road. A few days by the sea can be an easy introduction to travelling alone, particularly if you choose somewhere you already know and feel comfortable exploring.

Wake up when you want, walk down to the beach, read for as long as you like, stop for an ice cream and choose a restaurant simply because it appeals to you. Without having to negotiate plans with anyone else, even familiar holiday rituals can feel surprisingly different.

There may be moments when you miss having someone to talk to, and that’s part of the experience. The reward is discovering how much you can enjoy your own company when there is no schedule to follow and nobody else to accommodate. You may even find that a little solitude is something you want to bring back into everyday life.

Go Somewhere You’ve Never Been

If your usual holiday takes place close to home, this could be the year to go somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit. You don’t need to travel halfway around the world. Even a short trip to another country can be enough to change your perspective and make you more aware of the small differences in everyday life.

One of the pleasures of travelling abroad is being temporarily unfamiliar with your surroundings. You might find yourself navigating a market, ordering food in another language, learning how people commute, noticing architectural details you would normally overlook or simply sitting in a café and watching the rhythm of a different city.

Food is one of the easiest ways to get beyond the obvious tourist sights. A food tour guided by a local can introduce you to dishes, neighbourhoods and traditions that you might never discover on your own. It is also a much more personal way of understanding a place than simply ticking off its major attractions.

Travelling does come with more logistics: passports, flights, foreign currencies, different languages and the occasional unfamiliar meal. But these small challenges are often part of what makes travelling somewhere new so rewarding. You return home with more than photographs; you have experienced a different way of living, even if only temporarily.

For travellers seeking added comfort, convenience, and exclusive experiences, exploring VIP perks can also make an international trip feel even more rewarding. It will also give you something new to share with friends.

Sleep Under the Stars

Camping offers a very different kind of holiday from the familiar hotel or beach break. There is something wonderfully simple about waking up outdoors, cooking breakfast over a camping stove, spending the day walking and exploring, then sitting around a fire in the evening.

For experienced campers, this may all sound perfectly ordinary. If you’ve never enjoyed sleeping in a tent, however, the idea of giving up a comfortable bed, hot shower and reliable Wi-Fi may be less appealing. And that’s precisely why it can be worth trying once — although there is no need to disappear into the wilderness for a week. One night at a campsite close to home is enough to find out whether you enjoy it.

The appeal isn’t really about testing your survival skills. It is about slowing down and paying attention to things that are easy to overlook in everyday life: the weather, the landscape, the changing light and the simple pleasure of eating outside. If you need some inspiration before giving it a try, here’s a story about camping.

Make Winter the Destination

A ski holiday can be an entirely different way to spend a week, particularly if your usual break involves lying by the pool or relaxing on the beach. You might associate ski holidays with luxury chalets and expensive equipment, but there are plenty of ways to make a winter trip work for different budgets and levels of experience.

You don’t need to be an accomplished skier, either. Equipment can be rented, and lessons make it much easier for beginners to find their feet on the slopes. For families and groups, there is also something satisfying about spending the day outdoors before returning to a warm chalet or restaurant for a hearty meal.

The rhythm of a ski holiday is part of its appeal: an early start, a few hours in the mountains, a long lunch, tired legs at the end of the afternoon and dinner with everyone hungry and ready to talk about the day’s adventures. Even if skiing isn’t for everyone in the group, there are usually plenty of other ways to enjoy a mountain resort in winter.

I’ve previously written about a ski break in Madonna di Campiglio and skiing in Val d’Isère.

Take the Scenic Route

A road trip gives you something that a tightly planned holiday often doesn’t: the freedom to change your mind. You can take the scenic route, stop when you see an interesting town, linger over lunch or change your plans entirely because someone recommends a place worth visiting.

There are some amazing road trip destinations in the world, but the destination is only part of the experience. Some of the best memories can come from the places you hadn’t planned to visit: a roadside bakery, a farmers’ market, a small-town café or a restaurant recommended by someone you meet along the way.

Don’t rush from one destination to another. Stop and explore the towns you pass through, look for local markets and fairs, and make time for the landscapes between the major sights. Food can be an especially good reason to take a detour — a local speciality or an unassuming roadside restaurant can tell you as much about a region as any guidebook.

A little preparation makes a road trip considerably more enjoyable, particularly if you’re travelling for more than a few days. Do your research to ensure a smooth road trip, but leave enough room in the itinerary for spontaneity. Keep a first-aid kit in the car, make sure you have any medication you need and don’t underestimate the value of stopping for the night when you’re tired.

A road trip doesn’t necessarily require a large group. Travelling with one or two people you enjoy spending time with can leave enough space for conversation, music, detours and the occasional change of plan.

There is no need to abandon the kind of holiday you usually enjoy. Sometimes the smallest change can make a familiar trip feel completely different: travel alone instead of with friends, choose a country you’ve never visited, spend a night under the stars, swap the beach for the mountains or simply take the long way there.

The point isn’t to turn every holiday into an adventure. It is to give yourself an opportunity to step outside your usual routine, pay closer attention to your surroundings and experience something you wouldn’t normally encounter at home. You might return feeling more rested — and with a renewed curiosity about where you might go next.