Happy New Year folks!

Hope 2024 was full of exciting adventures, new friends, new hobbies, communities, and anything that makes you happy.

The holidays can be a complicated time for digital nomads. If you went home to your family, I’m betting you had to make quite a journey to get there. If you decided to keep things adventurous and stay in a new place to mark the new year, I’m sure it was challenging.

However you decided to say goodbye to 2024, hope you had a blast. But now that the celebrations are over, let’s focus on the adventures to come.

Planning your new year’s resolutions when you lead an unconventional life can be tricky. You probably don’t know where you’ll be sleeping in a month, how can you be expected to set goals for the rest of the year? Making a list of goals is a lot easier when you have a steady, 9-to-5 job, a permanent home, and some kind of predictability. But that doesn’t mean nomads don’t need a sense of direction.

But don’t worry, we’re here to help!

Planning your new year’s goals doesn’t have to be that different from planning your next trip, and you’re probably an expert at that by now. So, here’s a helpful guide for the digital nomad setting 2025 goals.

Set Flexible Goals You Can Actually Achieve

In the frenzy of the new year, it’s easy to go overboard when setting goals. That’s not exclusive to digital nomads. Most people abandon a lot of their resolutions by the end of January, so let’s get ahead of that right now. So, if you set a goal to visit 85 new countries in 2025, maybe rethink that.

When it comes to being a digital nomad, you probably can’t commit to goals that will require a strict routine. Someone who leaves work every day at 5pm can probably commit to going to the gym at 5.30 three days a week. But dear reader, you probably can’t do the same.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t set “leading a healthier life” as your goal! You can (and frankly, you should) commit to exercising, eating healthy, and having a good night sleep as a digital nomad.

Let’s say that’s your resolution, you want to be healthier in 2025. Well, then, that’s your main goal. Now, break that goal into smaller, achievable goals.

When it comes to food, you will probably find yourself in different parts of the world throughout the year, and the dietary options will be limited. You can’t control that. But what you can do is prepare beforehand. If you know you’re going to a place where the food options are drastically different to what you’re used to, do your research! What are the most common meals there? More importantly, what are the most common ingredients? You need to know what you’ll be working with, because if you want to eat healthier, you’ll need to cook for yourself. Also, get creative! Eli and Dan have a whole episode where they share their tips and tricks to ensure they eat good food while traveling. Check it out here.

Same thing goes for sleep and exercise. Research the places you’re staying at before you get there. Check the reviews to see if the rooms are comfortable, if they have a large yard for you to do your morning stretching. Also, keep your jetlag in check. If you’re arriving to your new destination at night, even if you’re tired, don’t sleep on the plane! Wait to get there so you’re not up all night and disrupt your whole routine.

Be Disciplined, But Cut Yourself Some Slack

You need to set realistic goals so you’re motivated to achieve them, but it’s very likely you won’t get to cross them all off the list in December 2025. That’s just life. Your new year’s resolutions should be guidelines, not something that determines how successful you are. Especially when living a life that is, by definition, unpredictable. You might not end up achieving all your goals, but I’m willing to bet that, through the year, you’ll achieve a lot of other goals you can’t even imagine.

That said, you set these resolutions because you want to do those things. You want to visit those new cities, learn those new hobbies, meet those new friends, feel healthier and happy. And you should get to do it. Sometimes it’s out of your control, but there are things that you are in charge of, so don’t leave those up to fate.

Now that you have your list of goals (and of places you want to visit) in front of you, it’s time to start planning your year. If you have your next destination planned, look at your general goals and start researching the places you’re staying at and how they fit into those goals. Let’s say one of your resolutions is to pick up a new hobby. Look up clubs and classes in the area you’re staying at. More often than not, you’ll find something that catches your eye.

However, if you don’t already have a flight booked and don’t have a dream destination in mind, your list of resolutions can be a good place to start. If you want to make more friends this year (a constant problem for digital nomads, don’t feel bad about that), maybe look up expat and nomad hubs. Just a quick Google search will give you a list of countries and cities that have huge nomad communities. Maybe choose one of them as your next destination.

Closing thoughts

Setting new year’s resolutions can be confusing, but it can also make your year easier if you do it right. This lifestyle is beautiful and exciting, but it’s also uncertain and overwhelming at times.

A list of broad, flexible goals can provide a lost traveler direction. And remember, they’re not instructions, they’re guidelines! You can tweak them, change them, or dismiss them altogether in a few months if you realize it’s not what you really wanted. But they’re a great place to start, and they will make these first couple of weeks of the year a little less dauting.

Happy new year and safe travels!