Hope and Glory Inn, Irvington, Va.

3 New Year's Resolutions for Travelers

Even before the January freeze bombs us, let us dispense with those New Year's lists touting the benefits of virtuous hobbies (raising egg-bearing chickens, anyone?), weigh-loss gambits and new philosophies for living.

Instead, let us live through travel. And planning travel. And let us resolve to take trips that do not confine us to the tried and true, but instead deliver us to those places where the unpredictable becomes downright sublime.

We chose three categories to begin your march to travel salvation.

I resolve to take a romantic getaway with my significant other.

The first venue has a glorious name, and it lives up to it: Hope and Glory (hopeandglory.com), an inn located in Virginia’s Northern Neck in Irvington. It's roughly a three-hour drive from D.C. What you'll love most about Hope and Glory: it's truly an escape from everything. Enjoy little touches such as a private bath set in an outdoor garden with a mammoth claw-tub tub, a cool Hemingway-era bar, an intimate dining area—and even a retired oyster boat you can catch a ride on at sunset on Carter’s Creek, which feeds into the Rappahannock River.

Closer to home, retreat to the Good Stone Inn (goodstone.com) in Loudoun County—it’s one of those elegantly rustic places with guest rooms situated in old horse stalls and guest cottages scattered among the 265 acres. The food at its French-inspired restaurant never disappoints.

I resolve to get into the great outdoors and hike the Appalachian Trail.

I've wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail ever since reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. But for most of us, hiking the entire trail from Georgia to Maine is nearly impossible because of the five-month commitment—but the next best thing is to hike sections of the trail as a so-called "slackpacker."

If you want to experience the trail but aren’t into the hardcore idea of sleeping under the stars every night, find a small-town base where you can grab meals, do some shopping and stay in nice accommodations. Within an hour of D.C., Harpers's Ferry (and the AT's headquarters) awaits. But if  you want a true getaway, head to Asheville, North Carolina.

Asheville has grown considerably in the past several years, but it still has the feel of a great American small town—and from Asheville, it’s a short drive to the village of Hot Springs on the Tennessee Border. Hot Springs is one of the few places on the Appalachian Trail where through-hikers come in contact with civilization. It’s a gorgeous spot, especially in the spring, and there are plenty of inns to enjoy after a day of hiking—and two not-to-miss places to stay are the Iron Horse Station (theironhorsestation.com) on Main Street and Mountain Magnolia (mountainmagnoliainn.com), which is set in the hills outside of town.

When visiting NYC and Boston, I resolve not to do the predictable.

Next time you visit New York, slide over to Brooklyn, a borough that has always had an interesting food scene but is now on the radar for lots of foodies. On weekends, roam over to the Brooklyn Flea market (brooklynflea.com) to taste the some great food from vendors, including almond croissants and Salvadoran pupusas.

And those are warm-ups for great steaks at Peter Lugar (peterluger.com) and another spot set in a 1920s dining car called Diner in South Williamsburg.

Then on Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, there’s restaurant row, with its standout Buttermilk Channel (buttermilkchannelnyc.com)—a place where organic food is the standby but decadence rules, especially with buttermilk-friend chicken and cheddar waffles.

Finally, up on Boston, don't overlook the emerging scene in the Fort Point neighborhood, located just across the channel from downtown. You’ll find lots of re-purposed 100-year-old warehouses that now are lofts, eateries and shops.

With family in tow, duck into the Boston Children’s Museum (bostonkids.org), and head over to Joanne Chang's place called the Flour Bakery (flourbakery.com), famous for its sticky buns—fans of Bobby Flay’s show might remember that Chang whipped him in a recent throw-down.

Fort Point is so hot it’s even the location of Boston’s biggest museum opening in 2012—the Boston Tea Party Museum (bostonteapartyship.com) will house three life-sized replicas of the ships colonists boarded to dump tea into the harbor. The homage to colonial protest opens in June.