Back-to-work blues? These 10 tips will ignite your travel dreams

The exchange rate is brutal right now. Unless you’re heading to Japan – and fair enough, a lot of you are heading to Japan – the bang for your Aussie buck has deteriorated lately into a gentle fizzle.

Most countries are more expensive for Australian travellers right now than they were even a year ago. Couple that with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the cost-of-living crunch back home (and the insane price of an Australian passport), and growing environmental and social concerns around mass tourism, and you could be forgiven for feeling a little pessimistic about travel in 2025.

Getting to South America is easy from Sydney or Melbourne.Credit: iStock

Add in the fact that you might be suffering the back-to-work blues after the holiday break and you may well be feeling down. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s always reason to feel good about travel, and 2025 is no different. You might just have to look a little harder than usual.

Domestic travel is amazing

This entire column could be dedicated to singing the praises of travel within Australia this year. There’s just so much to do, so much to enjoy, and with foreign exchange rates biting, now is clearly a perfect time to explore more of our homeland.

Explore a winery in Tasmania, such as Josef Chromy.

Do a country pub crawl of Victoria, visit museums in Canberra, drive 4WD tracks in the Kimberley, go birdwatching in NT, camp out on a coral island in Queensland, hit up wineries in Tasmania, go to an exhibition in Melbourne, explore the national parks of Sydney.

And this is just scraping the surface. One of the main issues people cite with domestic travel is cost relative to overseas destinations, but if you stay in budget accommodation, drive or take overland transport, eat on the cheap, and remove the cost of an international flight, an incredible holiday is available to you right here.

You can avoid crowds in Europe

How do you make Europe relatively affordable, while also lessening your environmental and social impact, and exploring places with fewer tourists? Travel off-peak, and avoid the big-ticket destinations. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Go in March or April, or October or November. Steer clear of the big-name capitals and instead explore “second cities”, or smaller towns and villages. Stay longer in one place instead of moving around all the time. All of a sudden, you will find yourself in some gorgeous part of Sicily, or maybe rural France, or a Greek seaside, or a Spanish mountain, and you will be living the European dream.

The Middle East is open

The Monastery in Petra, Jordan.Credit: iStock

There’s no shortage of bad news coming out of the Middle East, with instability in Syria, war in Gaza, destruction in Lebanon, unrest in Iran. It would be easy to just strike this region off your list. But that would be a mistake, because the Middle East is not a homogenous bloc, and vast swathes are very much open to tourism, providing some of the world’s great experiences. Try Jordan, home to Petra and Wadi Rum; Oman, with its rich history and culture; the UAE, with its modern food scene and mix of luxury and hospitality; and Saudi Arabia, which continues its bid to open to the tourism world. And all these places are easily accessible from Australia.

NZD is cheap

So you really want to go overseas, but you want somewhere safe, accessible and affordable, with very little carbon to burn to get there? Then we have the spot for you, and it’s just across the ditch in New Zealand. The Aussie dollar is still buying $NZ1.11, which makes not just NZ affordable, but also the Cook Islands, which uses NZD as its currency. Both nations are year-round destinations, and between them offer everything from idyllic beach hangs to winery crawls to mountain hikes to road trips and more, with a reliably friendly welcome, and cultural attractions that tap into rich Polynesian heritage.

New destinations are opening up

Busuanga, the Philippines.Credit: iStock

Another way to avoid the crowds and take your touristy dollars (and presence) to places that really want you is to keep an eye out for destinations just beginning to gain traction among mainstream travellers. Consider the Philippines, in particular the pristine island of Busuanga, the perfect alternative to plenty of South-East Asian hotspots. Or Daegu, a South Korean city becoming popular for its historic sites and modern cafe scene. Indonesia, too, is promoting alternatives to perennially popular Bali, including Yogyakarta and Labuan Bajo.

South America is accessible

South America has so, so much to offer travellers, not to mention affordability – that is, once you get there. One of the key issues for Australians has always been the initial journey, both its cost and its inconvenience. That, however, has now been ironed out recently, with both LATAM and Qantas offering non-stop flights from Sydney to Santiago and LATAM also flying from Melbourne (or alternatively, you can go via Auckland), and airfares steady at about $2000 return. That’s not the cheapest flight in the world, but it’s comparable to many European fares, and it opens a whole world of possibility in one of the most exciting continents on the planet.

Japan is … Japan (and there’s also South Korea)

Japan is still home to the world’s best food and it’s affordable too.Credit: iStock

Everything we know and love about Japan is likely to remain steady in 2025. The exchange rate with the yen is still favourable for Australian travellers. The country is still a single flight away, with a very small time difference to adjust to. Cultural attractions in Japan remain as strong as ever. The snow still falls (and falls, and falls). The food is still the best in the world, and affordable. No wonder we’re all flocking here. For those who have already visited Japan, however – perhaps even a few times – it’s worth considering South Korea as an equally affordable and enjoyable alternative.

We stan for the Stans

Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Explore the history of the Silk Road.Credit: iStock

Here’s another amazing set of destinations for those keen to avoid the crowds in 2025, and yet still enjoy world-beating tourism experiences. We’re talking about the Stans: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. Each offers its own slice of Silk Road history, natural beauty, deeply ingrained hospitality and culture unlike any in the rest of the world. All are accessible via connecting flights in the Middle East or Asia, with airfares (at time of writing) hovering about $2000 return from Australia’s east coast.

CAD is affordable

Yes, the Australian dollar is taking an absolute beating from the USD, currently buying a meagre 62 cents (it was 69 cents a few months ago). The good news for North America fans, however, is that our dollar is holding steady against the Canadian buck, buying 90 cents (slightly higher than it was a year ago). Travel off-peak and keep an eye out for flight deals, and Canada can be on your list for 2025.

You can travel in your own city

Here’s the great thing about Australia, particularly if you live in Melbourne or Sydney (and to a lesser extent Brisbane and Adelaide): you can travel around the world without even leaving your city. You can experience the cultures of, say, Vietnam, Greece, Lebanon, Thailand, Portugal and Sri Lanka all in a single day if you feel like it. Our multicultural cities are ripe for exploration, and will go a long way towards scratching that travel itch in 2025.