This year, everyone here at EuroCheapo HQ has made a pact to aspire to both personal and office-wide resolutions. The former is listed below and at each individual Cheapo’s discretion, while the latter is also listed below and the result of both heated debate and thumb-wrestling.

Here we go, yo!

Office-wide Resolutions

1.) Only use WiFi at any hotel if it is free

2.) Spend as little as possible on airline baggage fees (and know what the fees are in advance, natch.)

3.) Be smarter about racking up points on credit and debit cards that can be used toward future travel.

4.) Take overnight trains more often.

5.) Remember how to properly use our iPhones abroad. And we reserve the right to just leave the things at home and get over our bad tech selves.

6.) Use public transportation to get in from the airport, no matter how tired we feel or if we overindulged on the free in-flight sauce.

Personal New Year’s Resolutions

Kari’s Resolutions

1.) Sip fruit soup in Budapest.

2.) Buy a welcome mat in Marrakesh.

3.) Find my grandmother’s roots on Mount Blanc.

4.) Step aboard a Viking ship in Bygdoy, Oslo.

5.) Listen to locals debate history along Serbian borders.

Pete’s Resolutions

1.) Take my 1-year-old daughter on an overseas trip and try to keep my flight anxiety to a minimum.

2.) Stay at least one night on a botel.

3.) I resolve to embrace the bidet.

4.) Karaoke at a youth hostel.

5.) Get involved in the paddle boarding conversation.

Suzanne’s Resolutions

1.) Read a book written or set in the destinations I visit.

2.) Attend a reenactment (and get someone to break character).

3.) Set up a travel fund.

4.) Take a class (cooking, dance, fill-in-the-blank…) in a place known for that specialty, even if for only a day.

5.) Give something back: volunteer for a day, bring supplies to a poor country, share conversation with locals…

Meredith’s Resolutions

1.) Keep a journal of my travels.

2.) Take the bus more.

3.) Go into a restaurant, forgo the menu and ask the chef to make me “whatever.”

4.) Find a baby-friendly budget hotel in Paris.

5.) Stop faking my knowledge of foreign languages.

What New Year’s travel resolutions do you have for 2011, Cheapos? Tell us in the comments below!

And to help make your resolutions a reality, consider some of these fab tips for Europe to get started.

The post The Cheapos’ 2011 New Year’s Travel Resolutions appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

And what a year it has been, Cheapos! We’ve published over 300 blog posts since January, upon which you’ve provided nearly 400 comments, all of which has helped make our blog (hopefully) a useful and friendly budget travel resource for Cheapos worldwide.

But we can’t officially say goodbye to 2008 without doing an obligatory end of year wrap up of a few of our favorite posts. So join us as we tap into our inner Ryan Seacrest and present to you some of our “2008 Blog Greatest Hits!”

1. Most Popular Post:
Perhaps we shouldn’t be hugely surprised, but our most popular post in 2008 was “Top tips for a budget-friendly European vacation.” Written back in early spring, the tips are still just as relevant today – have a look.

2. Most Commented Post:
We always enjoy reading comments from our readers, but the post that generated the greatest amount of chatter was “Where to watch U.S. election results in Europe,” which had 38 comments. When we first wrote the post we included venues at 6 different cities, but with all the comments and feedback we received from you it expanded to recommendations in 17 cities across Europe (and a few outside Europe, too.)

3. Most Frequently Commenting Cheapos:
Two Cheapos, in particular, consistently submitted helpful tips and feedback to our blog posts this year and deserve special mention. They are “poetloverrebelspy” from the Less Than A Shoestring budget travel blog, and Marilyn Terrell from the National Geographic “Intelligent Travel” blog. Thanks to both of you for all of your comments in 2008 and please keep them coming in ’09!

4. Most Constructive Budget Travel Debate Within Blog Comments:
Just the word “Ryanair” elicits all sorts of emotions within budget travelers everywhere. However, we particularly enjoyed seeing the helpful banter back and forth among several Cheapos in the comments section of our post “NYC to London for $13? Ryanair prepares for U.S. takeoff.” Any post that produces side wagers within our comments gets our vote!

5. Best Travel Photo Caption Contest:
We were delighted to read through the various entries to our “Barcelona Dog” caption contest this past May. Some of which, admittedly, even we didn’t entirely understand…

6. Best use of subtle Photoshopping within blog photos:
Our office was in full-blown wacky Halloween mode this past October 31st, which culminated with our “EuroCheapo’s Spookiest Hotel Ghost Photos” post. Ok, spoiler alert: we used a little bit of Photoshop wizardry to enhance a couple of the photos, but have a look and see if you can tell which ones.

And lastly, we’d like to say a very special thank you to Darren over at the Travel Rants blog in the UK, who hosted a consumer blog award contest that resulted in EuroCheapo being named “Best Corporate Blog.” We appreciated even being included within Darren’s nominations and we look forward to even more blogging, helpful reader comments, and Photoshop creativity that’s to come in 2009!

Happy (almost) New Year, Cheapos!

The post EuroCheapo’s 2008 Blog Greatest Hits appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.