From carefully curated bucket lists to late-night, intoxicated pacts to tackle the entire world, we can all make and lose track of plans easily. At the end of the day, life gets in the way, priorities change, and plans get put off until the next year, and the next, et cetera et cetera. So, just to stir the memory and remind you before it gets to the doomed time for New Year’s Resolutions, here are five of the most popular journeys that become all too quickly forgotten.

The walk to Machu Picchu

Whether you spotted it in a movie, travel programme, or someone’s ultra-exotic holiday photos on Instagram, there’s something alluring about the nearly 600 year old Incan citadel hidden away in the Andes. Obviously, getting to Peru itself is an expensive trip, which is one of the factors that often resigns it to the purgatorial ‘To Do Travel List’ in the back of the mind.

However, once in Peru, getting to Machu Picchu can be achieved in several different ways, including by train and helicopter. But the four day, 43km hike, which must be booked around 6 months in advance, is what makes the trip one to forget about. Not only do you have to plan to get to Peru, but also for a challenging, lengthy hike, and be fit, healthy and prepared to take it on. Subsequently, Machu Picchu is one of those journeys that gets delayed year in, year out.

Christ the Redeemer

In a similar vein, the iconic Art Deco statue of Jesus Christ, atop the Crocovado mountain and overlooking Rio de Janeiro, is another worldwide icon that people never get round to visiting. Like Machu Picchu, it looks great on video, but becomes another one of those idyllic locations that most people never get around to experiencing themselves.

Exploring Petra

When people think about visiting Jordan, they generally cast their mind to the lost city of Peta. Carved from the exquisite pink sandstone around 2,000 years ago, its beauty is only matched by its mystery. However, as Jordan is so intrinsically linked to Petra, the same problem that people have in ‘finally’ reaching Machu Picchu and Christ the Redeemer rears its ugly head again. Surely there must be something else to see while you’re there? And wouldn’t all that money be better invested in two weeks of utter relaxation? Well, that’s entirely up to you to answer, as you balance a once-in-a-lifetime experience, against a once-every-summer holiday.

Self discovery

As you can see, a trend has very quickly formed. There are places all over the world that people want to go, even may plan to visit, but can always find a reason to put off. However, there are two more journeys that anyone can take, but don’t always finish. One is the physical challenge of achieving peak performance, below, and the other is more intrinsic. Self discovery is about exploring your strongest, perhaps most overwhelming fears, desires and emotions – and then learning to confront, and eventually accept them. If you have no idea where to begin, but feel a deep urge within you to know more about yourself, the Universe, and where you fit in, there are physical journeys you can take, like an ayahuasca retreat, that can help you get started on the inward journey. Strong and powerful experiences like this can sometimes give you the kick you need to truly start knowing yourself. Otherwise, you can take it slow and start by meditating, journaling, or any other way that lets you get to the roots. This is something you can do every day, for as long as you’re alive and, while it may never reach ‘an end’, of sorts, it may be the most rewarding journey you ever begin.

Peak performance

Idyllic in a very different way, the concept of running a marathon or working ones way to a lean, toned physique can feel as unrealistic as jetting away to the other side of the world. And while this is very much a personal journey, as opposed to joining a tourist trail, there are now many ways of making it a journey in more ways than one. The likes of Fat Camp from Prestige Bootcamp are great ways of kickstarting a fitness journey while also getting away for a week or two at a time in the process – eventually achieving a fitness level you never believed you’d get around to reaching.