Want to incorporate some travel-attracting rituals into your New Year’s celebrations? Here’s a full rundown!
All over the world, people follow different traditions to say goodbye to a year and prepare for the next one. Attracting luck or wealth, a new job, better health, a romantic partner, or vowing to improve an annoying habit are among the most common. But travelers, we deserve our own sets of customs.
The end of 2023 is upon us, and we would like to share some traditional practices we do in Mexico to manifest a year full of exciting getaways. None of them have guaranteed results (ahem). But as Mexicans always say: “there’s no worse fight than the one that’s not fought.”
So, we invite you to spend a fun, different New Year’s Eve and follow some of these rituals with friends and family for much traveling during 2024.
THE SUITCASE
Pack a suitcase for this tradition before your New Year’s Eve celebration and keep it by your door. Then, depending on the country’s region, this ritual has variations:
For some, after midnight, you take your bag, cross your threshold, and step on the street, wishing for a year full of travel.
Others say walking some distance on the street or even to every corner of your house is essential. The more you walk with your bag, the further your adventures will take you. Another variation instructs you to step out with the suitcase in one hand and your passport in the other if you intend to visit faraway lands.
Be sure to pack your bathing suit, sunscreen, and golf apparel to attract many visits to Vidanta!
THE GRAPES
Eating 12 grapes, one for each chime when the clock strikes midnight, is considered a general good-luck ritual in all of Mexico. The significance attached to each grape depends on the family upbringing, culture, and personal preference. It can be 12 resolutions, goals, wishes, etc. And since you are hurriedly eating grapes, your intentions remain internal, not shared with anyone; thus, they are believed to be more powerful.
For us Vidanta travelers, each grape can represent a different destination we’d like to visit, a new adventure for each month of the year, or types of entertainment we want to enjoy in our vacations, like concerts, Cirque du Soleil shows, and luxury theme parks.
Pro Tip: get seedless grapes and serve them cold or frozen, already divided by the dozen.
COLORS
Yellow is associated with an abundant and happy life in Mexico. So, if you want a year fruitful in travel, you can wear a yellow item of clothing or use a yellow bag or backpack during the suitcase ritual. Also, if you want to get away as a couple, go on your honeymoon, or travel for your anniversary, add a red element for love. For example, tie your bags together with a red ribbon, light yellow and red candles at midnight, or wear matching red scarves.
COINS AND SHOES
Coins are also a symbol of abundance, so the ritual is to place one—preferably of the country’s currency where we want to go—inside your shoe. The coin remains there during New Year’s Eve, is stored on January 1st, and is spent once you arrive at the desired destination. Other travel-attracting items people keep in their shoes are photos of where you want to “stand” in the following year. And then walk around on December 31st, confident that your travel plans are already a done deal!
THE CRUCIAL ELEMENT
The most important thing during and after New Year’s Eve is to be, share, and plan with your loved ones. Enjoy some laughs practicing these novelty Mexican customs while discovering each other’s dreams and goals.
We hope you include Vidanta as a place to build incredible memories, strengthen your bonds, and celebrate your milestones as we commemorate our 50th anniversary next year.
Happy 2024 to all our Vidanta Travelers!
