Every January brings a familiar ritual: goals written down, intentions set, routines reconsidered. But the resolutions that tend to last longest aren’t always about productivity or discipline — they’re about experience. For travelers thinking beyond checklists this year, here are destinations that feel less like trips — and more like turning points.

Along the border of Botswana and Namibia, where elephant herds move like quiet continents and the river unspools in shades of gold, there’s a safari most travelers never experience. It drifts — not on wheels, but on water. Aboard the Zambezi Queen or the intimate Chobe Princesses, safari becomes a slow, cinematic immersion into one of Africa’s last great wildlife corridors.

For travelers seeking an African safari, the choice between South Africa and Botswana is less about “better” and more about style of immersion.