This year, I resolve to…

Published 10:02 am Thursday, January 1, 2026

Should I consider it odd to be bundled from head to toe, sitting in a box blind overlooking a food plot, enjoying a “real feel” temp of 28 in the last days of December, and waiting for a buck to emerge from the woods, all while passing the time reading “Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die”?  I think not.

Although I must admit that the book, its cover showing a sun-dappled fly fisherman working the waters of a crystal-clear river with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop, would have been better suited to the prior afternoon’s hunt with temps pushing 80 degrees.  Such is the life of a deer hunter in Mississippi.

The book, a thoughtful Christmas gift from Judy “ZZ” Van Veckhoven, was apropos for either day based on the proximity to the coming New Year, a time for resolutions.  And I can think of no better resolution than that of fishing new waters, especially if those waters rank amongst the 50 featured on author Chris Santella’s list.

Someone please tell my wife that I can multitask, and here’s proof—I was hunting, waiting and watching for a big buck to walk out, while also researching new destinations for fly fishing. My mind was in two places, but my heart was firmly planted in the outdoors. Photo by Brad Dye

As I’ve mentioned before, I love traveling and experiencing new places, and I’ve become even more keen on those “new experiences” after recently coming across the research of Stanford University neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman.

According to Eagleman, new experiences have the effect of slowing down time based on how our brains encode and process memories.

When we’re in our normal “routine,” nothing changes and, as a result, our “brain is efficient and records fewer details to save energy.”  Eagleman’s research suggests that “these repetitive days are compressed in memory leading to the feeling that weeks or months have blurred together and passed quickly.”

However, that seems to change when we experience the new and different.  Eagleman asserts that “when you encounter a new experience, your brain is forced to process a high volume of new information and detail, stimulating the hippocampus and creating rich, dense memories.”

The research further shows that “the more detailed the memory, the longer the event feels in retrospect.  A week-long vacation filled with new activities may feel longer in memory than a month spent in a familiar, mundane routine.”

Equipped with this understanding, it seems that we have the power to slow or stretch time by incorporating new experiences into our daily routines.

As it turns out, these novel adventures can be as simple as taking a new route on your daily commute, trying a new restaurant for lunch, or incorporating new exercises into your morning workout.

On a grander scale, the exploits could involve traveling to a new state or country for vacation or, in the case of my hunting blind reading material, fly fishing new waters or going after new trout species that you haven’t caught before.

My mind was abuzz with possibilities during the afternoon hunt, possibilities for not only my New Year’s resolutions, but also, and more importantly, for my resolutions for “new” adventures in 2026.

A quick review of my ever-present mental checklist reminded me that I already have a few emprises either on the books or in the works for the upcoming year, starting with a family getaway to Walt Disney World.

While I have been to WDW before, it has been a few years and, for me, so much has changed.  Tron and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge immediately come to mind as I’ve yet to experience either, and both transport me back to the ages of 7 and 12 which makes my inner sci-fi nerd smile.

Follow that up with my favorite spring activity—turkey hunting—and plans for a trip to Nebraska to chase the Rio Grande and Eastern subspecies.  A good friend invited me up several years ago, and I’m resolving to make that a reality in 2026.

Summer already holds promise as well with a return trip to Idaho and The Lodge at Palisades Creek for fly fishing on the books in June.  This will be my third time to fish the South Fork of the Snake with our friends at TLAPC, however, so I can’t really claim it as a new experience.

On second thought, each of my fly-fishing excursions in Southern Idaho has been both different and unique, with different guides, different trout, and different (but always perfect) weather, so I’ll file this trip in the new category as well.  Didn’t the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus say, “You can’t step in the same river twice”?

That seems like a great start for new experiences in the coming year; however, I do have a few bucket list ideas just in case we have a windfall of surplus cash or happen to win the Powerball jackpot.  Here they are:

First, I want to hike the Dales Way or the Cotswold Way with G.  I floated this idea in an article earlier this year, and I would certainly love to make it happen in 2026.

Second, as I’ve been working my way through the “50 Places to Fly Fish Before You Die,” I’ve already come across several new states, countries and waters that I want to add to the “new experience” lifetime list.

These rivers include but aren’t limited to the Gunnison in Colorado, the River Test in England, the Henry’s Fork and Middle Fork of the Salmon in Idaho, the Bighorn in Montana, the Battenkill in Vermont, the Firehole in Wyoming, and any river or stream in Patagonia (either Argentina or Chile will suffice).

Until next time, here’s to resolving to “stretch time” with new experiences in 2026, here’s to the making the most of all the time that we’re given, and here’s to seeing you out there in our great outdoors.