The Resolution Nobody Makes (But Everyone Needs)
Every January, the ritual begins. Gym memberships. Dry January pledges. Reading lists. Journaling habits. Screen time limits. Five-a-day. Early nights. Cold showers, if you're feeling masochistic about it.
And every February, the ritual ends. The gym bag stays in the car. The Kindle gathers dust. The cold showers become lukewarm, then hot, then you pretend the whole thing never happened.
Here is the thing about New Year's resolutions: most of them are solo projects. They are about self-improvement in isolation — you versus your habits, you versus your willpower, you versus the gravitational pull of being exactly who you were last year. And solo projects, as it turns out, are very easy to abandon. Nobody notices when you stop. Nobody asks where you have been. The accountability is entirely internal, and internal accountability is about as reliable as Devon weather in March.
What almost nobody resolves to do in January is the thing that would actually make the biggest difference: spend more time with other people. Not in a vague, aspirational way. In a concrete, calendar-based, "I am going to do this specific thing with or near other humans on a regular basis" way.
This is the social resolution. And if you live in Exeter, January 2027 is the perfect time to start.
New Year's Eve in Exeter: Set the Tone
Before we get to January, let us talk about the night itself. New Year's Eve in Exeter is not London. It is not Edinburgh. And that is entirely the point.
The city has its own character on NYE. If you want to make the most of December before it ends, our Christmas in Exeter guide has the full festive rundown. The Cathedral Quarter comes alive with restaurants offering special menus — The Holt on Cathedral Close does wood-fired pizza and local ales in one of the most atmospheric settings in the city, while the Turks Head, recently restored after more than seven hundred years of service, is the kind of pub where you toast midnight surrounded by actual history. The Ship Inn on St Martin's Lane, said to have been frequented by Sir Francis Drake, is another option if you want your countdown to come with a side of character.
For something more structured, Exeter Phoenix — the city's independent arts centre on Gandy Street — hosts a New Year's Eve party every year. If you'd rather be outdoors, the Exeter Round Table Fireworks display is a spectacular pyrotechnic show synchronised to music, with funfair rides and food stalls. For views, locals recommend the Barley Valley Nature Reserve as a quieter spot to watch fireworks across the city.
But here is our real advice for New Year's Eve: spend it with people you actually like, doing something you actually enjoy. The pressure to have an extraordinary night is the enemy of a good one. A small dinner, a bottle of something decent, a walk to see the fireworks, a toast at midnight. That is enough. That is more than enough.
The goal is not to have a legendary night. It is to wake up on the first of January feeling connected rather than depleted. Because January is where the real work begins.
Dry January, But Make It Social
Dry January has become one of the most popular New Year commitments in the UK, and for good reason — it is time-limited, clearly defined, and the health benefits are well documented. But it has a social problem. When you stop drinking, you often stop going out. The pub becomes off-limits. Dinner invitations feel complicated. By the second week, you are sober but also isolated, which rather defeats the purpose.
Exeter has caught on to this. InExeter runs a programme called January Sessions — a series of creative, social, and alcohol-free evenings across the city designed to keep people out and about without the pressure of drinking. Past events have included hands-on workshops, poetry evenings, and tea-based mixology sessions. The whole point is to prove that socialising without alcohol is not only possible but genuinely enjoyable.
Beyond the organised events, Exeter's cafe scene is robust enough to support a social life that does not revolve around pubs. The city has no shortage of excellent coffee shops where you can meet someone for an afternoon that feels just as sociable as a pub session. And many of the pubs themselves now offer impressive ranges of alcohol-free beers, wines, and cocktails — you can sit in a pub garden with a zero-percent IPA and nobody will know or care.
If Dry January is your plan, the key is to replace drinking occasions rather than eliminating them. Swap the pub for a cafe. Swap the wine bar for a restaurant. Swap the house party for a walk. The goal is to stay social, not to stay home. If you need more ideas on this, our guide to socialising on a budget has plenty of low-cost, low-alcohol suggestions that work year round.
The Activities That Actually Stick
January is when clubs, groups, and activities open their doors widest. They know that people are looking for something new, and they make it easy to try. Here are the ones in Exeter that are worth your time.
Exeter Riverside Parkrun
Every Saturday at 9am, Exeter Riverside parkrun takes place at Exeter Quay and the River Valley Park. It is free, open to everyone regardless of fitness level, and attracts a mix of runners, joggers, and walkers. The social element is baked in — regulars gather for coffee afterwards, and the atmosphere is encouraging rather than competitive.
The beauty of parkrun as a social resolution is that it is the same time, every week, in the same place. You do not need to organise anything. You do not need to invite anyone. You just show up. And because you see the same faces each week, something happens naturally: you start to recognise people. They recognise you. Conversations start. Running friends become actual friends. It is the consistency principle in action — the same reason that a regular social calendar benefits your mental health.
Silent Book Club Exeter
This one is quietly brilliant. Exeter's Silent Book Club meets three times a month across two venues — the first Wednesday and third Monday at Topsham Brewery, and the last Thursday at 12 Bar Music and Social. The format is simple: arrive at 6pm, settle in with your book, read in companionable silence from 6:30 to 7:30, and then chat about what you've been reading from 7:30 to 8pm. All formats welcome — ebooks, audiobooks, textbooks, graphic novels.
It is free, requires no booking, and is run by Exeter City of Literature. As a social activity for introverts — or anyone who finds the idea of forced conversation exhausting — it is close to perfect. You get the warmth of being around people without the pressure of performing. And the post-reading chat is optional, which takes the anxiety out of it entirely.
Exeter Phoenix Workshops and Courses
Exeter Phoenix on Gandy Street runs a rolling programme of creative courses, workshops, and classes throughout January and beyond. These range from life drawing to filmmaking to printmaking, and the class format — small groups, shared activity, regular sessions — is one of the most effective ways to build friendships as an adult. You are doing something alongside people rather than sitting opposite them, which removes the artificiality of "trying to make friends" and replaces it with the natural bonding that comes from shared experience.
RAMM: The Free Museum That Keeps Giving
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum on Queen Street is free to enter and holds over 8,000 objects across sixteen galleries. In January, when the weather is grim and the budget is tight, it is one of the best things in Exeter. Drop in for an hour between errands. Take the self-guided trail. Join one of the free guided tours. Pick up a Beastie Bag for the kids. Sit in the cafe with a coffee and a view of the atrium.
RAMM is not a social venue in the traditional sense, but it is a public space — and public spaces are where incidental social contact happens. The kind of casual, low-stakes interaction that slowly makes a city feel like home. It is also a perfect destination for a budget-friendly day out when January finances are stretched thin.
Exeter was designated a UNESCO City of Literature, and the literary culture extends well beyond Silent Book Club. There are regular poetry readings, author talks, and writing workshops happening across the city. Check the Exeter City of Literature programme for what's coming up — it is one of the most underrated social scenes in Exeter.
The Exeter Green Circle: Your Free January Gym
When the gym membership feels like a waste and the weather is not quite bad enough to justify staying in, the Exeter Green Circle is your answer. This twelve-mile circular walking route weaves through seven city wards, connecting parks, woods, nature reserves, and viewpoints that most Exeter residents have never discovered. It was relaunched in September 2025 as part of the national Railway 200 celebrations, with new map boards at Exeter St Davids, Marsh Barton, and Polsloe Bridge stations.
You do not have to walk the entire thing. The route is divided into five sections, each with convenient bus-route cut-off points. The Mincinglake Valley Park section, a former landfill now transformed into butterfly-rich flower meadows, offers superb views down the Exe Estuary to the sea. In January, when the trees are bare, the views are at their best.
Walk a section with a friend. Walk a section alone and see who you meet along the way. Use it as a weekly commitment — one section per weekend — and by the end of February you will have walked the entire circle, explored parts of your city you never knew existed, and built a habit that costs nothing and gives back everything.
The Social Resolution: How to Actually Do It
Intentions are cheap. Here is how to turn a social resolution into something that lasts past January.
Make it specific. "I want to see more people" is not a plan. "I will go to parkrun every Saturday and Silent Book Club on the first Wednesday of the month" is a plan. Specificity creates commitment.
Make it regular. One-off events are nice but they do not build relationships. The magic happens when you see the same people repeatedly — at parkrun, at a class, at a weekly coffee. Repetition is how acquaintances become friends.
Make it easy. Choose activities that are close to home, free or cheap, and do not require complicated planning. The higher the barrier, the more likely you are to talk yourself out of it on a cold January evening.
Tell someone. Accountability works. Tell a friend what you are planning to do in January. Better yet, invite them to join you. A shared resolution is twice as likely to survive February.
Accept imperfection. You will miss weeks. You will have evenings where you would rather stay home. That is fine. The goal is not a perfect record. It is a general direction — towards people, towards activity, towards being out in the world rather than retreating from it.
Winter Activities That Get You Out of the House
January doesn't have to mean indoor hibernation. Devon in winter has a stark, beautiful quality that rewards the people who layer up and head out.
Cold Water Swimming
Devon's cold water swimming community is thriving, and January is — counterintuitively — one of the best times to try it. Groups meet at Exmouth, Dawlish, and several Dartmoor river spots for organised swims that combine the genuine health benefits of cold water immersion with the kind of instant camaraderie that comes from doing something slightly mad together. Our cold water therapy guide covers where to go, what to expect, and why standing in freezing water with strangers might be one of the best things you do all year.
Quay Climbing Centre
On Exeter's historic Quayside, the Quay Climbing Centre is housed in the old Electricity Building and features the South West's largest indoor climbing wall. With 81 roped walls, 9 auto belays, and a Clip 'n Climb section with 26 fun challenges for beginners, it's a brilliant January activity — physical enough to replace the gym, social enough to count as an outing, and entirely weatherproof. The Workshop Cafe does proper food and coffee, so you can linger afterwards.
Raceworld Indoor Karting
If you need something with a bit more adrenaline, Raceworld at Greendale Business Park near Exeter has a 400m indoor circuit with a flyover bridge. It's open seven days a week, suitable for drivers over eleven, and the competitive element makes it surprisingly good for group bonding. A few laps in a go-kart followed by a pub lunch is a genuinely excellent January Saturday.
Exeter's Heritage Trails
January is a good time to explore Exeter's free heritage trails — the City Wall Trail, the Woollen Trail, and the Medieval Trail are all self-guided, completely free, and offer a way to rediscover the city you think you already know. The Red Coat Guided Tours, led by volunteers from the Richard Hooker Statue on Cathedral Green, run daily and cost nothing. Ninety minutes of fascinating storytelling about a city with two thousand years of history. Our Roman Exeter guide goes deeper if the tours whet your appetite.
Beating the January Blues
January in Exeter can feel bleak. The Christmas decorations come down, the credit card bill arrives, and the weather settles into its least inspiring phase — not dramatically stormy, just relentlessly grey. The temptation to hibernate is real.
But here is what the research consistently shows: the single most effective thing you can do for your mental health in January is to maintain social contact. Not screens. Not group chats. Actual, in-person, face-to-face time with other humans. A coffee with a colleague. A walk with a neighbour. A dinner with someone you have been meaning to see.
Exeter makes this easier than most cities. It is small enough that everything is walkable or a short bus ride away. It has a cafe culture that thrives in winter. It has free public spaces like RAMM and the cathedral grounds. It has community events like January Sessions that exist specifically to combat the January slump. And it has us.
Our Dinners With Friends events run year-round, including through January when the need for connection is greatest. Each dinner seats a small group at a brilliant restaurant — no need to know anyone, no need to bring a plus one. Just book a seat, show up, and let the evening unfold. It's one of the easiest ways to start the year with new faces around the table. Browse our best restaurants in Exeter to see the kinds of places we host.
Forget the New You. Build a New January.
The fitness industry wants January to be about transformation. The wellness industry wants it to be about optimisation. Social media wants it to be about announcements and before-and-after photos.
Ignore all of it.
What if, instead of trying to become a different person in January, you simply tried to become a more connected one? What if the resolution was not about what you do alone in the gym or the kitchen, but about who you spend time with and how often?
The science is clear. The people with the strongest mental health, the longest lifespans, and the greatest resilience are not the ones with the best diets or the most disciplined routines. They are the ones with the strongest social connections. The ones who show up for each other. The ones who sit around tables together and talk about their lives.
Exeter in January is ready for you. Parkrun is waiting. Silent Book Club is waiting. The Phoenix workshops are listed. The Green Circle is mapped. The restaurants are open. The only thing missing is you, deciding that this year, the resolution is not about doing more alone. It is about doing more together.
Start with one thing. Just one. Put it in the calendar. Show up. And see what happens next.
And when the days start lengthening and the first hint of spring arrives, our guide to spring in Devon will help you shake off the winter and build on the momentum you've created. For those working from home and finding January particularly isolating, we have practical advice for breaking out of the home office bubble too.