Going Local: The New Normal
80% of the Trippin community want to go local and support their community.
It seems right now that life is a series of question marks with no definite answers in response. Although this applies to almost everything right now, it is especially true for the topic of travel. When and how seem to be the most nagging thoughts and whilst we aren’t about to say we have all the answers, we’re determined to help ease that restlessness that comes with being an avid traveller.
According to research from the New York Times, international travel will take much longer to bounce back, but it has been shown that Americans are still eager to travel, just within their control. The same can be said for Britons. This is where local and regional travel come in. 80% of our community said they want to go local and support their community. It is also the most realistic solution to our travel problems; we can discover parts of our city, region, country that might have previously been overlooked in favour of faraway places. It’s feasible and in fact, more sustainable.
If we look to the travel behaviours of countries further on in the recovery stage, like China, the data shows just this. A report by McKinsey & Company shows that, at present, travel is entirely domestic and the population “prefer to stay close to home - choosing for example, to drive or take trains to regional destinations”. With this in mind, it’s safe to say there will be a general shift towards slower, self-guided holidays like road trips, staycations or even home-swaps. It allows more control and helps ease overall anxiety concerning cleanliness and safety.
In consideration of types of holidays, it’s been shown that outdoor, nature attractions have been the most popular - think nature walks, cycling trips, scenic drives - along with family and food-themed trips following behind. Shopping trips have fallen to the bottom of the popularity list. Unsurprisingly, it’s also been shown that “the young will go first. Economy travel will recover more quickly… and congested cities will be avoided”.
So, what does this tell us?
1
International travel is, for now, a likely far-away dream
Although, we are personally gutted by this - it’s a necessary evil. Find solace that these places will remain and it is still entirely possible you’ll get to traverse the piercing white plains of Salar de Uyuni. It just needs to wait for now. It is suggested that non-essential travel should only be revisited once current advisories have been lifted. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
2
Local travel is a go
On surface level, it might not seem as enticing as a trip to the wild beaches of Mexico, but it really goes back to the roots of why we love to travel so much: to discover, to learn and to connect. And why shouldn’t this apply to your resident country? There is so much beauty and substance around us and in learning more about the places around you, you could easily end up learning a lot more about yourself.
3
Travel will never die
As long as people continue dreaming and feeding their curiousity, the desire to travel will stay. Yes, we will have to work with what we’ve got, but we’re human and it’s in our nature to be creative. Rest assured, you’ll be able to tick off that journey or place you’ve been dreaming of.
More considered travel will continue to be on the rise with more people looking inwards. People will consider what’s within their physical reach and also uncover what they really desire from travel. This will be a revelatory time. This piece of writing may have somewhat of a dark cloud lingering over it, but there are multiple silver linings. For example, ‘overtourism’ is likely to decrease with more people spreading their travel out, trips to nearby places will mean less travel time and less overall carbon emissions as less people resort to long-haul planes and planes in general... the list goes on. You’ll be giving Mother Earth some much needed rest and recuperation.
In the next few weeks, we’ll be attempting to tackle this type of travel by sharing with you how you can go about making tentative plans for city trips, regional and countryside escapes and pairing these with guides and features on particular neighbourhoods, regions as well as themed trips like road trips, nature trips and many more. In the meantime, check out our piece on slow travel - a type of travel highly likely to pick up after borders open up.
We are aware we have much to learn as the landscape continuously changes day by day, so if you have any information or opinions on the topic that you’d like to share, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email, Instagram or on our WhatsApp channel.
