No doubt your feeds have already been inundated with Euro summer photo dumps and it seems that everyone (and their mum) is out of office, off-road and offline. As a collective, we’re ready to hand in our resignations for a round the world trip and we’re setting the age-old dream of buying property to the side and dusting off our passports instead.
An Aperol Spritz hits that little bit harder without looming interest rate hikes, you know?
The world of travel is changing fast so here at Urban List, we decided to hand the reins over to 9000 of you to get the scoop on where and how you’ll be travelling over the next few years.
Read on to unpack the insights.
Passports Over Property
The cozzie livs crisis has caused most of us to reevaluate what’s most important in life. Australia is one of the most expensive places to live in the world and with interest rate hikes paving the way for an imminent ‘mortgage cliff’ for homeowners, HECS indexation and rental bubbles in most major cities, we’re ditching down payments for international destinations. In fact, two-thirds of you said you’d rather put your hard-earned cash towards a holiday than a house.
It’s this investment in adventure that’s really driving a shift in how we get the most out of life. Consumer appetite for overseas jaunts is booming, as our new-found currency of freedom and fresh experiences unfolds in a way like we’ve never seen before. Most of us are currently planning an international trip right now (top of our bucket list is England, Italy, France and Indonesia) and get this—more than half of us would quit our day jobs in an instant to jetset around the world.
We’re Hungry For More
With cult shows like Disney’s The Bear, it’s no wonder that our taste buds have assumed a sous chef role in helping us craft our travel decisions. The idea of ‘living like a local’ is up there as one of the key things we think about before nutting out our itineraries, food is intricately tied into the cultural identity and heritage of a place and it's through traditional recipes and culinary customs that we're plated with an authentic link to cultural roots when we’re abroad.
The power of viral content showing the likes of Vivoli Il Gelato’s famed affogato in Florence, an underground cave restaurant in Bali or the thick and creamy curry chicken from Singapore’s iconic Hong Lim Hawker market has no doubt held some sway with travellers, majority of us (84%) say incredible food and drink offerings are the most important factor when it comes to planning our domestic and overseas getaways. So much so, that booking restaurants well in advance for a holiday is very much the norm.
Local Stays For Long Weekend Getaways
While international travel is booming, there’s still a place for local stays. In fact, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make the most out of our long weekends to explore our own backyard, with one in three of us travelling domestically three times a year thanks to the convenience of flight routes, upgraded roads and flexible working arrangements. Where overseas trips are an opportunity for us to really push our palates out of their comfort zones, our interstate and intrastate travels are regularly reserved for recharging our soul and spending quality time with friends and family.
We also asked you to pick the real MVP when it comes to domestic travel, and in a true state-against-state Succession-like showdown, Victoria came out on top as your favourite place to hit for a foodie escape, culture fix and shopping spree. Around this, it checks out that NSW is undoubtedly the holy grail for live events and festivals with its recent appointment of a 24-hour Economy Commissioner and having already filled its calendar with WorldPride, Mardi Gras, Vivid and various street parties, music gigs and film festivals this year.
We Want To Disconnect, To Reconnect
If you’ve already peeped our New Work Order where 4 in 5 you shared that you had experienced burnout at work, this one shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. No doubt with the blurred lines of remote work, wearable technology, streaming platforms and naturally, even TikTok, most of us aren’t too proud to share our screentime out loud. The Internet of Things has us wired up to all kinds of digital devices and when it comes to travel, this is where we’re keen to try to restore balance back into our lives.
Now, it goes without saying that content about cosy hinterland farm stays and off-the-grid cottages and cabins are some of Urban List’s most-booked travel pieces, with 73% of us keen to lap up all things nature when we escape the hustle and bustle of our cities. However, most of us don’t want to completely throw away our health, fitness and wellness routines while we take a break from the grind. A whopping 90% of you are slapping on your walking shoes and getting your daily steps in as a means to keep fit on holiday (most likely to work off a few cheeky street gyros) and two-thirds of you are taking this post-Covid world to new heights, packing your bags with essential vitamins, supplements and probiotics to keep your immune system in check.
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Image credit: Urban List