Are airport vending machines part of the boom boom aesthetic?
Volume Two of Roaming Reads
The 2025 must-see destination lists are rolling in. Afar. Airbnb. Travel & Leisure. Lonely Planet. Fodor’s. Frommer’s.
(Yes, guidebooks do still exist.)1
Like the lists or not, there are always clear themes within them that point to larger travel trends. The biggest one for 2025 is that people are sick of crowds. That’s the focus of Afar’s 25 location list, which includes the likes of Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains and Columbus, Ohio.
The desire to get off-the-beaten path (or, hey, visit the reaches) is also noticeable in the commercially driven suggestions. Both Travel & Leisure and Frommer’s list Greenland as a top destination. Odd? Not really. Nuuk’s international airport just opened in November. And last chance tourism is growing alongside the effects of climate change.
Logistics also explains Airbnb’s top 2025 destination choice of Puerto Escondido, Mexico. It’s near the terminus for Oaxaca’s new superhighway and home to a soon-to-be expanded airport.2
Slovenia is named in both Fodor’s and Travel & Leisure. Coincidence? Not when you consider the fact that Gorizia3/Nova Gorica will be the EU’s first transnational Capital of Culture in 2025. These two cities cross the Italian and Slovenian borders and will be “reunited”. Don’t tell them that Slovenia’s 2004 entry into the EU dissolved the hard border between the cities.
This is to say that, while these lists can be fun sources of inspiration, they’re not randomly curated. Tourism boards are working to get their destinations on them. Why else do you think Jordan is a top place for Afar, Lonely Planet and Fodor’s? The country wants to revive tourism as the Israel-Hamas war keeps visitors away.
What’s on your 2025 dream travel list? We’d love to hear in the comments.
Kayak wants you to take a solo trip. Well & Good also thinks it would be good for you. It’s refreshing to see travel companies finally start to embrace the party of one. But are they really? We're skeptical about Kayak’s methodology, which awards DC a 100% solo travel score, but Chicago a 65%. Salt Lake City earns 54%, far surpassing New York’s 38%. Meanwhile London gets just a 10%. Regardless of how suitable a city is for solo travelers - something which will always be an arbitrary calculation - hospitality brands at large could do so much more to welcome single travelers. Restaurants in particular. Bring on more bar seating that lets people linger without feeling like they’re taking up a table that could be earning more $$$ with two people. Tour companies have known this for a while and continue to launch new options for solo travelers. Messaging around solo travel could also do with a rethink. Yes, safety is important but when conversations spotlight safety to the exclusion of anything else it obscures the opportunity to spotlight the positives of solo travel.4
Therabody Debuts Airport Vending Machine
Vending machines might be big in Japan, but in American airports? I (Emilia) want to see the sales figures. If you’ve traveled in the past decade, you’ve definitely seen the tech cases offering phone chargers (useful) and noise-cancelling headphones. I’ve also seen vending machines for Build-A-Bear (JFK Terminal 4), Sprinkles Cupcakes (Las Vegas), Lego (also Las Vegas), salads (JFK), Benefit Cosmetics, and the list goes on. But a $300 percussive massager? Or a lead-filled greens powder? Of course, I’ve never been to San Francisco, where Therabody’s machines will be installed, so maybe people really are different there. I’ll report back in February…
Beyond Filthy: Why Our Martinis Keep Getting Dirtier
I (Emilia) drank a marmite martini at Rha Rha Rhino in Bushwick. The waitress warned me it was love or hate it (just like marmite!). Why are there so many salt-bomb martinis on menus right now? Krissy Harris, beverage director at Chelsea bar Shy Shy, is quoted as saying “It’s [a martini with brine] just easier to drink.” Maybe. But it may also be part of our collective longing for MORE. This is driving so much in hospitality right now. The Boom Boom aesthetic. The Clubstaurant. People want things to be over-the-top. They want a martini to smack them in the face with gin AND salt. They want some sensation. A martini feels glamorous, retro and over-the-top. But throw in a shot of brine and you cut the sophistication with the dirtiness of our present moment. You’re probably already too late to book your table at Corner Store for January 20th.
Selfies & Surf Simulators: The Young Cruisers Driving a Boom in Sea Holidays
I (Emilia) had a friend who went on her first cruise this summer. She finished the holiday early with Covid. But the health risks of big ship travel aren’t deterring people. Neither are the significant climate impacts of cruising, as detailed in the article. North American cruise passengers were up 17.5% in 2023 compared to 2019, while Europe saw 6.5% passenger growth, per Cruise Lines International Association. Global passenger numbers are projected to increase a further 10% by 2028. This article argues passenger growth is being driven by young people hopping on adults-only Virgin Voyages. Consider it a get-them-young approach. Nearly everyone quoted in the article cited the ease of cruising as a main benefit, a benefit that becomes more alluring as young solo cruisers transition to family-with-young-kids cruisers. The cruise industry holds the purse strings for so many people employed in the travel industry. They will make sure travel advisors keep pushing trips, climate impacts and over-tourism be damned.
Giant 5kg Mushroom Feeds Family for a Week
Is any commentary really necessary?
And we count ourselves among their enduring customers. Bradt Travel Guides are the best: https://www.bradtguides.com/
It’s all part of Mexico’s so-called infrastructure boom: https://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Mexico-building-tourism-infrastructure
Gorizia is also well-known as being an important site in the history of the reform of Italy’s psychiatric institutions, a history that was dramatically retold in the multi-part Italian TV drama La Meglio Gioventu’
Such as, no one to tell you you’re spending too long in the bookstore or negotiating over where to go to dinner.