It’s a long way from seeing Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Roman Colosseum – the package holiday hit parade – in a week.
“We used to book a lot from Europe and Asia, where people just wanted to check places off their lists,” said Denise Ambrusko-Maida, a travel consultant and the owner of the Travel Brilliant travel agency in Buffalo, NY. “People are moving away from tourist hotspots. They don’t want to queue and shuffle in line.”
Rebecca Werner, a Chicago-based travel consultant at Protravel, recently booked a summer train trip to Glacier National Park for a family of four in Wisconsin who are fans of the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit.” It was a “good way to catch up with their kids and see some nice scenery, plus some chess on the train,” she said.
For these travelers, pursuing personal passions has pushed the bucket list aside.
David Demers of Naples, Florida, has partnered with tailor-made travel agency Untold Story Travel and will host two nearly month-long trips to Israel and the Mediterranean next year with plenty of time to explore his interests in history, theatre, food and art. to strive.
“Travel used to be about packing as much as possible, running around with checkboxes, which becomes mechanical,” says Mr. Demers, who recently sold his healthcare company. “The pandemic has taught us all that it’s okay not to go fast, to focus on what’s important.”
With that in mind, the travel agency Sojrn recently launched month-long trips that stay in one destination, each with an educational theme such as philosophy in Athens, wine in Italy or the Spanish language in Colombia. Travelers stay in local apartments and participate in weekly dinners and events, leaving a lot of unstructured time to work and explore.
“I don’t try to plan everything down to the minute, like I’ve done in the past,” said Cara Wright, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, who plans to stay with Sojrn in Italy for a nonprofit in October. to work.
