How will we travel in 2023?

Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint, enjoy a more local travel experience, or you simply love slow travel, the interest in flight-free travel is growing. 2022's summer of airport chaos, flight cancellations and lost luggage has also helped people question whether they really need to fly. Going by alternative transport may become a necessity too, with France recently taking the lead in banning short haul flights. 

In response to the interest, travel companies are introducing new options all the time, with Discover the World, for instance, offering an interesting range of European Rail Journeys, such as a three-week odyssey to the Arctic Circle, and a 13-day journey to Europe’s ‘tiny countries’. Launched in 2020, Byway is a travel planning platform for flight-free travel and they have gone on to form a partnership with Intrepid Travel to offer itineraries to their clients. Expect many more companies to announce it as an option in the year to come. And let’s face it; there’s something magical about arriving at a destination by rail or boat... 

We all know the benefits of walking don’t we? How good it is for both our physical and mental health. The lockdowns of recent years made us appreciate it even more and introduced many more people to the pleasures of walking as a way to reconnect with nature. Meanwhile, destinations are also becoming aware of the appeal of named walking trails and new ones are being created and designated. What’s more, these trails are often a way to bring benefits to the communities along the route, and introduce visitors to the more authentic side of a place.

Take Sri Lankas’ new Pekoe Trail, which winds 200 miles through its tea-growing hill country, the recently restored 403km Trans-Bhutan Trail, once the only way to cross the country, and the new 132km Astungkara Way through an ‘unseen’ Bali. 

Walking specialists such as Macs Adventure report that bookings on some of the longer established and popular Camino Trails are up by 100% compared to 2019. Talking of Caminos, England now has its own official one! The route from London to Walsingham was once one of the most popular Christian pilgrimages in the world and is now set to be enjoyed by a new generation of curious walkers. 

Go back 30 years and Wanderlust was writing about culture shock and cultural differences, but fast forward to ten years ago and it was concern about homogenisation that was on our minds. Fortunately there is now a huge interest in indigenous experiences with culturally-sensitive travellers wanting to get an insight into local communities. 

Audley Travel has indigenous experiences as a focus for 2023, with new trips including a wolf-focussed itinerary in British Columbia, accompanied by Tlatlasikwala First Nation guides, a-day-in-the-life of a Berber experience in Morocco, and stays with an Iban community in Malaysian Borneo. Intrepid Travel is going to be offering over 100 Indigenous experiences in 2023, from a five-day Queensland walking itinerary led by Gurruhmun “Old Man Kangaroo”, an Ugarapul and Bidjara guide, to a Maya Encounter itinerary in Central America, and a Hiking in Utah’s National Parks trip that uses a Native American guide 

The pandemic forced us to rethink where and how we worked, with the result that many jobs can now be worked from anywhere. To capitalise on this, new ‘digital nomad’ visas have been introduced by many countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, and, most recently, Spain who, according to reports, are especially keen to attract women. Andalucía is reportedly spending a million euros trying to attract northern Europeans to stay and work during the off-season month. 

A number of hotels globally are trying to attract workationers, offering special rates and co-working spaces. Whether it's a case of spending several months in a different country and working from there, extending a business trip to enjoy a destination, or extending a holiday to work, the trend to combine work and travel is here to stay. 

The big and small screens have long inspired travel, whether factual documentaries from David Attenborough, Michael Palin and Simon Reeve, or blockbuster movies such as James Bond. Visitors still scour Tunisia for Star Trek sites or New Zealand in search of Middle Earth. But with the explosion in television series’ shot in exotic locations even more people are being influenced to seek out the locales  The scenic backdrops of White Lotus have inspired bookings to Sicily, while Yellowstone has thousands of wannabe cowgirls and cowboys wanting to don a stetson and explore Montana. But the TV documentary series that had us salivating at the mouth and reaching for the atlas was Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. We just want Stanley himself to accompany us. 

Sampling the local cuisine has long been an important part of travel, and the lens into a culture. But, we’ve now moved beyond just finding the perfect local restaurant and want more immersive foodie experiences. And there has been a matching expansion in opportunities. Spend a few hours learning to make a perfect tagine in a Marrakech riad or jerk chicken in a Jamaican hotel. Visit a food market in Guyana with a local chef and then learn how to make the dishes. Take a food tour through the streets of Porto or Bangkok, eating where the locals do. Dine at a local family home in the Bahamas or Vietnam. Harvest mussels in Sweden or go foraging for mushrooms and berries in Estonia’s forests. The world really is your oyster. 

Back in the dark days of 2021 we vowed we’d never take travel for granted again. Now it’s truly back, we want and expect more from it. Deep, enriching experiences. Mind-expanding experiences. Transformative experiences. We want to feel that we are benefiting from the trip but also that it has some meaning to it. And, that it is not just sustainable but also that we are having a positive impact with our ethical choices. Hence the trend towards longer and slower trips, towards experiences with locals, eating and buying local, towards supporting community initiatives. Travel as a force for good has never been so appealing. 

More 2023 travel inspiration:

Top new trips for 2023

Why visit New Zealand in 2023

What are the European Capitals of Culture in 2023?