Sabeto Hot Springs and Mud Pool in Fiji
As many of my social media followers know... I am a lover of traveling and living the “passport life.” I wasn’t always able to travel because my family could not afford it. I used to watch National Geographic and travel channels and imagine the places I would visit. As a child, my trips only consisted of road trips in a mini-van with my aunt and her kids. I could count on one hand how many states I visited. During the summers, my only two options for vacations were Atlanta, GA or Mobile, Alabama. So imagine how much “fun” I had sharing the same story about what I did during the summer on the first day of school. I didn’t fly until I was 19 years old and I was scared as hell when I did! It wasn’t until I was 21 years old that I saw the Hollywood sign. International travel didn’t occur in my teens either. I didn’t get my passport until I was 23. Although, I had my passport at the age of 23, it wasn’t until 2 years later that I used it. I did not place value on travel experiences, I preferred to purchase designer and handbags to impress folks that didn’t matter.
As I matured, I became apart of the millennial crew that “don’t do clubs” in my own town. We rather jump on a plane; collect a few passport stamps and gain some skymiles.
Travel is a must for us especially during the summer months.
I had a chance to sit down with Jason Elliott of The Go Generation as he shared the top three ways millennials are changing summer travel.
Me-Cations
It’s super hard to coordinate group trips especially during the summer months. So we’re seeing a lot of our millennial clients striking out on their own for solo journeys or “Me-Cations”. Whether it's surf camps in Nicaragua or solitude in the Great Smoky Mountains, these journeys are great because you’re vacationing on your own time and in your own way.
Occasion Offshoots
Summer is prime wedding season, which means that a lot of millennials will be traveling throughout the U.S. and some cases out of the country. Many millennials are taking advantage of the opportunity to explore a new destination staying couple days before or after a wedding. Many of our millennial wedding clients are offering their guests fun packages pre or post wedding packages to allow their guests an easy way to celebrate their nuptials and discover a new place at the same time. Another trend I've been seeing are group based honeymoon vacations.
Fostering Family
One of the more interesting trends I’ve been seeing during the summer months are millennials that spearhead the planning of trips for their extended family. What was once driven by their older family members has now been passed down. We are seeing millennials use the summer months to bring the entire family together for a weekend or a week to reconnect in fun places and in fun ways such as a family journey to a dude ranch.
Where is your next place to travel on your list? Maybe you should try Fiji.
It is obvious we are having a huge impact on the travel industry. Whether it’s taking a cab out of the city center to taste homemade tacos, moving in with your family/friends just to save money to travel, or taking lower paying job to have the freedom to travel more often we are a truly different style of travelers.