Sharing a short essay that arrived in my inbox today, courtesy of Dense Discovery — a newsletter about design, tech, sustainability and urbanism curated by Kai Brach, based in Melbourne, Australia. Do we travel for transformation or validation? It's always interesting to hear what thought leaders "outside" the travel industry have to say about the state of tourism, so I'm sharing Kai's article with his permission. There's a few good points in this piece, including how touristic travel (e.g. mass tourism) can import more culture to a destination than it exports. I also agree that seeking validation on social media is drowning out good quality travel content. There's some truth to Kai's point about escapism. Consider this: the biggest competitor to a travel agent is the electronics shop, where consumers can instead buy a new 50" flatscreen TV. In this scenario, which "escapism" is worse? Buying a new TV or booking a trip on a cruise ship? 😅 However, I don't believe that all trave...

Hey guys, I've been a fulltime traveller for almost five years now; leaving behind a career in finance and IT sales. Being a traveller on either side of the pandemic meant a lot of things...good and bad. One definite con has been the increasing price of accommodation, specifically related to Airbnb. When I first began roaming the world in 2019, Airbnb was my default option for places to stay, and it worked well. Lots of supply. Reasonable prices. Reliable. Safe. Since the pandemic, it's just not a viable long-term solution. So here's how I overcame the challenge of finding a reasonably priced alternative to Airbnb: 1. Often the same accommodation is also listed on booking.com. Compare to see if you can save on costs. 2. Try and contact the owner directly to see if there's an opportunity to save by paying cash in hand. Note: I've had mixed experiences with this one. 3. It's funny how many hosts know other hosts! If you've connected well with your host - find out who their fr...