By Larry Olmsted

We all know that leisure travel is coming back in a huge way, with jammed airports, limited availability in hot destinations, and record bookings for many travel companies.

But there’s more to the life-after-Covid travel phenomena than just pent-up demand. The nature of the way people will vacation has changed. The shutdown caused by the global pandemic was unprecedented and like nothing in our lifetime, but also served as a warning that you never know what’s coming next, from other diseases to natural disasters to the quickly worsening effects of climate change to war. The sense that “life is too short” and a new fatalism is one side effect of the pandemic. That in turn has led people to stop putting things off for the future, especially an uncertain future.

For many people, life’s big trips have always been scheduled for “someday,” and increasingly, someday is now. People are putting a priority on once-in-a-lifetime experiential trips, or “Bucket List” travel, and after extensive interviews with some of the world’s top travel agents and outfitters and more than 30 years of personal experience on the topic, I’ve compiled this list for anyone who is wondering where to go next to experience something much more incredible than the typical vacation … continue reading

Award-winning travel journalist Larry Olmsted is the author of “Real Food, Fake Food.” He is a Contributing Editor to Cigar Aficionado Magazine and “The Great Life” columnist for Forbes.com. His newest book is“Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happer, Healthier, and More Understanding.”