7 millennial journey habits that will confuse each boomer dad

My dad known as me final week, genuinely involved. “You’re staying in someone’s apartment? A stranger’s apartment? And you found this on the internet?”

He was speaking about my Airbnb in Lisbon. I attempted explaining that thousands and thousands of individuals do that day by day, that there are critiques and verification methods, that it is completely secure. He wasn’t satisfied. “In my day,” he stated, “we stayed in hotels. You knew what you were getting.”

That dialog obtained me fascinated with how in another way my technology approaches journey in comparison with our mother and father. It’s not nearly know-how. It’s about values, priorities, and what we think about price spending cash on.

Here are seven journey habits that will completely baffle each boomer dad on the market.

1. We guide lodging via apps we have by no means used earlier than

My father has stayed on the similar Holiday Inn chain for thirty years. He is aware of what to anticipate: continental breakfast, ice machine down the corridor, HBO within the room.

Meanwhile, I’m scrolling via Airbnb at midnight, reserving a transformed delivery container in Joshua Tree or a treehouse in Costa Rica. The critiques look good, the images appear legit, and truthfully? That’s sufficient.

Boomers constructed belief via establishments and model names. We construct it via crowd-sourced critiques and social proof. Neither method is fallacious, however they’re essentially alternative ways of assessing danger.

When I confirmed my dad the place I stayed in Porto final yr (an area artist’s spare room with a balcony overlooking the Douro), he simply shook his head. “But what if it was terrible?” What if it was superb, I believed. And it was.

2. We do not truly plan that a lot

My mother and father’ holidays got here with three-ring binders. Printed confirmations, highlighted maps, restaurant reservations made six months upfront. Everything scheduled all the way down to the hour.

I landed in Bangkok as soon as with a hostel booked for 2 nights and completely nothing else deliberate. My mother practically had a coronary heart assault once I advised her.

Here’s the factor although: having a unfastened itinerary is not about being irresponsible. It’s about staying versatile sufficient to observe alternatives once they seem. That unplanned method led me to a cooking class really helpful by somebody I met at a espresso store, which led to a friendship that is lasted 5 years.

Does this sometimes backfire? Absolutely. I’ve undoubtedly scrambled to seek out lodging on the final minute or missed out on standard points of interest as a result of I did not guide forward. But for me, the spontaneity is definitely worth the occasional trouble.

3. We work whereas we journey

“Isn’t the point of vacation to NOT work?” my dad requested when he noticed me answering emails from a seaside in Mexico.

In his world, trip meant two weeks off per yr, utterly disconnected from the workplace. You went someplace, you relaxed, you got here again.

But the laptop computer life-style has modified all the pieces. I’ve written articles from cafes in Prague, edited images in Bali, taken calls from Airbnbs in Montreal. I’m not working the entire time, however I’m additionally not utterly offline.

This is not about being a workaholic. It’s about the truth that distant work has made prolonged journey doable in methods it by no means was for earlier generations. My dad had to decide on between his profession and lengthy journeys overseas. I can do each concurrently.

The trade-off is actual although. There’s one thing to be stated for true disconnection, for being utterly current in a spot with out the pull of deadlines and Slack notifications. I’ve talked about this earlier than however discovering that stability between productiveness and presence is an ongoing problem.

Some of my boomer relations suppose this defeats the aim of journey. I believe it makes journey accessible in methods it wasn’t earlier than. Neither of us is fallacious.

4. We eat avenue meals and suppose it is a spotlight

My father won’t eat meals from a cart. Period. “You don’t know how long it’s been sitting there,” he says. “You don’t know if it’s safe.”

Meanwhile, a few of my greatest journey recollections contain sticky fingers and paper plates. Tacos from a vendor in Mexico City. Pad thai from a stall in Chiang Mai. Arepas from a avenue nook in Bogotá.

This is not nearly being adventurous. It’s about recognizing that avenue meals is commonly the place you discover essentially the most genuine native flavors, ready by individuals who’ve been perfecting their craft for many years.

Obviously, you’ll want to use frequent judgment. I’m not consuming uncooked seafood from a questionable supply in ninety-degree warmth. But dismissing all avenue meals means lacking out on extraordinary experiences.

Plus, let’s be trustworthy: that michelin-starred meal in Paris was unbelievable, however I take into consideration these dumplings I ate from a folding desk in Taipei far more usually.

5. We optimize for Instagram moments

“Why do you need fifty pictures of the same thing?” my dad requested whereas watching me {photograph} my acai bowl in Rio from seven completely different angles.

Fair query. But this is what he is lacking: documenting journey is not nearly reminiscence retaining anymore. It’s about storytelling, sharing experiences, and sure, typically constructing a private model.

I spent a complete afternoon final yr discovering the right angle of Lisbon’s pink avenue (you already know the one) as a result of I knew that picture would resonate with folks. Was it genuine? Kind of. Was it performative? Also sort of. Does the excellence matter as a lot as we expect it does?

The criticism that millennials expertise locations via screens is partially legitimate. I’ve undoubtedly watched sunsets via my cellphone and later regretted it. But I’ve additionally constructed connections with folks internationally via shared journey content material.

My pictures background has taught me that documentation and expertise aren’t mutually unique. You could be current AND seize the second. The key’s understanding when to place the digicam down.

Boomers preserved recollections via picture albums nobody ever checked out. We protect them via digital galleries we truly revisit and share. Different strategies, comparable intentions.

6. We select experiences over stuff

When my mother and father traveled, they introduced again souvenirs. Fridge magnets, shot glasses, ornamental plates. Physical proof they’d been someplace.

I got here again from three weeks in Southeast Asia with images, journal entries, and 0 bodily objects past the garments I wore.

This shift displays a broader millennial worth system that prioritizes experiences over possessions. We’d quite spend cash on a cooking class, a mountain climbing tour, or a live performance than on issues we’ll shove in a drawer.

My dad does not fairly get it. “But what do you have to show for it?” he asks. Everything, I believe. Just nothing you possibly can maintain.

There’s additionally a sensible factor. I’ve moved six occasions in ten years. Accumulating stuff simply makes that tougher. Collecting experiences as a substitute of trinkets makes excellent sense when your life is extra cell.

7. We journey to work on ourselves

This one actually confuses boomer dads.

“You’re going to India to ‘find yourself’?” my father requested, making air quotes with real bewilderment. “You know where you are. You’re right here.”

But journey as self-discovery is not about being misplaced. It’s about stepping exterior acquainted contexts to realize perspective on who you’re and what you need.

I’ve frolicked in hostels having deep conversations with strangers about objective and that means. I’ve taken solo journeys particularly to take a seat with uncomfortable emotions and determine issues out. I’ve used journey as a laboratory for testing completely different variations of myself.

My mother and father’ technology traveled to loosen up and see sights. We journey to rework. It sounds pretentious once I write it out like that, nevertheless it’s true.

Does each journey should be a non secular journey? Of course not. Sometimes you simply need to drink wine in Tuscany and that is completely tremendous.

But the choice to make use of journey as a instrument for private development feels precious in methods earlier generations did not essentially prioritize.

Conclusion

My dad will most likely by no means perceive why I slept in a hostel dorm room at thirty-five or why I spent a day photographing tiles in Porto as a substitute of visiting the museum.

That’s okay. His technology had their relationship with journey, and it labored for them. Hotels with rewards packages, guided excursions, advance planning, disconnection from work, and clear itineraries gave them what they wanted.

Our method displays completely different priorities, completely different applied sciences, and completely different financial realities. We’re no more enlightened, simply tailored to a special panorama.

The subsequent time your boomer dad questions your journey selections, keep in mind: you are not doing it fallacious. You’re simply doing it in another way. And truthfully? That’s what makes each generations’ tales price sharing.

Now in case you’ll excuse me, I have to guide a last-minute flight to someplace I’ve by no means been. My dad can be horrified. I can not wait.