The Future of Travel

A leading travel journalists depicts and predicts the good, the bad, and the ugly about the future of travel — and how we can transcend the complications of climate change, AI, and touristification in this latest addition to the FUTURES Series.

In the future, tourists will strap on a VR headset that serves up information about the storefronts and cathedrals they pass, letting them "see Paris" without actually laying eyes on it. Instant-translation earbuds will mean we'll never have to learn the words Dónde está la biblioteca? – and who needs a library or bookstore when Spanish-English dictionaries and guidebooks are obsolete?

Meanwhile, thanks to AI, travelers will have an unprecedented fount of information at their disposal – but how much of it can be trusted? And is it really "saving time" if AI bots are sending everyone to stand in line at already-overrun tourist spots?

In the coming years, more cities and countries will take drastic measures to combat not only a flood of tourist but of a growing worldwide workforce of "location-independent professionals," enacting congestion pricing and car-free zones, and grounding budget airlines such as Ryanair (or "Ruinair," as climate activists have dubbed it) in favor of zero-emission, hydrogen-fueled train networks.

In The Future of Travel, award-winning food and travel writer Daniel Maurer — himself a veteran globetrotter — will predict epic tugs-of-war between the travelers and the locals and what happens when technology allows entire new classes of travelers to move — as far as they can, as much as they can.