Apparently, a new travel trend plays on childhood nostalgia and past adventures. Called a “throwback trip,” this trend is for nostalgic travelers. Let’s dive in.
What Is a ‘Throwback Trip’?
According to writer Alexis Morillo in her Bustle article, a throwback trip involves using your PTO to embark on the adventure of your childhood dreams. For her, that meant a trip to Montauk for a T-Pain concert.
“While missing a day of second grade for a concert felt like a borderline blasphemous thing to ask your parents, as an adult, what you do with your PTO is totally your prerogative—why not spend it singing songs from your old playlists?” she wrote in her piece.
But a throwback trip doesn’t have to be limited to teenage fantasies, of course. In fact, some travel enthusiasts view it as a way to return to a location near and dear to your heart.
“I think ‘throwback trip’ is a new name for something travelers have been doing forever: going back to a place that got under your skin,” says Alice Wright, co-founder and travel writer at Panoramic Pathways, LLC. “There’s a wanderlust that calls you back to certain places.”
For Wright, that was Arches National Park in Utah, which she had read all about in Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire.
“The real thing slayed me. The massive red-rock fins, impossible arches, and huge blue sky were unlike anywhere I had ever been,” she explains. “I literally cried when we had to leave … Years later, my husband and I went back without our children. This time, we had more time to just be. We could hike longer, sit and stare, absorb the scale and the colors. We could go farther in, away from the crowds, and experience the almost startling sense of solitude you can find in the desert.”
How to Plan Your Throwback Trip
Planning your throwback trip depends entirely on your goals. Are you returning to your favorite city, or are you embarking on your inner child’s dream adventure for the first time? The details—and your goals for the trip—matter.
“We didn’t try to recreate the first trip,” Wright explains about her throwback trip to Arches National Park. “I think that would be a mistake with a throwback trip. Go back to the places you remember, absolutely, but don’t make the old trip some kind of blueprint you have to follow.”
For example, maybe you and your spouse are planning a throwback trip to your honeymoon destination, but this time, you’re bringing your kids with you. Naturally, that changes the energy of the vacation while letting you explore an area that already means a lot to you.
“I’d leave some breathing room when planning a throwback trip,” Wright continues. “Go back to the beach from that girls’ weekend, the city where you studied abroad, the restaurant you still talk about, or the bridge where you kissed someone you may or may not still speak to. Revisit the trail or overlook you loved. But don’t plan every minute. Wander around. See what’s changed. Try someplace new. Sit somewhere for no particular reason.”
“The nostalgia may be what gets you back there,” Wright adds. “But leave room for the unexpected. The best throwback trips don’t reproduce the nostalgia; they expand it.”
The post The New Travel Trend That’s All About Reliving Your Childhood appeared first on VICE.
