Land snorkelling? Townsizing? Phenomenon chasing? A user's guide to the latest travel lingo

CNA

2 days ago

For your next trip, have you considered townsizing? What about choosing a detour destination? And instead of forest-bathing, maybe it's time to give land snorkelling a try.
If the terms sound odd, you might need a travel translator. Agencies, online platforms and sometimes travellers themselves have been flexing their creative language skills by labeling trends in travel — some new, some tried-and-true (like bleisure, a trip that combines business with leisure time).
The following guide will help you keep up with the lexicon of travel.
DETOUR DESTINATIONS
Last year's destination dupes became this year's detours in Expedia's 2025 trend report.
Detour destinations are 'less well-known and less crowded than tourist hot spots,' according to the report. They can be destinations on their own or side trips from a bigger target. Examples include pairing Reims with Paris, in France, and Santa Barbara, California, with Los Angeles.
This practical two-for-one trip concept bundles an appealing neighbour with the closest major airport destination.
TOWNSIZING
If there were awards for Wordsmith of the Year, consider Priceline for its addition of townsizing. Your next vacation is townsized if instead of big-city buzz you opt for small-town vibes in easy-going destinations.
Popular townsizing destinations at the online agency include Stowe, Vermont; Mackinac Island, Michigan; and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
LAND SNORKELLING
Think of forest bathing — slow, mindful walks in the woods — and remove the forest and you have something like land snorkelling. Coined by the Montana-based artists Clyde Aspevig and Carol Guzman, land snorkelling in the context of a walk (which could even be in a city) is paying attention to where you are, not necessarily where you're going. It encourages a focus on minute details, the way you might hover over a reef when snorkelling to view the comings and goings of tropical fish and the current's effect on sea fans.
' When you snorkel, you don't go with a destination in mind but go with the water and let the visuals take over,' said Guzman.
'You wander and you wonder,' Aspevig added.
Aspevig and Guzman have both volunteered with American Prairie, a nonprofit conservation group that is building a preserve in central Montana, where land snorkelling might focus on the movement of prairie grasses.
JOMO TRAVEL
How to fight FOMO, or fear of missing out? Change your point of view with JOMO — joy of missing out — by embracing a vacation that prioritises relaxing and ditching your phone.
The vacation rental company Vrbo proposed this mindset switch, citing 85 per cent of respondents to a company survey who declared an interest in taking a vacation to unplug. Pitchup.com and Campspot, two platforms that offer camping bookings, also celebrated JOMO as a digital detox method.
LIVE TOURISM
In its 2025 trends forecast, the travel news site Skift came up with 'live tourism' to refer to the increase in the number of people booking trips around live events in entertainment, sports and natural phenomena.
In 2024, few events were bigger travel motivators than the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, the Paris Olympic Games and the total solar eclipse. Some live tourism patterns are perennial, such as the Coachella music festival and the Super Bowl.
The next total solar eclipse is expected to pass over Iceland, Portugal and Spain on Aug 12, 2026. Start planning now.
MYSTERY TOUR
The magic of mystery tours, according to operators, lies in surrendering to the unknown and avoiding the quandary of choice.
The high-end agency Black Tomato has a Get Lost service that offers clients journeys to unspecified destinations and the opportunity to find their way out of the wilderness (under a safe watch from afar, they say). The company has organised mystery trips — which are fully customised, but tend to run five to seven nights — in Mongolia, Morocco, Norway and Guatemala.
EF Go Ahead Tours launched its Mystery Tours last year and said it sold out within three hours. Past trips have included Bali and Java in Indonesia. The 2025 slate of unspecified trips are on sale now (from US$2,199 or S$2,830 for an eight-day tour).
NOCTOURISM
If it's a travel adventure you have at night — from swimming in phosphorescent bays to stargazing — then it's also known as noctourism.
While it's hardly new, trend forecasters are finding renewed interest in after-dark activities, sometimes as a strategy to beat the heat. Booking.com cited noctourism in its 2025 forecast, noting that 54 per cent of travellers surveyed in a recent study planned to increase their nighttime activities to avoid daytime temperatures.
'No matter the outing, the cover of darkness adds a sense of adventure and mystery,' said Stephanie Vermillion, the author of the new book 100 Nights of a Lifetime: The World's Ultimate Adventures After Dark.
Noctourism activities she covers include night tours of Alcatraz prison, catching 'moonbows' or lunar rainbows seen through a waterfall's spray at places like Victoria Falls in southern Africa, seeing a lava flow in Indonesia, and browsing night markets in Taiwan.
PHENOMENON CHASING
Separate natural phenomenon from live tourism and you have phenomenon chasing. Black Tomato cites rising interest in natural events like the northern lights and solar eclipses among travellers willing to go far and wide to see them in person.
'In a world that can feel overly digital and predictable, there's something incredible about witnessing a rare natural event,' said Rob Murray-John, the head of special projects at Black Tomato. 'These moments let us strip away the noise and immerse in something that feels both intimate and vast, like you're a small part of something much bigger.'
Elaine Glusac © The New York Times 2025.