What does the future in travel look like?

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It’s the question on every nomad’s lips. From the intergalactic airplane pods to the experiential hotels, take a journey back to the future and find out what travel might look like in 20 years time…

Virtual Travel

 

Feel like having a latte in Rome? Or perhaps climbing the Pyramids of Giza? Travel conspiracy theorists would have us believing in a future filled with virtual-reality travel headsets, transporting us to far-flung places from the comfort of our own living room. Googling beaches on streetview or searching city hashtags on Instagram is all well and good, but the chances of this turning into a fully-fledged industry where people simply sit on their arses to see the world are slim. On the contrary, increasing technology and decreasing transport costs are creating a generation itching to get out and travel like never before.

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Airplane Pods

Forget lay-flat seats and making new friends, the future of airplane travel may be these Fifth Element-looking travel pods called “Air Lairs” created by London-based firm Factorydesign. The seats are stacked one on top of the other in a “honeycomb” in a beehive, the design meant to benefit the single traveller who wants to have limited interaction with others while in the air, according toFactorydesign’s director Adam White. He also suggests that economy, business, and first class could be done away with and replaced with zones more tailored to passengers specific needs and requirements.

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Experiential Hotels

 

It all started with a cool little Ice Hotel in Northern Sweden. A place where punters get to experience what it’s really like living in an igloo, freezing their nether regions off in the process. Guests of the Ice Hotel are given fur to keep them warm inside their rooms that are, it should be noted, made entirely of ice. They sleep on beds made entirely of ice, they wash their hands at sinks made entirely of ice and they even drink out of cups made entirely out of, you guessed it, ice. Many people are now looking for authenticity when they travel, and this desire is set to increase in the forseeable future. People want the feeling of full immersion on their holiday, right down to their hotel room. Why crash in a standard suite when you could sleep in a railcar (Controversy Tram Inn, Netherlands) or dive underwater to get to your hotel room (Undersea Lodge, Florida)?

Gallery: Experiential Hotels
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Travel Unplugged

Right now it seems like social media rules the world. Many people choose hotels purely for the free WiFi just to stay connected. But this blatant love affair with technology comes at a price. How many times do we need to Instagram sunsets and seashores before feeling satisfied we’ve made our friends back home green with envy? Is obsessively checking work emails what you came on holiday to do? At what point do you just say “fuck it” and turn off your phone and laptop completely. Well, according to Lonely Planet, “true escapes [will become] highly valued, and remote hotels are starting to make a feature of their lack of internet or phone signal”. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be surprised to find yourself signing off your Facebook with: “Going overseas. If you want to contact me send a postcard. Or a carrier pigeon. Catch you when I’m back…” 

Related: Technophobes are flocking to this American town where Wi Fi and cell phones are illegal

Related: Smartphones are killing your sex life

Related: 5 unexpected ways to beat loneliness while travelling solo

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Stefanie Acworth runs the blog A Modern Wayfarer.