How to Find the Next Hot Travel Spot

Up and coming tourist spots are sometimes hard to find. Those who already know about the next best place are determined to keep it a secret so that it remains unspoiled. I don’t begrudge them for that. By the time you hear about this secret place it is overrun with hordes of tan-lined tourists trying to visit the next best destination before it is overrun by other tan-lined tourists. Ironic, huh?.

How, then, without simply wandering around the earth aimlessly, can you find the coolest (and cheapest) travel spots?

1. Some travel destinations work on a cycle, kind of like clothing styles. If it’s not popular right now, hang on; it’ll come back around in about 10 years. Take a look back in time. Haight Ashbury, San Francisco’s hippy haven, is cool again; just don’t expect to find blissed-out, bare-foot flower children there. It’s more of a hipster hangout these days, but no less popular that it was in the 60s.

2. Learn about subcultures. Earlier in this decade, I heard a lot about the so-called “Circuit.” Basically, The Circuit was a party route that went from Tokyo, to Thailand’s islands, to Goa, then Kathmandu. There was plenty of literature, magazine articles, and such, but little mainstream coverage. The same could be said for the more accessible subculture of backpacking. Lonely Planet (may it rest in peace), covered the world for this group of travelers, but they couldn’t get with the whole internet thing as well as some others. It’s better to look at peer-produced guides found on Matador and Bootsnall. Thailand, Australia, and Eastern Europe were backpacking havens long before they made it to tourism’s big time.

3. High-brow sources, like the New York Times, offer more in depth articles about places. The Times actually has a good deal of coverage on fringe destinations. In recent weeks, I have seen articles on skiing in Eastern Europe, Golfing in Vietnam, and eating shellfish in Eastern Canada. Don’t think that because it is featured in the mainstream media a place has already “been discovered.”

Of course, if all else fails, you can always fall back on the old “spin the globe and point to a random place” trick. Odds are 2 out of 3 that you’ll land on water, but give it a few tries; eventually you’ll hit land.