Zoomer Ranks #Trending

Vivian Vassos | October 21st, 2014

Here, what’s happening in travel trends.

#MilestoneTrips Add this to your bucket list. In fact, change the way you think, skip the bucket and just take a milestone trip. Turning 50? Celebrate with travel. Second wedding? Fete the affair with wanderlust. Silver wedding anniversary? Just go.

#Voluntourism The word just about says it all, but now there’s more. Facebook communities pre-trip; group briefings and Skype to villagers so it’s not just in and out; extend the stay at a high-end property in the area as a reward to self and another way to put back into the community with your tourism dollar.

#Ancestry Genealogy butlers are popping up. Yes, I said genealogy butler, like the one on staff at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. FamilyTree DNA has introduced a tool that can help you not just discover but actually go out and search for your roots.

#MultiGen This is more than just a trend, baby, as in baby boomers travelling with the kids and grandkids and their parents, too. It’s here to stay.

#HauterHotels It’s more than wherever you lay your hat now. Four Seasons Hotels is helping guests plan holiday experiences, utilizing its branded private jet, which takes guests ’round the world and to its properties. Or take the new Shangri-La at The Shard, London. Built into one of London’s newly minted but already iconic structures – The Shard (shown here), the architect Renzo Piano’s modern masterpiece on the River Thames houses power broker offices, big chef restaurants and, now, the hotel on floors 34 to 52. The view from the tub is enough to make you save your tuppence for a stay, but don’t forget to eat, too. Delicious sweets and pastries at Lang; locally sourced delicacies at Ting (and afternoon tea) or just reach for the sky at Gong, which is said to be London’s highest champagne bar. Did we mention culinary travel is also trending? —Vivian Vassos