Pinterest rarely comes up when discussing social media platforms that seem to watch our every move, but the app does know what you’re pinning (and pining for), from travel to outfit inspo. Every year, it releases a prediction of upcoming trends, and with over 80 percent accuracy, they could well be onto what we’ll be into.
We all know social media can wreak havoc on our attention span, happiness, and general well-being, but there might be an exception: One app that consistently allows us to daydream and then pin together the pieces to make it happen.
Pinterest somehow has remained unproblematic according to collective online attitudes, allowing us to learn, peruse, discover, and lust after things, ideas, and places that align with our unique tastes. And at the start of each year, Pinterest compiles their data and releases a list of predictions for the year’s biggest trends. It’s arguably the least creepy way social platforms can use our data, and this year, they’ve got some interesting travel trend predictions worth talking about.
So what are some of the hot new trends Pinterest predicts that could impact how, where, and why we travel? Overlanding and off-road camping, adrenaline-pumping workouts, and a whole new category of fusion foods—apparently we’ll be searching out ‘burger quesadillas’, ‘cheeseburger tacos’, and ‘carbonara ramen’.
Pinterest is also predicting a continuing focus on upcycling old materials, buying apparel with zero-waste patterns, and cooking with scraps and materials discarded from other recipes, just like chef Davinder Kumar does at the Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi.
Pinterest’s predictions are 80 percent accurate, according to the trend report they released for 2023. One reason why that could be is that people can search for and save inspiration without “having to show themselves living out all those aspirational, and often expensive, trends or images of their faces and bodies,” writes WIRED. That makes the platform a “place of solace,” says MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer of Gen Z and Millennial market research firm, YPulse.
Pinterest predicts that in 2024, younger travelers will be more focused on the restful aspect of vacation, with searches up for phrases like ‘slow life’, ‘staycation hotel’, ‘ASMR sleep’, ‘solo traveling’ and ‘digital detox challenge’. To quote the foretelling, “Gen Z and Millennials will retreat to laid-back locales that offer the opposite of a jam-packed itinerary,” Pinterest says.
Boomers and Gen X, on the other hand, will be more into off-road adventures, with searches up for ‘adventure car’, ‘off-road wheels’, and gear for overlanding. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that many older travelers are often nearing retirement.
As for home decor—and, by extension, potentially the next Airbnb you rent—predictions abound for how interior design could shift. The minimalist aesthetic is out, and the moody hues of ‘Western Gothic’ are in. Also in: Eclectic kitchen decor with startling wall shades, and a tropical-inspired, ‘escapist aesthetic, complete with hibiscus prints, tasty mocktails and hot, hot, hot pink.’ Makes a person yearn for a coastal getaway or a retreat to a Western dude ranch, right?
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Kassondra Cloos is a travel journalist from Rhode Island now living in London. Her work focuses on slow travel, urban outdoor spaces and human-powered adventure. She has written about kayaking across Scotland, dog sledding in Sweden and road tripping around Mexico. Her latest work appears in The Guardian, Backpacker and Outside, and she is currently section-hiking the 2,795-mile England Coast Path.
