1# Flying for in-flight meals

Sounds absurd? It gets worse. For Condé Nast Traveler, Lucy Bruton asked herself, “Should I fly 14 hours just to try a four-course meal at an altitude of 12,000 meters?” Answer: Pack your passport and go. The reason? The new in-flight menu by Michelin-starred chef Monica Galetti for Singapore Airlines. To experience it, Bruton flew from London to Singapore in business class..

2# Wildlife selfies

Would you get bitten by a shark for a selfie? According to WELT, it’s a new TikTok trend. That said, the number of people who actually do this is quite small. Nevertheless, taking selfies with wild animals is a real problem. Take elephant rides, for example. Elephants would never voluntarily let you ride them. It’s only possible if they’ve been trained to be docile from a young age using chains and hooks. We recently interviewed Dr. Yvonne Würz from PETA about animal welfare while traveling.

3# Saving money on K-Beauty trips

Korean beauty trends are all the rage right now. They’re not just about masks and creams; they also include minimally invasive “dermatology” treatments, such as those promoted by American influencer Nam Vo. In an Allure review, she explains exactly why a trip to Seoul, even including the cost of a plane ticket, is cheaper than treatments in New York. So, save your money and let the world go to hell.

4# Last chance tourism

Speaking of the Great Flood, how about taking a trip to the Maldives before the island nation sinks into the sea? What about visiting the Dead Sea before it dries up or the Arctic before the icebergs disappear? As we explain in the linked articles, it’s possible to do this in a responsible way. Not in a way that involves taking home the last colorful coral.

5# Human zoos

Human zoos no longer exist. Or do they? In an interesting article for Der Kontinentalist, Zafirah Mohamed Zein argues that parts of this colonial legacy continue to impact tourism today. For example when travelers visit Indigenous communities and expect them to wear traditional clothing or perform dances and rituals, often completely detached from their cultural context. The situation becomes particularly problematic when the communities themselves cannot decide how tourism takes place on their land and who profits from it.

6# Space tourism

We always say there’s no such thing as Planet B, but some people seem to believe in it anyway. It’s like in the cute movie WALL·E: The Last One to Clean Up Earth. Or maybe people just want to have a little fun. Four minutes of weightlessness for $750,000. According to the Middle Eastern magazine Asharq Al-Awsat, around 140 people have traveled to space as tourists to date, and this market is credited with great potential.

The list could go on and on—what other examples can you think of?