With state retirement age slipping ever further away, we’re seeing a surge in travellers taking longer, more ambitious itineraries usually reserved for retirement earlier, often mid-career. From multi-week treks in Patagonia to slow journeys through the Amalfi Coast,travellers are prioritising their bucket-list adventures now, not later.

Harnessing this increased demand for mid-career adventures, Explore’s Find Your Perfect Micro-Retirement tool matches travellers with the right sabbatical for them, proposing the perfect age and destination for your mid-career adventure.

Explore customers booking trips of more than 8 days has grown 19% since last year, showing a clear appetite for longer, slower travel experiences. Explore’s new-for-2026 back-to-back offer, enables travellers to save 5% when they book two (or more) trips back to back.  

Wellness in 2026 goes beyond the spa. Travellers are seeking connection — with local people, fellow travellers, and the places they visit. Whether it’s cooking with a host family in Peru or joining a rewilding project in Romania, travel is becoming a way to feel rooted, not just rested.

More travellers are opting for trips that offer restoration alongside adventure. Multi-day hikes, digital detoxes, and nature-immersive trips are seeing strong demand — often booked as a deliberate reset from the pace of everyday life. See also: micro-retirement.

Overtourism has, quite rightly, been dominating the travel press of late, with scenes of crowded sites and frustrated locals in European hotspots such as Venice and Barcelona. 

The destinations to visit in 2026 aren’t the ones trending on TikTok, according to the Explore team, who report a rising interest in lesser-known corners of well-loved countries — like Colombia’s Coffee Triangle, northern Laos, or inland Croatia — where travellers can explore more responsibly and authentically. This is supported by booking data, with Laos up 33% year-on-year, Mongolia soaring 118%, Nicaragua 32% and Zimbabwe up 23%. 

As children grow older, we become ever more aware just how fleeting those family years are. Parents with teens in their late years of school are increasingly seeking that one final, epic adventure before their kids fly the nest. These milestone trips are designed to celebrate the end of exams, tick off bucket-list destinations, and create memories that will last a lifetime. From safari in Africa to exploring the wilds of Borneo, these journeys are less about routine vacations and more about once-in-a-lifetime experiences together.

At the same time, we’re also seeing a rise in what we call Family Adventures 2.0. With many young adults in their 20s still living with their parents or returning to the family home after university, and often unable to fund big trips independently, parents in their 50s and 60s are inviting their grown-up children along on adventures. These trips offer a new dynamic: rediscovering family travel as adults, sharing experiences as equals, and often introducing young adults to small group adventure for the first time. For many, these shared experiences and paid-for adventures are the new ‘inheritance’.

Whether celebrating endings, marking new beginnings or simply carving out time together in busy lives, milestone family adventures reflect how the meaning of ‘family vacation’ evolves — but remains as powerful and important as ever.

Explore’s 2026 trips to Algeria flew off the shelves as soon as this new destination was launched earlier this year. A desert nation unlike any other, it offers incredible Roman ruins, vast sands, and fascinating culture.

Amalfi coast has been one of our bestselling tours for years. And it’s a doozy. But a more hidden side to Italy is on the up. Highlights of Puglia bookings have doubled this year, while Walking Dolomites is up 33%. A new hiking trip in the Dolomites centres itself in the Val di Fassa and promises leisurely and moderate walking amongst breathtaking scenery, sumptuous food and time to relax in the 4-star spa hotel.