In this five-part travel trends series, The Sandton Times explores the various holidays or vacations travelers are opting for as a result of the pandemic, like the Retalication.

• After months under lock and key, mixed with stress, anxiety, and eventual cabin fever, people are ready to get out of the house.
• There are 5 trending holidays or vacations people are taking: the Workcation, the Vaccication, the Spacation, the Staycation, and the Retalication.
• Be sure to check in every day this week for 2022 travel trends.
  
• Visit www.sandtontimes.co.za/fly for the best flight deals.

As the world moves into 2022 with international borders opening up and vaccinations on the rise, it’s clear that travel has changed significantly and that the new reality of going on a trip, for business or pleasure, involves a massive focus on hygiene and cleanliness, vaccination passports, ever-changing restrictions but maintaining that undying desire to explore a new place.

Today it’s the turn of the ‘Retalication’. After months of lockdown, limited movement, and mental strain, the phrase ‘change is as good as a holiday’ might sound ever less true. For most, the rate and amount of change over the past year and a half has left very few refreshed and rejuvenated, as one would expect returning from a holiday. Added to that, many have faced the grim reality of the pandemic, losing loved ones, friends, colleagues and realising how fragile life is.

With this, an ever-growing travel trend has been on the boil for months known as ‘Retalication’ (a portmanteau made up from a combination of the words retaliation and vacation, coined by Futurist, Alexander Leibner) also known as revenge travel – an undeniable desire to get out, retaliate from hours spent in front of screens and take revenge on a pandemic that has limited movement and brought with it pain, sadness, and unfortunate repercussions.

It’s enough to make anyone want to take a ‘Retalication’ and make up for time lost, to feel a sense of normality. What makes the ‘Retalication’ trend most interesting is the emotional motivation behind it, setting aside all budget concerns or limitations for what is possible, in the pursuit of the ultimate experience.

Hot on the travel bucket list for ‘Retalication’ destinations include safari’s, island holidays, cruises and visits to family destinations like Disneyland. It’s clear that a leisurely stay on a lake is not going to cut it – the wilder and more wonderous, the better, be it a trip to the Antarctic, climbing Kilimanjaro, or deploying an inflatable slide off the side of a yacht in the Mediterranean.

Yet ‘Retalication’ is not limited to just leisure travel. Many businesses have had to forgo entertaining clients and building relationships face-to-face during this time and the prospect of hosting clients for an unforgettable golfing weekend or incentivizing hardworking executives for a battle well fought over the pandemic months, are equally in demand.

The ‘Retalication’ is a sure indicator how people have come to realise the importance of experience over material goods and that memories of epic holidays and incredible trips were the one thing to savour, whilst the world shutdown in 2020.

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