Where to Find Travel Inspiration

I’m not a super spontaneous traveler, but I am easily influenced.

Once I stumble across a cool place, I can’t get the idea out of my head. I instantly launch into full-blown planning mode, dreaming how I’ll spend my time, obsessively saving bookmarks, and even building a spreadsheet without concrete travel plans.

This is how I’ve ended up with dozens of folders dedicated to future trips—some that eventually come to fruition and some that are still living in my head rent free.

So come with me on this journey as I share my favorite places to get inspired and add to my never-ending bucket list.

There is something to be said for social media driving over tourism or encouraging risky behavior to get the perfect shot (I might get into this more in a future newsletter), but it can still lead you to places that wouldn’t have been on your radar otherwise.

It’s all about finding people who fit your niche.

For me, Rilee is the model. I’ve followed her packing posts for a couple of years and we tend to like similar locations. Through one of her videos, I found Scandinave Spa in the Blue Mountains. I live on the Canadian border and clearly have a thing for saunas, so I booked a long weekend. TLDR; my boyfriend used that trip to propose. (Thanks, Rilee!)

In a video from OG Youtuber Estée Lalonde (long-since deleted 😢), I was introduced to Wilderness Hotels in Lapland, Finland. I spent years planning this trip and, one COVID delay later, I went on one of my favorite vacations of all time with my family. Finland remains an underrated destination in my opinion.

I could go on and on about all the sparks of travel inspiration I’ve found on various social platforms, but what it comes down to is following those who inspire you. And not worrying too much about what’s cool or trending for the general population.

Like this one perhaps? Just kidding, but my advice here is similar to above. Find someone who goes places that look interesting to you and subscribe.

A few of my favorites here on Substack are MindHoliday, Window Seat, and Condiment Claire (technically a food newsletter but she shares so many city guides, and her TikTok is delightful).

But one of my favorites is technically a newsletter for flight deals called Pomelo Travel. If you are a more spontaneous person or have the flexibility, you can use Pomelo as intended.

For me, I take the deals as future travel inspiration. While I might not be able to book that flight right now, I know that there’s the potential for more deals in the future. Or, it highlights locations I hadn’t considered before. I’ve been planning a trip to Bogotá for years since seeing a Pomelo deal in my inbox. One day I will get there and hopefully there’s another cheap flight to be had.

Not unlike Pomelo, Google Explore and Google Flights track prices and can show you when there’s a good deal. But the Explore tab goes a little bit further into the inspiration realm.

You can essentially zoom in anywhere on the map to see how much it’s likely to cost to fly there and how many layovers you might have. When you click on a city, Google suggests a few cultural highlights for the location, too.

I play around with Google Explore most days, changing the filters between exact dates and destinations to flexible dates and wider options. It just gives you a good sense of where you can go, when you can go, and how much it’ll cost to get there. Then you can take your research from there.

When airlines add flights or hotels expand to a particular destination, you know demand is growing. Following industry publications like Skift or Conde Nast Traveler can clue you in to where the industry thinks is the next big destination. I’ve been a longtime fan of using New York Time’s 36 Hours series as a starting point for my trip research. Scroll through the archives to get inspired.

Tourism-based brands also put out their own trend reports and research. In 2025, Hilton says maximizing vacation time will be most important for travelers. Music to my ears, as that’s the only way I know how to travel.

They also predict the rise of adventure tourism in 2025, and I’ve already seen this across other platforms. The number of videos on Everest Base Camp treks and summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro that have made their way into my TikTok algorithm have almost convinced me I could do it.

Sometimes its best to take things offline. Ask your family, friends, coworkers, or strangers about their favorite trip or the place they’ve been dying to go. You’ll likely get new ideas and a travel buddy to go with. That’s how my friends and I ended up on a National Park trip in Utah earlier this year and Alaska before that.

Where do you find inspiration? I’m always ready to over-research a new location, so please share your dream destinations.