Greetings Travel Friends,

I'm experimenting with a new email newsletter tool so I hope this reaches everyone that wants to read the newsletter. It might look a bit different but nothing else has changed.

This issue covers the realities of travel in 2025: Japan is quietly taking over tourism while Thailand recalibrates, Airbus is eating Boeing’s lunch, bookstores are serving cocktails to survive, Khao San Road is still pretending to be authentic, planes that fall apart mid-air, influencers colonised Bali, Saudi Arabia is rebranding, and why your secret spot is now a TikTok trend.

But first, a question: Do you avoid travelling to certain countries because of their human rights record?

When Boeing Lost the Plot

If you fly often, you’re putting your trust into the hands of one of two companies: Airbus or Boeing. Right now, that trust isn’t evenly distributed. One of these companies delivers planes that work. The other delivers headlines about doors blowing off mid-flight.

This report looks at how Airbus grew from a collection of European aerospace companies in the 1970s into the global leader in aircraft orders and deliveries. It started out as the underdog to Boeing, but over time, Airbus took advantage of Boeing’s failures, including fatal crashes, production delays, and poor leadership. In the process, it built a manufacturing network and product line that makes more sense for the way airlines operate today.

Boeing, on the other hand, seemed comfortable holding on to half the market while focusing on profit margins. That strategy has caught up with them. Now they are behind in both production numbers and public trust. The Airbus A320neo series, and especially the A321neo, has proven to be more fuel-efficient, more adaptable, and better aligned with what airlines actually need right now.

Airbus is winning the race for dominance in the commercial aircraft space. Airbus isn’t winning because of luck. It’s winning because Boeing sabotaged itself, focusing on returns over safety, and quick fixes over long-term innovation. Airbus may not hold its lead forever, but for now, it’s delivering more planes, generating more trust, and avoiding deadly software errors caused by cost-cutting.

Boeing planes fly themselves into the ground because shareholders run the company. Airbus lets engineers fly, and it shows.

Why Plane Doors Don’t Need Locks and why Airplane mode is a lie

Planes fly at between 10 and 13 km up (30,000–43,000 feet) because thinner air = less drag, allowing faster travel with less fuel. And this means better efficiency and savings for the airline (and potentially for you)

Cabins are pressurized to ~75% of sea level pressure (~77 kPa), not 100%, to reduce fuselage stress.

There are no recorded accidents caused by phones. - FCC banned cell phone use in 1991 fearing airborne phones would overload cell networks. It has less to do with plane safety.

Food tastes bad because of the Low humidity (5%) and lower air pressure which reduce your sense of smell and taste.

The New Geography of Escape - Coolcations

A 300% increase in 2024 Google searches for “cooler holidays” highlights the rise of “coolcations” and a significant shift in how people spend money on travel.

Iceland saw tourism rise 20% during its cooler months. Finland and Scotland are suddenly getting calls from travel agents who used to push Ibiza and Mykonos. Nordic countries are becoming mainstream escapes. These aren’t coincidences.

Record-breaking temperatures in traditional summer destinations have made them genuinely uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous. When walking outside becomes a tactical decision, people start to look around for alternatives.

I remember reading the news in 2023, during a European heatwave, that Europeans were travelling to Thailand to escape the heat. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Thailand-lures-foreign-tourists-looking-to-escape-heat-at-home As long as you don’t visit in April, of course. So far, European heatwaves are rare at that time of year, but who knows by the end of the decade.

The coolcation traveler seeks mountains, forests, northern coastlines, and lakes. They want fresh air and fewer crowds. They want to be outside without suffering for it.

The “coolcation” movement signifies more than just a travel trend. Consumer behavior adapts in real-time to global changes. Paradise isn’t always tropical. Sometimes, fresh air is all you need.

Khao San Road

I first visited Khao San road in the year this CNN article was published (2001). Even back then, people talked about the slow demise of “real” travel.

Khaosan Road: Where the Age of Discovery comes to die, and conformity disguises itself as rebellion. Bangkok’s backpacker Disneyland, where East meets West, and authenticity takes a vacation. Che Guevara t-shirts are the new corporate uniform. Need a digeridoo with your pad Thai? You’re in luck.

KhaoSan road was, until recently, Grand Central Station for every backpacker in Asia. A place where travelers inevitably reunite after their adventures, often returning to the same well-worn tracks.

According to the article, modern guidebooks have mapped every hidden place, turning exploration into a paint-by-numbers experience.

Just imagine what the writer of this article must think now. Few people still use guidebooks (I consider myself an exception here as I love guidebooks, especially the printed form)

Another article, published 20 years later takes a look at the evoluton of this famous backpacker road and how it evolved from a rice market into the world’s most famous travel hub

The author, Joe Cummings, still lives in Bangkok and is the author of many travel books.

What happened to Bali?

Influencers happened.

​How Bali became the influencer hotspot [Paywall]

People once went to Bali for spiritual journeys. Now they go to monetize rice fields. The Instagram filter is strong here and engagement is the only thing being worshipped.

Bali has some nice spots, no doubt, but the hustle culture and the grind is changing the island beyond recognition. I can’t imagine regular tourists are happy about the queue at the pool of people twerking on livestreams or making “content” for TikTok.

But maybe it's a good thing that the people with new faces and crypto wallets stay in one place and don’t attempt to colonize other parts of the world.

Women at the Wheel: Inside Saudi Arabia’s Quiet Revolution

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a high-gloss identity shift, polishing its image with billion-dollar tourism projects and opening doors for women. Writer Yvette Cook meets female guides, entrepreneurs, and students who are cautiously optimistic about the reforms. Women are driving now, launching businesses, even guiding foreigners through ancient tombs.

​We often hear about the power of tourism to bring meaningful change. Is it working for women in Saudi Arabia?​

I’ve been to Saudi twice. I sat in taxis driven by women and saw plenty of women working in customer-facing roles. Women approached me just to ask me about my travels and what I thought of Saudi Arabia. This doesn’t really happen in many places. That small moment said more about change than any government press release ever could. There’s warmth here, curiosity, and ambition.

Of course, there are still plenty of problems in the country and I recognize this. But that shouldn’t stop people from visiting. And it won't stop me going back. Thoughtful travel might be one of the few ways to truly understand the shifts happening on the ground, beyond headlines and hype.

Japan’s Perfect Storm of Tourism

A record 3.5 million international travelers visited Japan in March 2025. That’s a 13.5% jump from the previous year, and the numbers keep climbing. Industry forecasts are throwing around figures like 40.2 million visitors for the full year, with some analysts pushing that estimate as high as 47.69 million. For context, Japan’s 2024 international tourism numbers, at 36.87 million, exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 15.6%.

It’s economics, pure and simple. A 25% weakening of the yen against major currencies in the past five years has made Japan a much more budget-friendly destination.

Meanwhile, Thailand finds itself in a very different position.

Thailand’s tourism rebound looks solid on paper—36 to 39 million visitors projected for 2025. But that’s only a slight climb from 2024’s 35 million and still below the 2019 high of nearly 40 million.

Chinese visitors account for the change in numbers. Safety concerns, natural disasters, and shifting Chinese travel preferences have created trends that no amount of marketing can influence. Thailand’s biggest source market is looking elsewhere. And where are some of those Chinese tourists going? Japan

Thailand is now chasing wealthier travelers from Europe and the Middle East, leaning into medical tourism. But those are long-term plays. In the short term, losing Chinese tour groups stings.

Thailand isn’t in crisis—it’s still a major player. But the comparison with Japan shows how fast the game can change. Currency shifts, geopolitics, and traveler behavior are redrawing the map. The “return to normal” is a myth.

Everyone Wants the Hidden Gem—Until It’s Not Hidden

In this New York Times article, the excellent writer Pico Iyer talks about the awkward truth every traveler and travel writer eventually faces: the more you share, the more you risk killing the thing you love.

​The Travel Writer’s Dilemma: Share, or Gatekeep? [paywall]

There’s a tension that anyone who’s found a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop will recognize: do you tell people? Or do you keep it to yoursel? Iyer’s answer is somewhere in the middle: Give friends the real gem, give strangers the second-best, and hope the place survives the flood.

A “secret” spot isn’t a secret when 11 million people read about it.

And the way things have been going with Instagram and TikTok, the gift of sharing beautiful places feels like an act of destruction.

Iyer’s not holding a grudge. He has become more strategic. He suggests sending people somewhere close by. Hint, don’t say the name of the spot. Or invent a fictional story and let the audience guess. The real fun’s not in copying others, it’s finding your own thing.

Faceless YouTube Travel Channels

I learned about this travel YouTube channel from Niall Doherty​

Niall reckons this channel has earned nearly 2 million USD.

That's a lot of money for pretty straighforward videos of someone travelling in Japan. I love the concept.

An there's no twenty-year-old backpacker telling you how “life-changing” this konbini onigiri is and we never have to hear “what’s up, guys. Welcome back to my channel…”. No silly faces on the thumbnail. Just video shots of the place you want to visit.

Refreshing.

Just streets. Food. Moments.

More of this kind of thing, please! Down with that other sort of thing, thanks!

Luxury Ruined the Riviera, But Let’s Ban Hostels

A recent article in Monocle called “The Weekend Opener,” challenges the common narrative that often blames backpackers and budget travelers for the problems of overtourism. The conclusion is that sorting tourists by income is a terrible idea (and kind of tacky).

The author points the finger at poor planning, lazy policy, and a tendency to romanticize the “right kind” of tourist (read: rich). Today’s hostel guests might be tomorrow’s boutique hotel snobs with plenty of money to spend. The problem isn’t who’s travelling, it’s how governments are handling them.

The author of the article, Andrew Muller also hosts several Monocle Radio shows (some of the best produced Podcasts on global affairs and culture) is darkly witty and dry in his delivery.

What do you think?

Sinofuturism

There’s a lot, a lot of talk about how China is whopping the West’s ass. YouTubers have discovered the the algorithm likes videos showing how the west is crap and how China is Utopia. Unfortunately, these people conveniently overlook the fact that China is cheap for them thanks to the favourable exchange rate and they don't have to work there.

Here’s what Noah Smith (one of the best Substack writers on geopolitics and world economics has to say about Sinofuturism and some of the festishising of China.

Smith claims that China didn’t become the “country of the future” because of vision. It happened because of a decade-long debt binge, unchecked urban sprawl, and a government that subsidized tech like it was rationing rice in a famine. The collapse of the real estate-driven growth model around 2010 forced a pivot: a push into EVs, drones, semiconductors, and factory automation.

However, the aesthetics are misleading. China’s cities aren’t walkable tech utopias. They’re sprawling grids of gated high-rise compounds (xiaoqus), separated by six-lane roads and designed more for control than community. They are sort of like vertical suburbs without the charm. Most of this “futurism” is packaging left over from the boom years. Even the neon-lit towers that impress on TikTok are aging fast, built quickly with mediocre materials, in a humid, polluted environment. Maintenance will be brutal.

China’s censorship regime kneecaps innovation. Despite massive investment, its entertainment hits are just copies of Western formats and rarely travel well. Meanwhile, its lead in electric-era hardware (motors, batteries, surveillance tech) is real. But so is the darker implication: China is building infrastructure for control, not liberation.

I can sum up what Smith is saying in one sentence: The West may be dysfunctional, but Sinofuturism offers spectacle without soul.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of China as a travel destination and I enjoy the culture. In my limited experiences there, I found the people to be very friendly and kind. I was treated better in China than in many places that are famous for being super hospitable to tourists. Of course, a lot of this probably had to do with the fact that the country is huge and the number of tourists is small.

The Slow Revival of Book Culture, One Cocktail at a time

There are types of places that I try to visit when I’m in a new city. Bookstores, coffee shops, and local markets.

If this is the future of bookstores, call me a futurist.

Bookstores are becoming multi-use social spaces blending books, booze, and food. Sounds good so far. Normally, I prefer single-use places. I don’t like coffee shops that sell food, matcha, and random junk. But if this is the only way to keep bookstores in our lives, I’m all for it.

​Bookstores’ latest release? Beer, wine, dinner, coffee and a unique aesthetic​

These hybrids foster community, slow time, and encourage analog experiences in a digital-first culture. Operators focus on design, curation, and atmosphere, turning bookstores into destinations, not errands. The trend taps into a deep cultural hunger: meaningful leisure, serendipity, and a third place beyond home or work. It’s not about selling more books; it’s about giving people a reason to stay long enough to pick one up.

Across the U.S. and Europe, independent booksellers are surviving the digital apocalypse by pouring drinks, roasting beans, and making literary communion feel like a social act again.

This story looks into how these hybrid spacesb are attracting everyone from TikTok-lit lovers to solitary Nabokovians. Store owners say they’re not selling books so much as experiences, the kind you can’t download.

There’s a quiet logic to this model: give people reasons to linger, and they’ll fall into a book the way they fall into conversations over wine.

Sheep, Steam, and Sea Urchins: A Culinary Tour of New Zealand’s Soul

One of YouTube's best documentary filmmakers, Huckberry, put out a video a couple of months ago about travel and food in New Zealand. I missed this one. And as a fan of New Zealand, this really ticks all the boxes. Food, outdoors, culture, and well, more food. The pacing is great and it’s the antidote to all the YouTube travel documentaries who spend most of their time on pointless stuff.

Josh Rosen travels across New Zealand visiting chefs turning lamb neck into comfort food, Maori families keeping centuries-old cooking methods alive, and winemakers and distillers who do everything by hand. It’s a detailed look at how small communities across the country are shaping a distinctly New Zealand way of eating

The Smart Traveler’s Guide to Skyscanner Features You’re Ignoring

Are you a Skyscanner or Google Flights person? Or maybe you use something else (Kayak, anyone?)

If you’re not sure how Skyscanner actually works beyond typing in dates, this article breaks down the process of finding chep flights on the platform. It basically explains what the buttons do.

Where Everything Works and No One Shouts (no, it’s not Japan)

For the eighth year in a row, Finland is the world’s happiest country. Its capital reflects that mood through a quiet, steady rhythm. Life here is clean in the truest sense. Tap water tastes like it came from a glacier. The air carries pine and sea. Public transport arrives when it should.

Helsinki feels like a city designed by someone who actually asked the locals what they wanted. No chaos. No neon skyline. No influencer food tours (probably).

Where in the world?

Where did I take this photo? Answers on a postcard (or via reply email)

Happy travels,

Keith

If you found this newsletter useful or entertaining, you might want to take a look at these tools I recommend. They help the words flowing. Or just hit reply. I’m always interested in hearing your thoughts, whether it’s about the newsletter or travel in general.

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