What, Exactly, Is a Coolcation? Your Guide to Confusing Travel Jargon
All the travel buzzwords you need to know before you book your next trip.
Let's be honest. With travel being back in full swing and everyone constantly on the move, it feels like new terms and buzzwords are coined everyday to reflect the newest travel trend—and it can be hard to keep up.
But don't worry, we're here to help you stay up-to-date. We've assembled our ultimate travel jargon glossary for the next time you need to "look that term up real quick" while booking your next trip. The more trending terms are invented, the more we'll be updating our list—so you'll never be caught off guard.
Airport dad
This is the travel party leader who's always on top of everything before the vacation even starts. Hyper-organized, detail-oriented, and, most importantly, always one step ahead—and always early at the airport. You may have even spotted the airport dad species on your TikTok feed.
Babymoon
A trip that a couple takes to celebrate the birth of their newborn child.
Bleisure
It's like a workcation, really. The bleisure trend basically consists of adding very pleasant and vacation-like activities (or even OOO days) to your not-so-pleasant, business-related duties. Typically, one does "bleisure travel" when they're working abroad or outside of their office home base.
Buddymoon
Think about a honeymoon, but now make it super fun—that's what a buddymoon is. Basically, it's not just a newly-married-couple trip, rather it's a newly-married-couple-plus-friends-and-fam trip. Family honeymoons, in particular, have been trending of late—so you can expect to hear more about this broader concept in the near future.
Coolcation
No, a coolcation isn't a vacation to a trendy destination. It's much more literal than that—it means jetting off to a cold place to try and fight off the extreme heat of the moment. Thanks to climate change, we might be seeing more of these in the future, too.
Destination dupes
It's like those trendy perfume dupes on TikTok—a very similar (almost identical) feel to the OG one, but make it much more affordable. The same rule applies to destination dupes, with the addition that destination dupes are also considered less crowded and have more of a "hidden gem" vibe to them. In case you need some inspiration, we've got you covered.
Digital nomad
A dream of many. Jokes aside, digital nomads are those who are able to work remotely from other countries thanks to the remote nature of their job (and thanks to technology and the internet, too).
Divorcation
It's as if you played the Uno Reverse card to a honeymoon. Go on vacation to celebrate… getting newly un-married.
Dry-tripping
Ever heard of Dry January? Great, now apply the same rules to your vacation. No booze for the entire duration of your trip.
Eduvacation
A trip centered around learning something new. It could be anything from a sport to a hobby to a skillset, like taking kitesurf lessons, pottery classes, or even a cooking class.
Familymoon
The family version of a buddymoon. It's when the newly married couple brings their kids to their wedding trip.
Friendcation
A solid, fun, stress-free vacation with your friends. Plain and simple.
Gamping
If you go gamping, it means you're going camping in someone's backyard or garden. Usually, gampers do so by either paying the host a fee or by offering a service, which could be anything from gardening to tending to the flowers and so on.
Glamping
Luxury camping—Or better, glamorous camping, as the name suggests. It refers to a higher-end camping style featuring luxurious and hotel-like amenities.
Gig-tripping
When you organize a whole trip centered around attending a live concert of an artist you really want to see.
Hush trip
Taking hush trips is the latest Gen Z "thing," and it goes hand in hand with being able to become a digital nomad for a little while. Hush trips are trips you embark on without taking any PTO and without disclosing that to your boss—but mind you, it's not that you won't be working! It's just that you'll be working from somewhere else, ideally somewhere more relaxing, like a Caribbean beach, or any other vacation destination.
Lit-scapes
Book-inspired trips. It's like set-jetting, but for book worms instead.
Minimoon
A short and less financially draining version of a honeymoon. A travel-size honeymoon, if you will.
Open-jaw ticket
Nothing to be scared about. An open-jaw ticket is a return flight ticket for which the origin and/or the destination are not the same in both directions. To make it simple, it means that with an open-jaw ticket you fly from point A to point B on your outbound flight, while on your inbound flight (or return flight) you head from point B to point C. Bonus: Often, an open-jaw itinerary will save you some money on your travels.
Procrastipacking
The act of postponing and avoiding packing for your trip until the very last minute available. Airport dads could never.
Revenge travel
It's the trending practice of taking trips that the COVID pandemic "stole" from you, or that you weren't able to take due to the pandemic itself. It’s a big "flip it" to the pandemic, in travel terms.
Set-jetting
Deemed one of the latest “things” in travel, set-jetting is the trend of traveling to a destination in which an iconic movie or TV show was film, or to a location that inspired one of them.
Skiplagging
Skiplagging is, first and foremost, not an illegal practice—but it’s something that airlines don’t really like. The practice consists in booking a flight with a connection with the true intention of never making it to the destination, and making your connection city your destination instead. Why? Because it’s often cheaper to do so rather than booking a direct flight.
Sleep tourism
The final boss of a relaxing vacation. A trip in which your ultimate goal is to catch a lot of big, fat, charming Zs.
Sleepcation
See sleep tourism.
Slow travel
Slow travel (or slow tourism) falls under the sustainable tourism umbrella, and it prioritizes making a real connection with the destination(s) you travel to. Slow travel consists of having a deeper and more meaningful approach to local culture, people, and traditions that aims at respecting, appreciating, and preserving the locality.
Solomoon
A honeymoon without your newly-wed partner, except you didn't break up. Think about it as taking some vacation time to celebrate your wedding by yourself, or with a few select friends and family.
Star bathing
The act of sitting under a sky full of stars with the sole purpose of enjoying it and relaxing while becoming one with your surroundings. Like forest bathing, but for the sky.
Staycation
Taking a vacation without going anywhere. It could be done while staying literally at home or by booking a hotel in the city in which you live.
Trip stacking
Booking multiple trips that are all flexible and refundable. It's basically like having multiple no-fee restaurant reservations for a Saturday night just to make sure you have one, and then deciding at the last minute where to go depending on your appetite.
Van life
Centering your entire life around your RV. It's your home, your office, your means of transportation, your best friend, et cetera. It's a lifestyle!
Voluntourism
Traveling with the intention of doing something good and having a positive impact while being there, such as participating in volunteering activities.
Workcation
ICYMI, it's the same concept as "bleisure."