The Future Is Here

Have you made your travel wish list for 2024? Mine includes travelling to all those parts of India I have yet to explore—Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, the Gujarat coast—the list is endless. Even if you are a jaded journalist like me, discovering a new place and its people fills you with a sense of wonderment and renewal.

One of the highlights of 2023 was my first trip to Kashmir. While I was quite mesmerised by its famed natural beauty, what remains etched in my mind is a short walk I took through downtown Srinagar. I remember the narrow, grimy streets, framed by impossibly beautiful wooden buildings, tiny bakeries catering to the Kashmiris’ love for tsot, roath and other varieties of bread, grocery stores presenting a bounty of dried fruit and vegetables, exquisite tombs and mosques displaying facets of fine Kashmiri craftsmanship and many such serendipitous discoveries.

Travel is also healing, and our cover story on six travel trends to watch out for in 2024 marks wellness travel as one that is creating a big buzz. Senior Features Writer Antaraa Chatterjee says in her story that it’s now quite the done thing to take “napcations” and “nap holidays,” where you do little else than sleep, with a bit of yoga and meditation thrown in. Sounds like a plan to me!

The biggest game-changer is, of course, AI. With travel tech easing out cumbersome things like bookings and making itineraries to creating more complex marvels like a metaverse for virtual travel, the role of AI and augmented reality is not far-fetched, says Nitin Chaudhary in his piece on AI in travel.

In this forward-looking issue, we also explore eight sustainable futuristic cities being built worldwide to combat the side effects of climate change. From the space-age NEOM in Saudi Arabia to the Floating City of Maldives, these settlements promise to redefine urban living.

Whether you like slow travel or prefer your journeys to be packed with action and adventure, may you travel where your heart desires in 2024. Just remember to keep your carbon footprint light and the planet happy. Happy reading!