Every time I meet with travel partners from around the world, I come home with a longer list of places I did not know I wanted to see. What has stayed with me lately, though, is not a single destination. It is how many interesting new ways there are to get to them.
I chose these five because they answer questions I hear all the time. What if I hate big cruise ships? What if I want adventure without roughing it? What if I want to see more of the world but cannot disappear for six weeks? What if I am traveling solo and do not want to feel alone?
There are some pretty great answers.
1. Your Favorite Hotel, Now at Sea
Some of the world’s best-known luxury hotel brands are moving onto the water, and they are creating something that feels much more like a floating resort than a traditional cruise.
The Four Seasons Yacht Collection carries just 222 guests, with suites starting at 530 square feet. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection has three ships carrying roughly 300 to just over 400 guests, all in suites with private terraces. Orient Express has entered the water too, with a sailing yacht carrying just 110 guests. Aman is next. Its first yacht, Amangati, is scheduled to sail in 2027 with only 47 suites.
What caught my attention most is where these yachts can take you.
Four Seasons can now bring its style of hospitality to small ports and destinations where it does not have a resort on land. If you already love the Four Seasons experience, imagine having that same level of service while waking up somewhere new.
Explora Journeys takes another approach, combining the ease of cruising with a resort-like experience. Dining, beverages, Wi-Fi, access to its thermal spa, taxes, and gratuities are included. About a third of its guests are new to cruising, which tells me a lot about who this new style of travel is attracting.
If you love beautiful hotels but have never pictured yourself on a cruise ship, this category is worth watching.
2. Small Ships for People Who Think They Hate Cruising
I talk to a lot of people who tell me they would never take a cruise.
Usually, cruising itself is not the problem. It is what they picture when they hear the word: thousands of passengers, crowded spaces, long lines, and being herded on and off a huge ship.
Small-ship cruising is a very different experience.
Scenic’s ocean yachts carry just 228 guests. Every suite has a butler, and excursions are included. Its sister line, Emerald Cruises, sails even smaller yachts of about 100 guests in places like the Caribbean and Mexico. Seabourn and Silversea offer their own versions of small-ship luxury, with all-suite accommodations, high levels of service, and itineraries designed around smaller ports.
The size changes everything.
There are fewer people, quieter public spaces, more personal service, and access to places the largest ships simply cannot reach.
You still get the ease of unpacking once and waking up somewhere new. You just do it without feeling like one of thousands.
If you have ruled out cruising in the past, I would take another look.
3. Expedition Travel Without the “Extreme”
When people hear “expedition travel,” they often picture climbing across ice with an ax or hiking for hours in freezing temperatures.
That is not what most expedition travel looks like.
Yes, you can kayak among icebergs, hike, or take a Zodiac to places few people ever reach. But you can also experience Antarctica, the Arctic, the Galápagos, Alaska, and other remote parts of the world without being an extreme athlete.
HX, for example, operates expedition ships carrying between 90 and 415 guests. One of my favorite stories was about a 102-year-old guest who traveled with them.
Another was about a mother who reluctantly joined an expedition because she worried there would be too much science and education. She became so enthralled by the experience that she booked another sailing while she was still on board.
I love that story because it challenges what many people assume expedition travel is.
Lines including Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic, PONANT, and Atlas Ocean Voyages combine exploration with comfort, expert guides, and opportunities to learn about the places you are actually visiting.
An industry survey reported by Travel Market Report found that 56 percent of travel advisors hear the same misconception from clients: expedition travel requires extreme fitness.
It doesn’t.
You can choose your level of adventure. For someone who wants to experience the more remote corners of the world without giving up comfort, expedition travel opens up some incredible possibilities.
4. Around the World by Private Jet
This one fascinated me.
Imagine wanting to see several parts of the world but not having six weeks or two months to do it.
Here is the number that got my attention: an around-the-world itinerary takes about 24 days with TCS World Travel compared with roughly 34 days traveling commercially. That means 15 flights instead of 26 and about nine hours spent in airports instead of 84.
That is a lot of your vacation you get back.
TCS has been operating these journeys for more than 30 years. Its Airbus A321, originally designed for 220 seats, has been reconfigured for just 52 guests. An 18-person team travels with the group, including a physician and private chef.
There are no overnight flights. Instead, you fly during the day and stay in five-star hotels for several nights in each destination.
There is another part of this that surprised me. About 30 percent of TCS guests travel solo, and the solo supplement is relatively low. A trip that might sound designed for couples can actually be a very social way to see the world on your own.
Other options range from Abercrombie & Kent’s private jet journeys with 50 lie-flat seats to Aman Jet Expeditions, which carries a maximum of just 16 guests.
For someone who has the means to travel this way but does not have unlimited time, the value is not simply luxury. It is efficiency.
And sometimes time is the biggest luxury of all.
5. River Cruising, Especially for Solo Travelers
I took my first river cruise this year, and I finally understand why people love them.
You glide from one small town to the next and can barely tell you are moving. There are no huge crowds getting on and off the ship. You unpack once. You wake up somewhere new.
I even became fascinated by the locks. We passed through fourteen on my AmaWaterways trip, and I could have watched the process for hours. I also discovered how easy it was to travel this way as someone who eats gluten free.
What I did not fully appreciate before that trip was how many different kinds of river cruises now exist.
There are luxury ships, culinary-focused sailings, wine itineraries, active trips, special-interest groups, and increasingly good options for people traveling alone.
That last one really caught my attention.
Riverside Luxury Cruises, for example, is waiving the solo supplement on its itineraries through 2027 and offers two-person restaurant seating, so traveling alone does not mean being seated by yourself every night.
Riviera Travel has dozens of solo itineraries with no single supplement and plans a dedicated solo-only river ship in 2027.
For someone who wants to travel independently but still enjoys having people around, river cruising can offer a really nice balance. You can join excursions and dinners when you want company, then retreat to your own space when you don’t.
That is a style of solo travel I think a lot more people should consider.
The World Is Big
Looking at these five styles of travel together, I keep coming back to the same thought.
The world is bigger, and far more accessible, than most of us imagine.
You can explore without roughing it. Cruise without feeling like you are on a cruise. Travel solo without feeling alone. See several parts of the world without spending months getting there.
Sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing these options exist.
That is one of my favorite parts of being a travel advisor. I get to learn about experiences I might never have considered myself, then think about the person for whom they might be exactly right.
Because there is no one right way to see the world.
If something here made you curious, I would love to talk about it. I offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation to explore where you want to go, how you want to travel, and what might make the most sense for this chapter of your life.
You can reach me at hello@sparkfuljourneys.com or visit sparkfuljourneys.com.
