The “twenty-tens” were quite the ride where travel was concerned. Between 2010 and 2019, Airbnb, rideshare apps, and influencers cemented their places in the travel space. We started doing it for the ‘Gram, traveling slower, by ourselves, and more of us got our passports stamped than ever before. There was some good (carbon offsetting, active vacations, domestic getaways), some bad (Brooklynization, overtourism, the rise of the Instagram museum), and some downright ludicrous (selfie mortality). In 2020, things slowed down for obvious reasons and travel bounced back royally two years later with the rise of the revenge trip.

One of the ways we can understand our current world and who we are within it is by looking at the new words and phrases the English language dictionaries (Collins, Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam-Webster) propose for addition each year based on what has already entered the general lexicon and cultural zeitgeist. Many of the new travel words that the Cambridge English Dictionary proposed adding in 2022 were indicative of the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Words and phrases like “gratification travel“, “hometel”, and “trip stacking” signaled pent-up wanderlust, social distancing, and frustrations regarding ever-changing travel regulations. Many of the entries about work highlighted the rapid rise of remote work and the growing pains related to that: “ghost colleague”, “tattleware” and “WFC” (“Work From Café”). 

To look at potential 2025 work and travel trends, here are definitions of some of the words and phrases the Cambridge English Dictionary proposed in 2024.

Travel trends based on Cambridge Dictionary new word proposals

Airport dad 

“The father of a family who takes charge of organizing a holiday and likes to arrive at the airport very early, or anyone who behaves in this way when traveling with a group.”

Anti-airport dad 

“The father of a family who has a relaxed attitude towards travel, often arriving at the airport with very little time to spare or almost missing their flight, or anyone who behaves in this way when traveling with a group.”

Atlantic diet 

“A way of eating based on the foods typically eaten in the northwest of Spain and in Portugal.”

Climate mobility 

“Moving away from an area affected by climate change to live somewhere else.”

Coolcation 

“A holiday in a place where the weather is not very warm, usually because you do not want to go somewhere that has become too hot because of climate change.”

Dry tripping 

“Going on holidays where there is a focus on not drinking alcohol.”

Generation T 

“A way of referring to the group of people who were born in the early 2000s and who spend a lot of their free time traveling and going on holiday.”

Ghamping 

“Camping in a place that is said to have ghosts.”

Heat inequality 

“The situation where people in poor countries suffer the effects of hotter weather more than people in richer countries do, with more of them dying as a result.”

Hypertourism 

“The situation when an extremely large number of people visit a place on holiday, so that the place is spoiled and life is made very difficult for the people who live there.”

Justication 

“A holiday you justify to yourself that you need even though there are good reasons not to take it, such as not being able to afford it.”

Microgapping 

“An alternative to the gap year, where people take shorter breaks and travel around their home country.”

Noctalgia 

“A feeling of sadness felt by some people because light pollution means they can no longer see a dark sky at night.”

Reindeer noir 

“Crime stories and films set in Lapland.”

Skiplagging 

“A way to save money that involves booking a flight with a stopover but deliberately not getting back on the plane for the final part of the journey.”

Slowcation 

“A type of holiday where the aim is to get to know the people and culture of a place slowly, rather than simply visiting the most popular tourist attractions.”

Tip creep 

“The fact that the practice of tipping is gradually spreading to many more services and industries.“

Tipflation

“The increase in the amount of money that people are expected to give as a tip.”

Tour tourism 

“The activity of traveling abroad to see a singer or band live in concert.”

Warmdrobe 

“A collection of warm clothes to wear in cold weather.”

Work and anti-work trends based on Cambridge Dictionary new word proposals

AI washing 

“The behavior of an organization, etc. that tries to make people believe that it is using AI to make its products or services better, when really it is not doing this or is only partly doing it.”

AIaaS 

“Abbreviation for “artificial intelligence as a service”: a service that allows businesses to buy a variety of AI tools and capabilities from a single platform.”

Brokefishing 

“The practice of pretending to have less money than you really do, in order to trick another person into buying things for you.”

Broken rung 

“The situation where someone can progress quickly in the early stages of their career but finds it difficult to get a more senior post.”

BYOAI 

“Abbreviation for “bring your own artificial intelligence”: the practice of companies saying that employees can use their own artificial intelligence tools when at work.”

Centibillionaire 

“Someone who has assets and investments worth at least 100 billion dollars, pounds, etc.”

Club sandwich generation 

“A way of referring to the group of people who have parents, children and also grandparents or grandchildren to take care of.”

Coffee badging 

“The activity of going to your place of work and staying just long enough to have a coffee with colleagues before going home again to work there.”

Conscious quitting 

“The act of leaving your job because you do not share the same values as the people in charge of your company.”

Dadcast 

“A podcast created by a father that discusses topics thought to be of interest to other fathers, such as parenting and family life.”

Decel 

“Someone who believes that AI and other new technologies are developing so quickly that they are likely to cause very serious problems and that progress should be deliberately slowed down.”

DINKWAD 

“Abbreviation for dual income, no kids, with a dog: a member of a young couple in which both partners earn a lot of money and have a dog but no children.”

E/acc 

“Abbreviation for effective accelerationism: a movement that believes AI and other new technologies should be allowed to develop as quickly as possible without any restrictions.”

Exhaustion gap 

“The situation where women are generally more tired than men, said to be because women have to do more housework, childcare, etc. in addition to their job.”

Flextirement 

“An arrangement where an employee gradually reduces their working hours until they completely retire.”

Gender tenure gap 

“The situation where women hold very senior jobs for a shorter time than men.”

HENRY 

“Abbreviation for high earner, not rich yet: someone who earns a lot of money but has few savings or other assets.”

HiPPO 

“An abbreviation for “highest paid person’s opinion”: a situation in the workplace where the opinion of the person who has the highest salary is taken more seriously than everyone else’s, even if this is not justified.”

Hush trip 

“A journey taken by an employee who then works remotely at the place they are visiting without telling their employer they are doing so.”

Hushed hybrid 

“A way of working that involves someone dividing their time between working in the office and working remotely, without formal agreement from their employer.”

Microfeminism 

“A number of small actions carried out with the intention of helping women achieve a state where they have the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and are treated in the same way.”

Mouse jiggling 

“The activity of making one’s computer mouse move at regular intervals, using a gadget or piece of software, in order to make your employer think you are working when in fact you are not.”

Nepo parent 

“The parent of an actor, a musician, etc. who achieves success because of their famous child.”

Nomadification 

“The process by which people are becoming more mobile, often moving to different cities and countries and working remotely rather than living and working in one place for a long time.”

Paycation 

“A job that allows someone to work remotely while visiting other cities and countries.”

Pleasanteeism 

“The feeling that you always need to appear cheerful and friendly when at work, even if you are stressed or anxious, so that people, especially those senior to you, have a good opinion of you.”

Popcorn brain 

“A psychological condition where someone cannot keep their mind and attention fixed on anything, thought to be caused by spending too much time on social media.”

Quit-Tok 

“A trend on TikTok where people post videos about quitting their job, often commenting on the lack of job satisfaction or work-life balance that was the reason for their resignation.”

Slop 

“AI-generated content that is unwanted and of poor quality.”

Snail girl 

“A woman who thinks that being happy and enjoying a relaxed lifestyle is more important than working too hard and putting herself under pressure.”

Soft life 

“A lifestyle someone chooses that is as stress-free and unchallenging as possible, focusing instead on relaxation and well-being.”

Soft saving 

“The activity of saving less money for the future and spending more now to enjoy a better quality of life.”

Sunlighting 

“The act of working at an extra job that your main employer is aware of.”

Teen-ternity leave 

“A period of time when someone chooses not to have a job because they want to spend more time with their teenage children.”

Tethered nomad 

“Someone who spends part of their time living and working in a single location and the rest of their time traveling so that they can live and work in different places.”

Time bank 

“A system where the unit of currency is one hour of someone’s time, with the people using the bank exchanging services and skills.”

Unbossing 

“The act of having fewer managers in a company, especially those who work in middle management roles.”

Vampire task 

“One of the routine but necessary administrative tasks that employees have to spend a lot of time doing rather than more important work.”

Wanderpreneur 

“Someone who does not have a permanent office or home and spends time living with their family and working in different towns or countries.”

WFB 

“Abbreviaton for working from boat: used to refer to a person doing their job while living on a boat rather than traveling to an office, etc. in order to do it.”

Zalpha 

“Someone who was born during a time period between the end of Generation Z and the beginning of Generation Alpha.”