How Culture Trip Staffers Pick Their Next Trip

When it comes to choosing my next destination, I often find myself standing squarely in front of this map and letting my eyes travel the world, deciding what country to visit next. That is how I choose my next trip. Whether inspired by film, social media or leaving a trip up to chance, I asked my fellow Culture Trip staffers to share the ways they pick their next destination.

“My next travel destination was inspired from the book, How Did You Get This Number. I was reading how the author, Sloan Crosely, essentially spun a globe and plopped down her finger on a country, then traveled to said country. Tremendously inspired, I thought, “why the hell not do the same thing? What a daring way to travel, leaving the choice up to fate.

And, so, I set out to pick my next destination in this way—first setting a few ground rules (no war zones, no countries we had been to, no places with travel warnings). And here is where our planning hit a pothole. It’s very hard to spin a globe, and have your finger land on a country that doesn’t fall under one of these categories or in a body of water. So instead, we put each country on a piece of paper, folded them up and picked. Fate still had its say and is sending us to South Korea next.” —Tori Kuhr, Senior Manager of Digital Planning

“The cuisine of the local area is the biggest draw for me; what I can try, taste and experience there and whether there are any must-visit restaurants. This year, I’m finally going to Mexico to live off tacos and mezcal. Previously, I’ve headed to Tokyo for ramen and sashimi, France for cheese and wine, and America’s southern states for BBQ & beignets.” —Daisy-Blue Tinne, Head of Affiliates

“I use Instagram quite a bit to plan my next trip. Usually that involves looking at locations of beautiful photos that bloggers or photographers are tagging, then looking through other people’s posts that have been tagged in the same or similar location.” —Maddy Chambers, PR Manager

“Friends are the greatest resource when it comes to picking my next travel destination. We tend to have very similar tastes and interests (there’s a reason we’re friends after all), so if they fell in love with a particular country or city, the chances are I will too.” —Esme Benjamin, Wellness Editor

“I’m always looking to hit new countries and places. Since I’m open to exploring anywhere and everywhere, I use Skyscanner’s ‘everywhere’ destination option. If I’m also flexible on dates, I’ll select ‘cheapest month’ and see what it comes up with. I use Google Flights’ similar feature.” —Naomi Clear-Vekinis, Operations Manager
“Half the time it’s because I hear of a ridiculously low airfare and impulse book it right away. For quick trips that I generally book a couple of weeks in advance, I figure out my approximate dates of travel, throw them into Google Flights, and see what’s cheap and interesting—someplace I haven’t visited yet. For longer trips, I’ve got a running list of ‘dream destinations’ (I add to it more than I cross off, unfortunately!) and I take a look at that, to figure out which might fit in my budget and be suitable for the time of year I’m looking to travel.” —Kathryn Maier, Food & Drink Editor

“Intuition. I try to visit the places I’m intuitively drawn to: a feeling I get from a photograph, a friend’s story, or simply the name of a place. If it sounds right and feels right, it’s probably a good place to be.” —Amber Snider, Home & Design Editor