(CNN) -
My pre-pandemic travel list: hike to Everest base camp, cruise to Antarctica, try to visit all the prefectures in Japan.
My list of trips after the pandemic: go to my hometown and spend time with my parents.
I know I am not the only one.
While nostalgia has always played a role in determining where we travel and why, forced separations and border closures during the pandemic have caused almost everyone in the world to reconsider where their next trip will be.
Before covid-19, I believed there were two main types of travelers: people who are always looking for something shiny new (hello!) And those who like to dig deep and spend time exploring the same destinations.
Now, I know that it is not necessarily that simple.
How we choose our vacation spots
"Faces and places can have really deep meanings to us, in terms of how we think about ourselves, who we are, and how we position ourselves in the world," explains Karen Stein, a sociologist and author of "
Getting Away from It All: Vacations. and Identity ».
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Stein spends much of his time researching how travel - where, how and why - shapes and affirms who we are.
"Everything is out of place [right now]," he adds.
"And I think being able to go back and do these things from before, that we miss and that give us comfort and we enjoy, I think that's comforting."
Travelers have different reasons for returning to the destinations they know and love.
Sometimes those reasons aren't even things you can put into words: how a certain place awakens our emotions in a way that nothing else can.
My own story confirms it.
Every time I visit the Outer Banks in my native North Carolina, I am flooded with memories of my grandmother.
We were very close, and she died when I was a teenager, so visiting a place that she introduced me to is the closest I can be to being with her again.
In the meantime, I'm also planning a post-border reopening trip to London, which is more about catching up with family, friends and colleagues who live there than going to museums or cafes.
(Although, don't get me wrong, I'll also go to museums and cafes.)
There was a similar mindset at play for Jayson Bautista, a Manila resident who goes to the same vacation spot every summer, or did, before the pandemic.
Bautista fell in love with Sagada, a town in the mountainous northern region of the country, when he visited a group of his university friends in 2016. Until the pandemic, he faithfully returned every summer to escape the suffocating humidity of the capital, each time carrying new "converts" like co-workers and his girlfriend.
"It's like a religious pilgrimage for me," he says of his annual trips.
Each time, he likes to stay in the same hotel: the Masferre Country Inn and Restaurant, which is owned by a well-known Filipino photographer and has a small gallery displaying some of his work.
Bautista is a creature of habit on his travels, visiting the same waterfalls, hiking the same mountains, and eating a local dish called pinipipikan.
"One of the reasons I keep coming back is the comforting feeling of knowing exactly what's going to happen," says Bautista.
And after more than a year of everyone on the planet living in a state of limbo, it makes perfect sense for travelers to crave a little comfort and familiarity.
“I think I no longer need to plan [Sagada's trips].
I just want to do the same things I did before and have a vacation that I really enjoy. "
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Persistent limitations related to the pandemic
Although these travel options may seem like just personal whims, there is data to support why we make the decisions we do.
Nikolaos Stylos is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Bristol School of Management.
His work focuses on the economics of travel and how companies market their destinations to consumers.
“(There is) a type of visit that we call VAF, visiting friends and family.
These will be the first trips that we hope can hardly be made, ”he says.
"In the short term, these will definitely be the first trips to be made."
But what about second trips and third trips?
Stylos notes that the long-term effects of the pandemic will add a new layer to travel planning, possibly forever.
After 9/11, certain measures, such as removing shoes to go through airport security or allowing non-passengers to drop off loved ones at the departure gate, were permanently missing.
Even for people who want something new, limitations related to the pandemic will likely limit their options.
Common factors, such as cost, will continue to be important.
But not all countries will open their borders to foreign tourists, or perhaps there are hotels and restaurants that had to close permanently, affecting availability.
Navigating the new world of travel, with loads of paperwork and possible last-minute cancellations, could inspire someone to choose the place they are already familiar with rather than the one that feels newer.
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Whats Next?
Right now, it seems impossible to talk about travel arrogantly.
Things like vaccination passports, rapid covid tests performed at the airport, and wearing masks on board planes could remain part of the travel experience forever.
Air travel in the United States reaches a new record in the pandemic
Travel is already regulated based on class and privilege - the availability of multiple airlines and providers to choose from, whether you need a travel visa, how currency exchange works for you, and the pandemic has only exacerbated that.
But that indescribable something that comes from a truly incredible vacation simply cannot be duplicated.
Whether it's on the other side of the planet or in your own backyard, the places that ping us are like jewels.
And everyone should be lucky enough to find one of those gems in their lives.
psychology