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Since Scott Dunn started 30 years ago, the world of travel has seen many changes. Here’s what was – and is – in vogue
Share the post "The Way We Were"
All about being seen with the right people in the right places
Leftover hippies hanging with gap year kids in Bali, India, Phuket
Tuscany and the Dordogne the mighty sirens for British villa holidaymakers
Florida exotic, but Miami still for bronzed oldies
New destinations emerging apace: Ibiza, Sydney, Tokyo
Barcelona six years from Olympic re-invention; Prague still the wrong side of the Iron Curtain
Getting away from everywhere – and everyone else – is key. Hello luxury wilderness…
India and Bali now full of smart middle-aged people who have read Eat, Pray, Love
The “new Tuscany” is Croatia
Miami the epitome of arty cool, and Dubai now a winter sun staple
Also Scandinavia. Yes, people now holiday in Sweden. A lot
Weekenders head for hipster hang-outs – Berlin, Copenhagen, Istanbul and more
Overstuffed sofas, floral schemes, clashing borders. A riotPaint effects abound including the time-dishonoured smudge known as “scumbling”Bathroom has turquoise suite. Bidet = you’ve made itOil daubs of local landscapes on wall – “crying boy” if very unluckySki chalets look like cuckoo clocks. Stones on roof de rigueur
Florals and chintz chucked, apart from a few stubborn outpostsRoom “raw”: bare wood, bare girders, bare bricks – possibly bare people Bathrooms now huge with infinity curves, rainforest showerhead and multiple unguentsHotels commissioning edgy art, some of it actually goodSmartest ski chalets now come on like minimal white-box art galleries
Beaujolais nouveau, chardonnay and piña coladas all the wayLager volcanically gassy and industrial in tasteChalet lasagne still a delicacyNew obsessives called “foodies” laud sun-dried tomatoes and a Japanese oddity called “sushi“Nouvelle cuisine” est arrivée. Never before was so much paid for so littleFull-fat chocolate mousse
“Craft” ale, albariño, and quinoa vodka served by mustachioed hipster barmenYou’re no one if you can’t knock up a quick sourdoughIt’s all about provenance – diners know how their tuna is caught and what their organic chicken was calledAvocado chocolate mousse
Aerobics boom ushers in atrocities: legwarmers, headbands, leotards and moreHolidays mean dressing up – and mountains of matchy designer luggageShoulders get huge to create coathanger profileOn ski slopes, Sloane Rangers wear chunky jumpers with sheep motifs, Husky gilets, multi-coloured anoraks and – by night – racy leather trousersReviled word “Spandex” eases into vocabulary
Hi-tech clothes give you bad news about your heart-rateDress-down chic – Lulu Lemon yoga pants, Heidi Klein swimwear and Stella McCartney silk PJ top at dinnerSkiwear now with GPS. Ice-resistant North Face jackets useful for going to barFabrics fit for James Bond – Neoprene, HeatTech, textiles with mythical wicking properties
Photographs, taken in rolls of 24 or 36. Each snap matters...Mighty paperwork required to set off in the tinny comfort of walnut-trim Vauxhall Corsa“Wish you were here” postcards and one phone call homeSpas hidden in hotel basements – massages hurt, while anyone with a hot stone will be arrestedHotel key fob weighs a kiloMadonna, Simply Red and Paul Simon on the Walkman
Constant updates on holiday status – look everyone, here’s Johnny learning to waterski! Plus Instagrammed hotel pud, selfies galore and GoPro vids Paperwork easier, hire cheaper, smart cars less spacious but more reliable Massages in 57 varieties, and mindlessness replaced by mindfulness and beach yoga Relief as weighty room key becomes super-light swipe card Spotify Premium straight to your iPhone
Images: Slim Aarons/Getty Images, Getty Images, Corbis, Alamy
Feature · Issue 5 - 2016