Upgrade INNOVATION
TRAVEL COMPANIES FOR THE NEXT GENERATIO
With millennials playing a greater role in the travel market, young entrepreneurs are launching brands meant to appeal to their-peers' desire for local flavor and nontraditional experiences but that doesn't mean their products won't appeal to travelers of all ages. By John Scarpinato
The company's new earbuds promise real time Language translation, which could be a game changer for travelers. Jessica Plautz puts them to the test.
Collective Retreats
\?v'ho It's For: Outdoor Enthusiasts
After a decade working for Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Peter Mack started to notice a standardization of hotel rooms across the industry. So he decided to take matters into his own hands: Collective Retreats, which debuted early last year, provides luxe, seasonal tented camps in places throughout the United States that don't have traditional hotels. Each site is designed to capture a sense of place, with experiences often tied to the landscape. Go fly-fishing outside Yellowstone National Park, ride horses through the Rocky Mountains, or spend the day at the Hudson Valley's Liberty Farms preparing feed for the resident animals or picking produce for your evening meal. This year, the company is expanding to California's Sonoma County and Texas Hill Country while introducing other forms of portable accommodation beyond tents. collectiveretreats. com; tents from $400.
Travel Noire Who It's For: Young Black Travelers
In 2013, Zim Ugochukwu couldn't find images of travelers who looked like her; a Google Images search for "black travelers" returned multiple pages of black suitcases. To address the lack of representation, sh·e started
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travelandleisure.com
Travel Noire, a website dedicated to providing black travelers with a place to connect while also sharing travel tips and fare alerts. Last year, the company began organizing trips, called TN Experiences, for its online community. The tours explore places like Marrakesh, Bali, and Havana. Each excursion stems from what the company calls "essence traveling" curated experiences that tap into the soul of a location. Participants spend time with locals, cook authentic meals, and learn from area artisans. Additionally, a professiona L photographer comes on every journey, so attendees receive dozens of striking images each morning to share with friends and family. tnexperiences.com; trips from $1,799.
Nomad Hill
Who It's For: Transformational Travelers
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has been to more than 95 countries in the
past 12 off-seasons and constantly encourages his teammates and friends to trade in their usual destinations, like Las Vegas, for immersive adventures around the world. T hat passion led him to help create Nomad Hill, which focuses on devising life changing trips. Simply fill out an online interest form, and someone from the company will be in contact to set up an in-depth interview. During that conversation, a team member will ask questions to better understand where you are in life and what you want to get out of your experience. From there, you will collaborate on an itinerary filled with one-of a-kind moments that would be difficult to arrange on your own think sandboarding in Egypt's Siwa Oasis before dining with a Siwa family in their home. nomodhill.com; trips from $750 per person per doy.
Instant translation may sound like a futuristic fantasy, but technology is already making Jt a reality. The most advanced contender; the new Google Pixel Buds (store.gaogle.com; $159), a Bluetooth headphone set designed to offer--'-among other things-advanced inear translation of a foreign speaker. The two earpieces, connected by a thin cord, can be paired with the Google Pixel srnartphone to communicate easily with people around the world, whether they speak French, Hindi, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, or any of the other 40 supported Languages. While one person wears the earbuds, the other speaks into the srnartphone. A translation is immediately streamed to the listener. Although the technology is far from perfect�the translation is not always spot-on, and noisy environments wilt challenge the microphone-the language gap has never felt easier to bridge. From taking a taxi to ordering a meal, the potential uses while traveling are endless.