Curious, conscientious and cost-effective: what to expect from NationalWorld's new travel section

“Well we’ve conflated the notion of travel with tourism,” he explained. “The Venn diagram of the two does overlap - and there’s nothing especially wrong with the latter - but it’s a glossed over undertaking. A touristic experience is, by design, created to take the unexpected out of travel. A location has been altered to cater to tastes of the tourist. Whereas travel allows the idea of things going awry, of being out of your bubble, your little comfort zone.”

I stand in no judgement of tourism - of hitting 'the sights', drinking cocktails poolside, of working through a tick-box of locales. I've been a tourist many times and will be again, with alacrity. And we will be covering many facets of tourism within our Travel section. But our primary passion is - our mission statement - to investigate travel, in all of its complexities.

Travelling has always, for me, been one of life’s purest pleasures. The opportunity to divest yourself of the familiar, discover the world to be bigger and more startling than you realised, experience another country’s culture and mores and in doing so becoming new to yourself. I adore it. 

Travel can also be overwhelming, tiring, sometimes scary - there’s often a healthy dollop of rough to go with the smooth when you’re adventuring. Rather than excise those experiences from our coverage, we want to shine a light on them: from the frivolous, like communication breakdowns when ordering, to the unfortunate, such as negotiating sexual harassment when travelling on your own.

Whether you're trying to catch a train with three children in tow, struggling to order an intimate medicinal cream in a foreign language, or crushed between bodies on a commuter bus in the raging heat headed into Havana city with a gargantuan hangover (ahem) - misadventures are part and parcel.

Personally, the times trips have gone figuratively off-piste are even more memorable than those occasions when it’s all smooth sailing. We’ll be writing up first person accounts of both - the glories and the ignominies of sojourning. 

Of course, wanderlust and a desire to feed one’s curiosity comes at a cost - both a literal one, and to the environment. To the first part: we’re aiming to ensure our coverage is inclusive of reasonably priced hotels and restaurants, rather than city guides that assume you can afford to live in the lap of luxury. From affordable city break recommendations to the right neighbourhoods to find accommodation in, our aim is to help you to a good time - without having to re-mortgage your home.

As to the issue of the impact travel has on the environment; it would be disingenuous to pretend we’re not going to feature locations that require air travel. But we will be featuring alternative modes of travel, too, to try and encourage conscientious, sustainable travel. There will be pieces on ‘slow travel’, great rail routes, UK-based holidays, and more. We want to encourage you to journey - but wherever possible, thoughtfully. 

And sometimes - because it's delightful - we'll be celebrating the decadent aspects of travel, of tourist bucket-lists and pool-side cocktails. Buon viaggio!