There are different schools of thought on traveling and when it makes sense to see the world (if ever).

For a number of folks, traveling is something they’ll do when they retire. It’s a reward they can look forward to down the road after saving enough money to travel comfortably.

For others, traveling is something you do when you’re young. Sure, you might be broke, but sleeping in hostels and living out of a backpack is part of the fun, and God knows you can’t see Rome on foot when you’re seventy-five.

Traveling for vacation often derives from different motivations as well.

I know people who spend ten days in Hawaii every year—in the exact same town, on the exact same beach, in the exact same guesthouse that they’re able to reserve a year in advance, without fail. For those folks, traveling for vacation means comfort, familiarity, predictability, and relaxation.

I also know people who will never travel to the same destination twice. For them, the world is too big and life is too short. They want to see and experience as much as they can while they’re willing and able.

Of course, it’s possible to straddle both categories. For years, my wife and I had a vacation house in Las Vegas we would visit multiple times a year, in between jaunts to Paris, New York, and other destinations. Sometimes we simply wanted a stress-free environment and other times we wanted all-out adventure.

That all changed during COVID, however. With aviation off the table, we’re settling for simple day trips or a hike in the hills, if we even leave the house over the weekend (let alone the couch). The problem when we do go out is that everyone is limited to the same outside activities. You can only visit Descanso Gardens or the Huntington Library with an advance appointment, and a simple walk down a local trail is likely to be super crowded on a Sunday morning.

I’ve found that consumer spending strategies when it comes to wine and spirits are a lot like travel and vacation philosophies. There are adventurous drinkers who never drink the same bottle twice and want to experience as much as possible, and there are comfort drinkers who only drink the same three or four things.

But after a year under quarantine, it seems like everyone has decided on the exact same domestic destination for their next bottle: Kentucky. The young and the old, the well-to-do and the scrappy, the adventurous and the conservative, the guys who buy ten bottles a week and the guys who buy ten bottles a year, they’ve all decided that right now is the right time to experience the same handful of Bourbons. Hence, the competition is downright fierce.

What’s interesting is to me is how one’s expectations for their shopping needs can vary depending on their travel mindset.

For example, if you’re someone who travels frequently, you’re probably used to adversity and the potential for mishaps. You realize that dinner reservations at the world’s most popular restaurants might be unattainable, or that the hotel you were planning to stay at might be booked for a conference that week. The more you put yourself out into the world, the more you realize that life is full of curveballs—even during vacation.

But if you’re someone new to traveling, or someone who’s used to staying at the same place every year without issue, then a little adversity can be very frustrating. Vacation shouldn’t be a struggle, right?. You’re paying for this coveted free time to be enjoyable, not arduous, and the idea of traveling somewhere else is out of the question. You’ve been looking forward to this specific experience for the entire year!

For the people who’ve been successful financially, it’s difficult to settle for less now that they’ve got the cash to spend. At this point in their lives, they’re only willing to travel if they can have one of the suites at the Four Seasons.

But now all of a sudden the younger folks, those who normally look for budget accommodations, are also willing to splurge on the same Four Seasons suites because this is their first big vacation in a year. They’re thinking to themselves: if I’m going to spend big on something, I want it to be Bourbon.

But there are only so many suites at the Four Seasons in Kentucky.

And since no one wants to stay in the hostel or go on a different adventure, everybody’s gunning for the same handful of rooms.

Do you know what typically happens to hotel rates in Las Vegas during the annual Consumer Electronics Show? They skyrocket.

Why? Because there’s a fuck ton of people in town and only so many spaces. In 2020, a $99 room at the Wynn cost $1032 per night during the CES. A rundown room at the Sahara cost $752 a night.

There are many, many destinations in this world to visit. And there are many, many bottles out there to drink. But if you’re hellbent on a singular experience, one that happens to be the exact same singular experience that everyone else in the world happens to want at the exact same moment in time, then you need to be prepared for what follows.

-David Driscoll