You can google just about anything—note the lower case ‘g’—but only Google is keeping track of what people are looking for, and releases annual lists of the top searches in dozens of categories.
For last year, the U.S. list of top travel questions seems very basic and location focused, whereas last year’s top questions had more of a “How-To” flavor. Here’s the 2015 list:
- What to pack for Cancun?
- Where is Disneyland?
- What airport is ORD
- When is whale watching season in San Diego?
- What is a boutique hotel?
- What to do in St. Louis?
- What to do in Missoula, MT?
- What to do in Louisiana?
- What to do in Albuquerque?
- Where is Yellowstone National Park?
And 2014’s top 5:
- How to travel the world
- How to travel on a budget
- How to start a travel blog
- Jobs where you can travel
- How to travel alone
And the top five searches overall, world-wide:
- Lamar Odom
- Charlie Hebdo
- Agar.io
- Jurassic World
- Paris
…Even on a list as eccentric as this…Paris makes it into the top 5 twice…
Photo: snow-tinged mountains in Missoula, Montana by Djembayz / Wikimedia
I’m a little surprised that Missoula made the cut. Nice small city to visit, but far from a main travel destination.
These things are always puzzling…hard to see why Lamar Odom would be the all-world, all-year top choice, and to have ISIS, Putin, Obama not even listed there.
As for Missoula…maybe people searched for that, while in larger cities the questions were spread over a wider assortment of topics than just “what to do in…?”
Or, maybe…Missoula is the new Paris…I’m always the last to know…
No, Pheymont, Missoula is not the next Paris. But it is fun to visit and you’re likely to see both elk and moose while there.
We did a Missoula write up on TravelGumbo which you can find at this link: https://www.travelgumbo.com/blo…na-home-of-grizzlies