He’s younger…he’s smart…and he comes everywhere with me.
Sorry, it’s not as juicy a story as you may have been expecting.
When I launched Bleisure Living back in 2017, I was way ahead of the curve. Combining work and personal travel was just becoming a thing back then.
I wrote my first post from a hotel room in Arizona. Now I live there.
I rebranded this site in 2023 and brought Matt Caldwell on board as the Editor-in-Chief for my content journey. He knows more about travel than I may learn in my 100-year lifetime.
I’m writing this from Sky Harbor Airport, awaiting my first flight since late 2025. That’s a rarity for me, but I moved last year and have limited my travel to road trips as I paid off my new bed, television, and gym membership. I took a few road trips during that time.
You didn’t think I’d actually stay in one place, did you?
What a difference a decade makes!
Well, it’s actually only nine years but I rounded up because it made for a better headline.
Here’s what’s changed since the birth of this site:
- Bleisure went from buzzword to big business. In 2017, “bleisure” was barely a word. By 2023, it was a $594 billion global market and is projected to hit $3.5 trillion by 2033.¹
- AI became your travel agent. In 2017, you Googled. Now, 42% of travelers use AI for itinerary planning, and 78% say it actually improves the experience.²
- Search engines are losing to AI. Google dropped from 51% to 36% as the go-to trip research tool between 2024 and 2025, while generative AI platforms surged from 6% to 15%.³
- Remote work made bleisure mainstream. In 2026, remote-friendly bleisure trips are expected to rise nearly 20%.¹
- Travelers want new, not familiar. Since 2022, there’s been a steady rise in people wanting to explore somewhere they’ve never been. The same old just isn’t cutting it.⁴
- Travel spending is massive… and resilient. Total U.S. travel spending is forecast to hit $1.37 trillion in 2026, with domestic leisure the only category that’s surpassed pre-pandemic levels.⁵
Thank you, Claude, for pulling these (verified) stats together.
Why now? What’s next?
My 5-week journey back to the East Coast is a great catalyst for this reboot. And yes, I planned and budgeted this trip with AI. In fact, my AI agents (Beulah) created an Excel spreadsheet, so I could track my spending.
Although we’ll talk about useful technology here, our focus will remain on the HUMAN side of Bleisure Living…where to go, how to prep, what to pack, and how to convince your boss/clients/friends that you’re actually working from that beach.
Follow us on our adventures!
(And, alas, I’ll be sleeping alone on this trip…I have my limits when it comes to humans versus bots!)
xo
nancy & matt & our entourage of humans & machines
P.S. What’s with the owl? You’ll find out if you subscribe to my Substack memoir.
Sources: ¹ Hotel Tech Report / travel-code.com | ² Simon-Kucher & Partners / delight.ai | ³ Phocuswright | ⁴ GWI | ⁵ U.S. Travel Association