Ever notice that when you first arrive at a hostel/hotel/campground in Berlin or Paris or Panama City, the first handful of people you meet are Canadian? How does that always happen!? There aren’t that many of us. Yet there we are, everywhere.

Maybe it’s a product of our high quality of living, or maybe it’s because we try our best to skip as much winter as we can, but we Canadians are always travelling.

It got us thinking: why the heck do we travel the way we do? With March Break and spring adventures upon us, we turned to the experts at Kayak to shed some light on surprising Canadian travel habits.

Here’s what we found.

Canadians use a lot of their employers’ time to research personal travel.

Before we left our desk jobs, you can bet we did our fair share of daydreaming possible destinations. And we’re not alone in that habit. Thirty-nine per cent of Canadians use work time to book personal travel, whereas Australians and French usually wait until later, after 9 pm or so, to do it.

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Social media may be to blame for our increased desire to explore.

Your Facebook newsfeed is flooded with photos of friends sipping cocktails on white sandy beaches, or driving through winding roads in some European countryside. Sometimes, it’s hard to just sit there and watch without longing to get away, too. Fomo is real. “The influence of social media on travel has definitely had an impact on where our wanderlust takes us,” says David Solomito, VP of North American marketing at Kayak. “The travel and experiences of others inspire us to explore new destinations around the world.”

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And we want fulfilling travel experiences, even if it means a long-haul flight.

For 2017, Canadians are looking beyond quick flights to Mexico or Cuba. Exotic locales like Casablanca, Auckland and Manila are landing on our Bucket List instead. “Canadians are looking for travel experiences both rich in culture and history in some of the world’s most interesting cities,” says Solomito. We’re either highly cultured, or just want to outdo our friends’ latest getaway.

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We’re willing to tell a white lie to sneak in some extra travel time.

Twenty-five per cent of us, in fact, are willing to lie to our bosses and skip work to squeeze in some extra vacation time. Ha! Just don’t go adding any photos to Instagram or check-in on Facebook while you’re supposed to be behind your desk.  

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We don’t bother to book in advance.

It’s a mix of hoping that if we hold out long enough we’ll score some epic deal, mixed with commitment issues. “Canada proved to be a procrastination nation and a few weeks behind [making plans like] travelers in the US, France, Denmark and the UK,” says Solomito.

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But if we did, our wallets would thank us.

Rarely does waiting longer result in savings. According to the experts, how far in advance you book travel really depends on the destination. Two to three months if you’re dreaming of adventures in Europe, Asia or Africa and Latin America. And if you’re staying within North America, lock in everything at least two to four weeks before you go. Book it already!

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