Yeoh Siew Hoon feels like a kid in a candy store after a marathon trip across the US and Europe.

I’VE always fancied myself to be a bit of an eagle (free, fast and flying high) or an owl (wise and nocturnal) – by the way, my new favourite bookstore is now The Learned Owl in Hudson, Ohio, where the proprietor and I bonded over the fact that she spent five years in Seoul – but I’ve now realised I am more GOAT-like than bird-like.

This is because I received a press release from Expedia this week which said that more travellers, having been deprived for so long, are planning to go big on their next trip with a new “no regrets” style of travel – which the company has dubbed the GOAT (Greatest of All Trips) mindset.

The Learned Owl – if you are ever in Hudson, Ohio, do check out this bookstore. It’s full of delightful surprises.

That sentiment appears to be unusually but not surprisingly strong in Singapore where 5.5 million people live roughly in an area the size of Rhode Island – apparently, close to three quarters of us (73%) are planning to go GOAT or stay home.

I suppose my recent round-the-world trip – New York, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Cleveland, Paris and Marseille/Provence in 27 days – would fit in that bucket.

It was certainly spend big – I flew premium class all the way, booked limousine transfers where I could and stayed in pretty posh places everywhere. I reckoned I might as well splurge since I had been saving up for it like a good girl for 20 months. Now it’s back to chicken rice and noodles for a while.

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