Hipsters, food trucks: Here are 10 ways to travel like it’s 2010

Micro-hotels

Cramped rooms in hotels with minimal facilities were once the recourse of budget travellers, and some emergent 2010s micro-hotel chains catered to that crowd. But tech-savvy, lifestyle-conscious urban travellers were apparently prepared to pay for more style in still-small surrounds, which saw the rise of chains such as Arlo, CitizenM and Moxy. The shrunken hotel originated in 1970s Japan, and Japan remains the master of no-frills micro-hotels: stay in a capsule hotel in Tokyo for the ultimate squeezed-in experience. See gotokyo.org

Paddleboarding

Pacific islanders have ridden paddleboards for centuries, and stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) emerged in 1960s Hawaii, but really took off in the 2010s. The latte-sipping set were soon afloat on waterfronts everywhere. Paddleboarding fever has diminished somewhat while sub-trends (such as yoga-boarding) have taken over. Maui in Hawaii is a great SUP destination: at Makena Beach, you can paddle with turtles and humpback whales. Experts can hit the surf at Honolua Bay for SUP the more traditional way. See gohawaii.com

Flower crowns

While in Hawaii you can also catch up on two 2010s fashion trends: flower crowns and pineapple prints. The former adorned brides, music-festival attendees and Instagram poseurs; once-daggy pineapples and other fruit made regular appearances on catwalks. But just to prove nothing is new, Pacific Islanders have been wearing flower crowns since forever, and have long conned tourists into donning eye-catching fruit-printed shirts. Head to the Cook Islands and you’ll find the retro look still going strong. See cookislands.travel

Aperol spritz

Sadly, the world isn’t yet over its obsession with this virulent-orange aperitif made from Aperol bitters, prosecco and soda water. Although the bubbly Italian cocktail has been around since the 1950s and was regularly consumed in Italy, it hit the international scene in the 2010s after major Aperol advertising campaigns. Its colour seemed made for the sunset-matching, newly emerging Instagram age. Where else to consume your Aperol spritz than in Venice where it was reputedly invented? See visitvenezia.eu

Zombies

The zombie craze of the 2010s erupted on movie and TV screens and soon made its way into video games, until it seemed the undead were lurching everywhere. You can still attend zombie conventions, zombie survival camps and zombie escape rooms in Australian, European and especially American cities, but you can’t beat Stockholm Zombie Walk in mid-August when participants (including children and dogs) emerge in walking-dead style to show off their creepy costumes as they lurch around the streets. See visitstockholm.com

Hipsters

Hipsters would never call themselves hipsters, and the rest of us used the term in derisory fashion for well-off white people who donned vintage clothes, beanies, big beards and extravagant moustaches in an attempt to seem counter-cultural. The hipster fad has faded except in some cafes and barber shops, but you can get a strong dose of hipster-dom in Brighton, Berlin and Bordeaux. North America’s Pacific Northwest has multiple hipster enclaves, including Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna in British Columbia. See destinationbc.ca

Veganism

Vegan foods became more accepted and eventually mainstream in the 2010s, until at decade’s end The Economist could even declare the Year of the Vegan. Suddenly everyone was eating burgers and steaks made from mushroom, cauliflower, chickpea or soy substitutes – as well as smashed avocado on toast, another yet-to-fizzle 2010s craze. The UK, Netherlands, Germany and America’s west-coast states are vegan-friendly; so are Thai cities, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Taiwan. Ethiopia might take the crown, however, for its widespread vegan dishes. See visitethiopia.travel