Winging It Travel Podcast · Tuesday, July 14, 2026
James Hammond revisits his earlier advice on travel flexibility, acknowledging its general merit for spontaneous travel. However, he cautions that in 2026, popular activities like the Inca Trail or Patagonia hiking can book up months in advance, necessitating pre-booking. He suggests flexibility is still valuable for medium to long-term travel but requires strategic planning for certain sought-after experiences.
“On the whole, yes, I agree. I think flexibility gives you a chance to be spontaneous, change your plans, stay somewhere longer, leave somewhere earlier, all those sort of things are crucial when you travel, especially medium to long term.”
“But there is a caveat here, I would say, in 2026. As you start to branch out into other areas of the world and other activities, something like booking an Inca trail, it could be booked up quite quickly. For example, Patagonia hiking, it could be booked up quite quickly.”