Not since the invention of the jet engine and the bou tique hotel has there been such a massive shift in the way we travel. From planes that double as nightclubs and orbiting space hotels to crowd management and couture trips, enRoute has mapped out the big ideas that will change how we sleep, eat and live while we’re away (which, we discovered, from now on will feel quite a bit like home). Good news: Going from here to there has never been faster, smarter or more fun. Welcome to the future of travel. (Read what our experts predict, starting on page 36.)

Next destinations

Brazil (yes, all of it), Bhutan, Shanghai, Kansas City, Melbourne, Istanbul, Cambodia, Tanzania, Austria, Eastern Europe (from the old Iron Curtain right up to Asia – yes, all of it ).

The home

Forget boutique hotel-inspired home decorating: Soon we’ll all live in hotels. CoTels – condos in hotels – are booming, from Miami (the Setai) to Buenos Aires (Faena Hotel + Universe).

And extended-stay suites, like the kitchen-equipped suites at Toronto’s Cosmopolitan and the Alex in New York, are enjoying a comeback. Why ever check out?

Niche terminals

Now that terminals have become mega “airport cities,” they’ll need different neighbourhoods. Geneva has the first no-frills terminal (think self check-in, no moving sidewalks or gangways), while Frankfurt and Munich have first-class-only terminals. You are where you sit.

Jet packs

Personal Air Vehicles (PAVs) – a.k.a. sci-fi strap-on flying machines – could be on the market as soon as 2007, with speeds up to 385 km/h and prices hovering around the high-end sports car mark. Could this be the end of traffic jams?

The new star power

The obsession with luxury (personal watch polisher, anyone?) continues with the promise of six-star and seven-star properties. (The cruise industry already made the six-star designation official.) Already, hotels in the Seychelles, Dubai, Scotland, Macau, Mauritius and Australia are informally contesting the stars war.

The evolution of fast food

At celebrity chef Ferran Adrià’s new Fast Good chain, foodies on the fly feast on Gorgonzola burgers topped with foie gras instead of the regular mass meat. Now other restaurants are dishing out quick haute cuisine. New York Burger Co. offers portobello mushroom burgers; Toronto’s SweetLulu dishes decidedly clump-free Asian noodles; and London’s Fresh Italy serves up free espresso with takeout risotto.