The “extreme day trip” is a rising trend in Europe and the United States: visit a destination for just one day and do as much as you can before heading home. Is the whirlwind itinerary worth it? And who are these trips for?
Over the past few years, one travel trend has been steadily rising in the United States and Europe: the extreme day trip. It’s what the name suggests—a day trip on steroids, where travelers choose a destination and try to do as much as they can within a single day. For instance, someone might take a flight to Paris in the morning and be back home shortly before bedtime that same day, their camera roll filled with photos from tours around the Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, and Palace of Versailles.
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How The Extreme Day Trip Is Taking The World By Storm
If it all sounds a little crazy, that’s because it is; but this is exactly what draws many people to the idea of “seizing the day” in the most intense way possible. Popular travel vloggers have already tried and embraced these excursions wholeheartedly.
TikTok content creators Ryan and Jade’s chronicling of an extreme day trip to Reykjavik, Iceland has garnered more than 8,000 likes on the platform, while user Monica Stott has fully embraced the trend, some of her most popular videos being day trips to places like Dublin, Ireland; Bergamo, Italy; and Alicante, Spain.
Content creator Maddie Smith is also credited with having made the trend viral through her “Out n Back” reels, including one featuring a trip from Washington, DC to the sunny beaches of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which has more than 60,000 likes.
Some people take it a step further, traveling to far-flung destinations in entirely different continents. Take TikToker Kevin Droniak, who took an extreme day trip from New York City to Cairo, Egypt—managing to explore its great pyramids, try some local cuisine, and even do some light shopping before returning home (the video, as you’d expect, has more than 200,000 likes).
In a March 2025 piece, Mandy Applegate of the Seattle Times penned extreme day trips as “Europe’s hottest travel trend.” There’s even an entire Facebook group dedicated to the practice, with over 300,000 members posting pictures, videos, and write-ups about their own one-day adventures.
Planning An Extreme Day Trip: Less Is More, Or The More The Merrier?
Journalist Natalie Compton organized an extreme day trip of her own for The Washington Post, arranging a 6 AM flight from Washington to Miami, then trying to fit in as much travel as she could until her return flight at 830 PM. Compton got to indulge in the activities she normally enjoys during her travels, but it came at a cost: realizing that she’d bitten off more than she could chew, given her timeframe.
“Doing too much is the enemy of a good day trip,” she concludes. Compton also mentions the negative environmental impact of frequent flying, and how one should probably consider their carbon footprint in the grand scheme of things. Other travelers share a different perspective, including Stott, who believes an extreme day trip is a worthwhile endeavor that involves “squeezing in as much as you possibly can,” as she tells the BBC. Which holds true? That would depend on the type of traveler you are.
If you don’t mind skipping out on a few things, an extreme day trip with a bare essentials itinerary might leave you feeling more at ease, especially when you’re just starting out. Conversely, if you want to make the most of your travel expenses, then you might feel the need to do everything and anything. While a trip to Paris, New York, or Ireland is a bit of a stretch for people living on the opposite side of the hemisphere (as well as those with weaker passports), you can still plan an extreme day trip to accessible, must-visit places that won’t take an entire day’s worth of travel time.
Philippine passport holders can enjoy a visa-free cultural and gastronomic adventure anywhere in Thailand (30 days), Taiwan (14 days), and Vietnam (21 days). Those seeking a beach getaway can plan a trip to Bali, Indonesia (30 days) and the Maldives (30 days, visa on arrival or e-visa)—or support local tourism with a trip to Palawan or Davao. While Filipinos need a visa for entry to South Korea, its territory of Jeju Island allows up to 30 days of visa-free travel, provided you’re taking a direct flight from overseas (ex. Manila to Jeju, or Singapore-Jeju) and won’t be stopping over any other parts of Korea.
Why Take An Extreme Day Trip?
So why do it? Why go all out when you can spread a trip across multiple days like most people? Well, the more obvious answer here is that fitting in as much as you can within a day—getting to immerse yourself in an entirely different locale or culture in such a short period—is an enticing challenge. Many people enjoy finding ways to, for lack of a better word, “cheat” time.
Sure, you can take a trip to Taipei for four days, but I imagine there’s a certain victorious rush of adrenaline that comes with saying you saw a lot of the city’s sights and sounds in roughly the same amount of time it might take a person to clock in and out of their 9 to 5 job. Not to mention, quite a few airlines make it a point to offer great deals on round-trips, which is partly why people have decided to take advantage of the unprecedented mobility.
The allure of the extreme day trip can be likened to that famous saying by English poet Alfred Tennyson: “’Tis Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” In today’s world, time is really a luxury—no matter how much of it you have, it’s always precious. For those who possess the resources and desire to go on a sweeping whirlwind trip (maybe even find their Jesse or Celine ala 1995’s Before Sunrise), ‘tis better to have taken that extreme day trip and gone home before the day ends, than to never have experienced an enriching corner of our immense world at a particular moment in your life.
That said, the trend isn’t for everyone. I can’t imagine pulling it off, as someone who prefers taking it slow and smelling the roses. Travelers come in all shapes and sizes, and when something starts becoming antithetical to your idea of relaxation and fun (and your values, if you prize sustainability), then it’s time to reflect and re-strategize. But if the idea of extreme carpe diem is one you find appealing, taking the plunge may be well worth your while.
