Retro Is Back in Style, Baby!

By Lisa Marie Burwell

In an editorial meeting to discuss this wanderlust-inspired issue a few months ago, we faced a quandary. How do we present travel to readers in a year that doesn’t allow wandering the globe due to a pandemic? In our lively conversations about this, we realized that a new form of travel is here, and we should embrace it. Humans are still exploring and searching for new frontiers, but they may be just a little closer to home and reached using our automobiles instead of airplanes.

In the blink of an eye, the world changed and somehow catapulted us back in time. Fortunately, we remain connected with the twenty-first-century technological accoutrements we never knew we needed so badly. Zoom meetings, online cocktail parties, podcasts, church livestreams, and social-distance gatherings are sadly the new norm.

Who would have imagined that drive-in theaters would make a comeback this summer, that 1950s carhop-style take-out would be all the rage, or that jigsaw puzzles, hardcover books, camping, and glamping would be back in fashion in a big way? Puzzles were sold out in almost every store in the country, and manufacturers could not keep up with production. Book sales increased this summer. Podcasts have been popular for a while, but they seemed to hit a new stride during this season of life into which we have been thrust. I liken podcasts to a newer form of talk-radio shows from the past, which, for all practical purposes, seemed to have died out with the advent of more modern media.

Domestic travel is still happening, but plans might look different for many people in the coming year. Read “Wherever you Roam, Do It in Style” and see that RVing is not like it used to be. Luxury RVs and trailers are in this summer, and this curated roundup by our team includes some pretty luxurious travel accommodations for the social-distancing phenomenon.

VIE’s CEO/editor-in-chief Lisa Marie Burwell dons a handmade dried-flower halo created by Hilda McDonald and channels a “flower child” state of mind, celebrating the spirit of freedom and artistry. | Photo by Gerald Burwell

We also have your camping dreams covered with our feature story on how to create an imaginative and fanciful vacation (or staycation) with Fancy Camps, whose expertise is endearingly referred to as “glamping.” Our managing editor, Jordan Staggs, chatted with owners Megan and Josh Langan about setting up a romantic or retro vacation in your own backyard or at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Fancy Camps’ partnership with Florida State Parks will also expand to Grayton Beach State Park soon. A new extension of their brand, the newly opened Kith + Kin Coffee, is a cozy throwback café at Topsail Hill Preserve that is reminiscent of a vintage truck-stop diner, only way cooler.

Check out our creative team’s podcast picks for your listening pleasure and our own podcast, VIE Speaks: Conversations with Heart & Soul, hosted by moi as a new platform we’ve introduced to the VIE family this summer. Last but not least, the team brings you its favorite recent reads in our VIE Book Club roundup, “Read and Be Happy!” by our new intern, Samantha Accola.

Our hearts are yearning for a time when life was safer and simpler, and maybe that is why we are seemingly traveling back in time with nostalgia as our constant guide. To all of our readers, we wish you love, health, and safety. Thank you for taking VIE on the road with you this year. Life can be simple and beautiful!

To Life!

—Lisa Marie

— V —