How word searches work
The travel list follows a trip in order: a passport, a suitcase, the airport, boarding, customs, a hostel, a souvenir on the way home. It is a broad theme, which keeps the letter patterns varied, and it makes a good grid for anyone daydreaming about the next one.
ITINERARY and ADVENTURE are the long anchors, and ITINERARY's repeated I and R give it an unusual rhythm that stands out. JOURNEY and VOYAGE carry a J and a V. MAP is three letters and will be the last thing found.
The grid regenerates every time you load the page, so the same theme never gives you the same arrangement twice. Words run in all eight directions including backwards and diagonally, and your fastest completion time for each grid size is saved in your browser.
The travel word list
| Word | Letters | Notable letters |
|---|---|---|
| PASSPORT | 8 | common letters only |
| SUITCASE | 8 | common letters only |
| AIRPORT | 7 | common letters only |
| JOURNEY | 7 | J, Y |
| LUGGAGE | 7 | common letters only |
| HOSTEL | 6 | common letters only |
| VOYAGE | 6 | V, Y |
| TICKET | 6 | K |
| CUSTOMS | 7 | common letters only |
| ITINERARY | 9 | Y |
| SOUVENIR | 8 | V |
| BOARDING | 8 | common letters only |
| MAP | 3 | common letters only |
| ADVENTURE | 9 | V |
How to find words faster
- Find the longest travel words first. ITINERARY is the longest entry at 9 letters, and long words have far fewer possible placements than short ones. Clearing them early removes a disproportionate share of the grid.
- Target the uncommon letters in this list. The rare letters present here are J, K, V, Y. Each one appears only a handful of times in the random filler, so finding the letter usually hands you the word.
- Leave MAP until last. At 3 letters it is the shortest entry, which means it has the most possible positions on the grid and hides best. Short words are always the least efficient thing to hunt first.
- Read every candidate in both directions. Roughly half the placements in any grid are reversed. If an area looks empty, try reading it backwards before moving on.
Frequently asked questions
How many travel words are hidden?
Fourteen, following the shape of a trip from packing to coming home. On the ten by ten grid the longest word may be dropped, and the list shows only what was placed.
Which travel word is hardest?
MAP. Three letters, all common. A three-letter word has more possible positions on the board than anything else, and it will be the last one found on almost every attempt.
Are the words British or American?
The list avoids words that differ between the two — there is no holiday or vacation, for instance — so it reads the same either side of the Atlantic.