My wife is one of the most polite people you could ever meet. Whether this is due to her upbringing, an aspect of her demeanor, or just her go-to behavior, she is polite to a fault. This materializes itself in often unexpected places: She lets the neighborhood kids have first go at the biggest, ripest blackberries that grow on our fence; she feels compelled to listen to the full pitch when eating the food samples at our local price club; she turns shades of blush if anyone in our party offers criticism of a winery's offerings in front of the person pouring. After all, if you don't have something nice to say ...

Once upon a time, Generation X was considered a cohort of apathetic, grungy loners blasting angry music, Today, they're working professionals and mature adults raising families. Sandwiched between the baby boomers and millennials, Gen X is sometimes considered the "Lost Generation," but they're about 68 million strong and account for 25 percent of the population—and 31 percent of total income, according to OpenForum. Gen X is at a point where they have money to spend on travel. Here are a few trends shaping their plans.

"The only thing we ask is you love our city as much as we do," said Aaron Foley, appointed Neighborhood Storyteller for the city of Detroit and author of the book How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass.

For baby boomers, travel is, well, booming. According to the AARP 2017 Travel Trends Report, 99 percent of boomers plan to take at least one leisure trip this year, with an average of five or more trips. But why do they want to travel, and where do they want to go? The report uncovered several trends.

"Wouldn't this look better as a lake?"

I was staring out into Yosemite Valley. Half Dome and El Capitan loomed in the distance—two natural landmarks accomplishing what I thought impossible: Make the giant sequoias gathered below look small.

"What?" I turned to the man standing next to me.

"A joke," he said. "Someone once thought this valley would make a great lake."