OK, maybe it's dark and cold, and maybe the world is mired in the worst phase of the COVID pandemic. But people want to travel — and soon. At least that's the somewhat surprising conclusion of a new survey.

The Expedia Group's 2022 Outlook paints a saccharine picture of travel this year that challenges the conventional wisdom that travel is dead this year. 

It surveyed 5,500 adults across eight countries and found that more than half of people across the globe (54 percent) will spend more on travel this year than they did pre-pandemic. In the United States, that's an average trip cost of $2,253.

But that wasn’t the biggest surprise.