In the not-so-distant past, travel agent Nicole Campoy Jackson's clients requested trips to the buzziest vacation spots. But these days, they crave solitude. "Late last year, I started seeing a shift away from wanting to experience the heavily Instagrammed locations to asking to be around as few other people as possible," says Campoy Jackson, who specializes in boutique travel for travel agency Fora.
Not everyone wants to disconnect — crowds will undoubtedly descend on Universal’s Epic Universe this May, posting on social media all along the way. But a growing segment of vacationers is embracing what the travel industry has coined as "quietcations," off-the-grid trips that typically involve relinquishing your phone (and other devices with screens) for at least part of your stay. “There’s a desire to unplug in a meaningful and transformative way,” says Sarah Firshein, editorial director of TripAdvisor. “I have two boys and two dogs so there’s constant chaos in my house. The idea of going somewhere to embrace the quietude of my thoughts is appealing."
Vacation spots are delivering quiet with off-the-grid experiences like silent workshops at Kaiya Beach Resort in Inlet Beach, Florida, moonlight meditations at Milaidhoo Maldives and dedicated silence rooms at Forestis Dolomites, a wellness property in northern Italy. Moratorium Retreats now offers a five-day Solo Signature Package, where the traveler is the only guest in town, while the InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort has a "Hermit Days" package that limits your interaction with staff and still leaves you well pampered.
Even among some enthusiasts of camping — perhaps the original quietcation — there's a yearning to return to more off-the-grid times, when campgrounds didn't have Wi-Fi (some 80% of campgrounds have Wifi now, according to the Outdoor Hospitality Industry) or bells and whistles that make them more resort-like and loud. "There seems to be a return to a back-to-basics camping approach," says Jeremy Puglisi, co-author (with his wife, Stephanie) of Where Should We Camp Next? and founder of the RV Atlas podcast. "I personally want to pull my RV into a campground and have no phone signal."
The science behind silence
Digital detox (including those that take place on vacation) have been the subject of several research articles. One recent review of the scientific literature, involving more than 3,600 men and women, determined that many participants in the detox "found the experience manageable and even enjoyable." The researchers, based in India, also note the detox "led to positive changes in [digital] addiction and health-related outcomes" and, best of all, vacationers didn't return to their old phone habits after the trip.
"Quieter vacations can give us the kind of headspace and bandwidth to reflect more broadly and the time to map out what it is that we need," says clinical psychologist Jennifer Taitz, PsyD, author of Stress Resets: How to Soothe Your Mind and Body in Minutes. Specifically, studies have shown that cutting back on screen time can lower levels of cortisol (the primary stress hormone), leading to feeling more calm.
While there's little doubt that "getting away from it all" would be great for your mind and body, do you really have to buy into a week-long retreat where they put your phone in a lock box? "Even taking a 24-hour break from the internet on your own is remarkably refreshing," says Courtney Carver, author of Gentle: Rest More, Stress Less and Live the Life You Actually Want.
Turn any vacation into a quietcation
While international digital detox retreats and high-end wellness hotels — the bread and butter travel spots for quietcations — aren't an option for most tourists, experts say that you can infuse principles from the trend into any vacation, including those with kids, by trying out some of these strategies.
Karen is a seasoned journalist who specializes in travel, book, lifestyle and food coverage. Cicero has visited almost every state with her family (look out Wyoming, she’s coming for you next!). She has spoken at several travel industry conferences, including PRSA and the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Alliance and was previously the senior editor at Parents. A mom who goes overboard for all the holidays, Cicero lives in the Christmas city itself: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
