The New Travel Trend That Can Be Beneficial to Your Mental Health: Quietude Travel

Traveling is often filled with tours, bus rides, tropical drinks, extravagant dinners, museums, walking tours, and more. With so much to do on a trip, traveling can feel just as hectic as real life. Many of us have gotten caught up in the excitement of being in a new place and feel pressure to see everything. There is a desire to do it all because who knows when you’ll return? However, checking everything off your list sometimes doesn’t leave you feeling refreshed or connected. 

Because more people want to experience the calmer side of travel, a new trend known as quietude travel has emerged. This trend focuses on being more intentional and mindful with your travel experiences. Instead of rushing off to do one event after the next, you are focused on slowing down. You are looking for quiet spaces to relax and reconnect with yourself. Likewise, you’re also looking to immerse yourself in an experience and walk away impacted and influenced by the culture. 

Does this sound like a way you want to travel? Let’s dive into how this new travel trend can benefit you. 

Slow vs. Fast Pace Travel

While there are many ways to travel, most people tend to travel at two different speeds. You have the faster pace of travel where a vacation is a serious ordeal. Those who travel faster tend to be up at the crack of dawn to visit 13 monuments before breakfast. Then they have to eat at all the restaurants recommended by the top foodies. By the afternoon, they’ve done a walking tour, plus a wine tour, and have a pub crawl planned for the evening. 

Fast travel can look like visiting ten cities in five days. This type of travel is typically for those with high energy and is reminiscent of how I traveled in my 20s. I had the stamina back then. One of my first solo trips to Costa Rica was an adventure-style trip where we were in a new location every two or three days. We rode horses through rushing rivers, ziplined through the forest, bathed in natural hot springs, hiked up a volcano, and were always on the move. 

The advantage of this type of travel is that you get to do and see a lot in a limited time. Yet doing everything all at once isn’t a travel style for everyone.

Quiet or slow travel looks like a leisurely day at the beach, spending your time basking in the sun while you lose yourself in a good book. It could also be taking a gentle yoga class in the rainforest and listening to tropical birds sing while you move through postures. It’s a slower way of traveling that allows you to decompress. A few summers ago, I was in Cadiz, Spain, and for three blissful days of our trip, we went to a new beach every day. From morning until sunset, we parked ourselves under our beach umbrellas, let our bodies mold into the sand, and enjoyed the paradise of crystal blue waters and white sand beaches. 

Traveling fast or traveling slow both have their benefits; however, traveling slower can have a more significant impact on your mental health if you’re looking for relief from daily stress and anxiety.

How Slower Travel Can Benefit Your Mental Health

It’s not surprising to anyone that we are overstimulated. Our phones never let us disconnect. If you live in a major city, you’re constantly bombarded with the sounds of car engines, bright lights, shouting people, and low air quality. Because of this overstimulation, quiet travel can offer the opportunity to decompress because you expose yourself to fewer stimuli. People who have taken slower-style vacations have reported feeling elevated moods and overall improvement in their well-being.

Slowing down while traveling also allows you to self-reflect. With fewer distractions, you can listen to your inner voice. Slowing down also helps you to try new things and reflect on what new experience resonated with you and why.

One aspect of slower travel that I find enriching is the opportunity to connect more with the culture and people of the destination I’m in. When I traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, for a month, I took several dance classes and learned about Champeta, the local dance style. I could also revisit shops and restaurants I liked and have genuine conversations with people because I wasn’t rushing off to the next destination. 

Quietude travel can help you establish routines that prioritize your mental health. For instance, you can meditate on the beach every morning or visit a local cafe every day to read a book. Most importantly, you have more time to relax when you don’t have a full itinerary. 

How to Incorporate Quietude Travel Into Your Next Vacation or Trip

If you’re considering trying quietude travel, here’s how to start.

1. Choose a destination that is calmer and offers more opportunities to relax. A beach destination obviously comes to mind, but you can also try out mountain destinations or small towns and villages.
2. Try out a retreat. If you need more guidance, many retreats focus on wellness and self-care. 
3. Don’t overfill your itinerary. The fear of missing out can often kick in when we’re planning things to do. However, consider what you want to get out of your trip. Do you want adventure, time to relax, to learn about the culture, etc.? When you focus on getting the most out of your trip instead of doing the most, you can leave more fulfilled. 
4. Incorporate quiet activities. This can look like taking silent walks where you mindfully walk through an area without music or your phone and allow yourself to tune into the sounds, sights, and smells around you. Instead of a night out, stay in and sit on your hotel balcony admiring the stars. I did this when I was in Medellin, Colombia. My Airbnb had the cutest small little balcony that overlooked the city. I would sit on the balcony at night, enjoy the cool breeze, and admire the city lights. 

No matter your preferred travel velocity, there is one thing you can do to enhance your experiences. Be present. It’s simple and a bit cliché, but it’s important whether you have a jam-packed travel plan or a more relaxed one. Traveling can impact your life if you stay open, embrace new experiences, and stay curious.