According to Conde Nast Traveller, silent vacations are all the rage in 2024, as people disconnect, unwind, and silence themselves and their surroundings to connect with their inner thoughts.
Silent travel is also known as silent vacation or silent tourism. Our daily lives are filled with noise and distractions, so more travellers are opting for vacations where they can truly disengage and disconnect from it all — including their own need to vocalize thoughts and opinions.
To do so, many travellers are booking silent wellness retreats, adding silent nature walks or forest walks into vacation itineraries, or even booking all-inclusive getaways where you can talk, but you need to check your devices at the door.
How long and how intense these retreats are varies. Silent walks are a good starting point and are popular with the TikTok crowd, while those contemplating their life choices or needing a spiritual escape may look at an extended stay somewhere.
Silent travel often has an environmental component, where you focus on your surroundings to assess and appreciate your connection to the earth.
Silent travel has ancient roots in the Buddhist practice of Vipassana, which translates to “seeing things as they really are.”
Condé Nast points out that one of the risks of these spiritual practices becoming trendy is that they can veer into cultural appropriation territory if they’re trivialized or if certain practices are cherry-picked for a gimmicky vacay. In other words, doing your research before you go is essential.
These days, there are silent yoga retreats, silent nature adventures, silent meditation retreats, and a gamut of other options.
Noise pollution can cause many problems, including stress and stress-related illness, high blood pressure, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lower productivity. And while we may think of noise pollution as being outside the home, it occurs within it as well. Think of all the screens you and your family have access to. Add in appliances, fans, external noises making their way inside, pets, and a plethora of other things, and our homes can get noisy.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of positive benefits from silence and silent travel. Various research has shown that silence can help lower blood pressure, improve concentration and focus, calm racing thoughts, stimulate brain growth, reduce cortisol, boost creativity, help improve insomnia, and encourage overall mindfulness.
Although a vacation or retreat sounds great, not everyone is in the financial position to take advantage of such getaways. The good news is you can try to get in touch with your inner thoughts at home, too. Incorporate silent meditation or journalling into your daily life, or take a nature walk and leave your AirPods at home. If your family tends to be loud and busy, consider adding quiet reading time or coloring to the schedule. So long as you’re taking time to reflect and look within, silence can be enjoyed just as much at home as it is abroad.
