From the moment you wake up, you don't stop doing things: work, children, traffic jams, washing machines, cleaning, watering the plants, CrossFit or bachata houses, taking a call, listening to 12-minute audios and a long succession of video game screens that usually end when, at 11 at night, we finally lie down on the couch, right? Then you glimpse that next trip to Paris or Havana and you think, how good it will be for me to disconnect! Finally, that long-awaited getaway arrives and after visiting 20 places in one day, you end up missing the routine while having a whiskey in the hotel lobby bar. What is happening then? Maybe you travel to disconnect from the routine, yes, but not to rest.
Many other travelers had already realized this discovery and when they told you that they were traveling to Mallorca to enjoy the spa without going out to see anything, it seemed strange to you. But no, the gears were already working: slow travel, silent retreats or The White Lotus concept - large destination hotels - are just some options that were already there for those looking to go on vacation and do nothing. A trend that, especially this year, is crying out to find its place in a sector full of options.
During a recent Vipassana meditation retreat in India – 10 days without talking to anyone and without any kind of technological connection – many of the breaks between meditation sessions consisted of simply doing nothing. Some companion, in the distance, began to write his name in the ground with an old reed, another walked around an old hut and, in my case, looked towards the sky to follow the path of the planes. During that three-month trip to India I had disconnected from my routine in Spain but, on that retreat, my body, mind and soul seemed to finally rest. And it was fine. Like opening a floodgate to self-analysis, to all those things that you leave behind and don't have time to stop and think.
From the creators of "confinement also meant a pause for many people" comes "vacations to do nothing", possibly a side effect that the pandemic also left. However, to better conceive that desired total emptiness, everything points to two key factors to achieve it: introspection and technological disconnection.
“The need to do nothing is a very important part of how we as human beings function, as it allows us to recover physically and mentally, encourages creativity, leaves room to process emotions and find balance. We are not being aware of how necessary it is to 'do nothing', especially in a culture like ours in which, if we get out of the loop, feelings of guilt are generated," clinical psychologist and coach Sonia Rico tells La Vanguardia. “To really disconnect our brain it must experience a combination of activation of neural networks associated with introspection, so here we have a clue as to where things may go.”
When we find ourselves traveling to places that we have little time to visit, or to a distant and remote country, many emotions are activated in us - positive and negative - but we rarely follow to the letter the etymology of the word vacation, vacuum. -empty-.
“Traveling to an exotic destination and having the feeling of having been in a world very different from yours, of course makes us disconnect and reconnect with dormant parts that live in us. But if you can't go that far, a weekend retreat, setting up a tent, even just a few miles away, seeing an exhibition that means something to you, or spending time alone can be more than enough," he adds. Sonia. "In any case, the second need that is always pointed out - in addition to introspection - is digital disconnection, even if it is at intervals of 3 or 4 hours."
When we travel, taking incessant photographs of a destination, retouching them, sharing them, sending them to WhatsApp groups, answering calls or reporting to our loved ones distorts that emptiness in the mind and alters the experience. We keep doing something, we are thirsty for dopamine.
“It's a matter of applying 'Dolce far niente,'" an Italian expression that translates as "sweet doing nothing" or "sweet inactivity." This phrase captures the idea of enjoying relaxation and pleasurable idleness, without feeling the need. of doing nothing in particular. It is an attitude of enjoying the present moment without worries or stress, simply savoring life and the tranquility of the moment,” adds Sonia.
According to the Hilton's 2024 Trends Report survey, through which the prestigious hotel chain analyzes the behavior of its customers, the greatest travel demand for this year consists of "the search for better quality sleep and relaxation experiences." Just one of the many needles of that compass that points to the also known as do-nothing vacations at all times.
Hence, the proliferation of retreats, accommodations and experiences focused on total disconnection has skyrocketed: from the so-called destination hotels to spaces rethought so that your only occupation is reading a book or staying on the pier looking at the blue of the sea while the little fish play with your feet.
There is no shortage of options, especially when we choose our personal shortcut to disconnection: if nature is the common thread, in the heart of the Azores, Furnas Lake Forest Living is an ecolodge in the heart of the island of San Miguel where you can limit yourself to making cocktails with wild flowers surrounded by the dreamy Atlantic landscape.
If you are looking for a hotel where you can succumb to the best wellness experiences, Six Senses hotels reinvent the concept of luxury through facilities that invite total sustainability, well-being and reconnection. For example, their fascinating accommodation in Ibiza.
And if yours is the loneliest peace, you can always opt for the aforementioned Vipassana meditation retreats - in Spain, they are taught in two centers in Barcelona and Ávila -; take art retreats in the heart of Vall d'Uixó (Castellón) or simply book accommodation in that lost town where you can recalibrate your senses, turn off your cell phone and, perhaps, dedicate all the time in the world to looking at the sky to guess the route of the planes.
