For a generation raised on burnout culture, endless screen time and, let’s not forget, a global pandemic that took away their prime years, it comes as no surprise that gen Z are reshaping what leisure looks like. Young holiday-makers are increasingly ditching a boozy week in Ibiza for a multi-day walking holiday.
Escaping the hustle culture
Generation Z are people born broadly between 1997 and 2012. Many of them entered (or are currently entering) adulthood during a period of profound economic instability and climate dread. That, paired with the psychological toll of social media, means that many young people are struggling with constant stress and anxiety.
As such, holidays are not just a reward for hard work anymore, but a necessary time to recover from burnouts. That’s why many young adults today are actively prioritising mental and physical wellbeing when choosing their trips, whether that’s spa breaks, digital detox retreats, glamping trips or walking holidays.
Walking holidays and the slow travel movement
Out of the different types of wellness-focused holidays, walking holidays are one of the fastest-growing in popularity thanks to the slow travel movement. People under their 30s are looking for journeys that are more immersive and grounding than ever before, and walking holidays offer exactly that. Popular routes, like the Camino de Santiago, have been seeing a significant increase of pilgrims each year, with the most popular, Camino Frances, attracting nearly 250 thousand visitors alone.
Beyond the Camino, leading agencies such as Orbis Ways are constantly adding new guided and self-guided walking holidays to their selection of routes all around Europe, in response to the increasing popularity. Pilgrims can now find a huge variety of trail options in Greece, Germany, England, Malta, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and many other destinations.
Of course, there is also a value alignment at play. Young people are increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of their lifestyles, which is why they’re more likely to pick trips with lower emissions and those that support the local communities. Walking holidays are an excellent choice for this – particularly given that Orbis Ways compensate for the CO2 emissions of each trip.
Social media’s unlikely role
There’s an irony in the fact that wellness travel is, in part, being driven by the very platforms blamed for gen Z’s stress levels. But, the content young people are gravitating towards has changed over the recent years. Aesthetic posts of crowded beach clubs are being replaced with tranquil reels of misty mountain trails and reflections on mindfulness. The hashtag #slowtravel is often paired with such posts, inspiring millions of other users to try it out.
One of the most crucial rules, however, is the offline approach to social media while on holidays. More and more gen Z travellers choose to go off social media during their trips, only using their phones for pictures and navigation. The posts typically get uploaded post factum, at the end of the day or even after the holiday.
A new way of relaxing
If this generation’s travel habits say anything, it’s that the way we see a traditional holiday is about to be changed forever. For gen Z, a long walk in nature seems to be the new luxury way to unwind.