Chasing Feelings, Not Things: The Power of Experiential Travel
The way a place makes you feel can be incomparable.
Perhaps it makes you feel at home in your own skin, like the adventurer you didn’t know you were, or wholly relaxed and at ease. These are the kinds of experiential elements of travel that can’t be shared, liked or tagged. The immeasurable moments that can only be recognised when we’re present, undistracted and open to experiencing them.
But, is social media and the time spent on our phones stopping us from engaging with the places we visit and disrupting that emotional connection?
When we talk about wellness breaks at our New Forest hotel we aren’t just talking about spa days. We want to invite emotional connection to our experiences because we believe travel is more than simply a competition to find the most Instagrammable spot.
Social media is now top of the charts as a search tool for travel inspiration, but we hope our guests can use their weekend away as a chance to put down the phone and slow down; look up, listen and feel, everything our New Forest has to give.
Why Travel Should Be About Emotions, Not Instagram
Travel is not an innately easy thing, even if the intention is to relax, it takes planning and organisation, time and effort, so if travel isn’t emotionally driven and it doesn’t enliven, bring joy or motivate us on a personal level then why would we ever do it!
But, we live in a world that celebrates the material—the things we can show off, post snaps of, or talk about. (If it’s not on TikTok did it even happen?)
But, what if the most valuable part of travel can’t be photographed, shared, or even explained?
The Rise of Experiential Travel
Things are changing, in many 2026 travel predictions, the expectation is that travellers are done with ‘overtourism’. Skyscanner says travellers, more than ever, are seeking experience-focused travel and above all, authenticity. Yes, they want to know the best places to go but they also want the truth about over-rated hotspots that have become ‘over-touristed’.
A recent Booking.com 2026 travel prediction report says travellers are looking to ‘re-root with nature’, with 21% of travellers saying they’d be happy to travel to simply enjoy sensory experiences. Here at our New Forest hotel, that might be forest bathing or listening to the braying ponies on a walk through ancient woodlands. We have intentionally created our Digital Detox Break to promote more mindful travel experiences, encouraging guests to quite literally lock away their phones and step outside, or pick up a book – rediscover their emotional connection with this beautiful world we live in.
We know that, more than ever, travellers are searching for meaning; emotion is what stays with us and an emotional connection with a moment or experience becomes a memory. A photo in a gallery that can get lost among thousands of other photos, does not.
We understand that our guests want to feel something when they visit our New Forest hotel, whether that’s awe, peace, clarity or joy. According to Skyscanner’s recent global travel survey, ‘over a third of travellers say they now actively seek out quieter destinations.’
Here, at our New Forest hotel, a wellness break is more than a luxury spa retreat; it’s a rare and precious moment of calm and so, when guests do swap public transport for a bike, the phone for a book, the view of a computer screen for our scenic landscapes, it can and does evoke an emotional response. And for many, it is transformative…
The Emotional Value of Travel
Today, travel for many, is more than just visiting a destination to tick a box – it can mean transformation; a wellness break in the New Forest could be a signifier of change or growth. Travel as an emotional marker in time; the relaxing end to a stressful season, a chance to get away, slow down and reflect; a moment taken as an act of self-compassion and kindness or the much-needed time spent with loved ones.
In our busy day-to-day lives travel is not just about relaxation, it’s not simply the chance for passive, inactiveness, but instead it’s becoming people’s root to connection, with their self, with nature, with their loved ones.
Our time is no longer our own with the buzzes and bleeps of our phones constantly pulling us back to the digital. So, it’s no wonder that people are seeking time in nature and quietness.
Peace is the new luxury.
So, it’s time to put down the phone and re-engage with travel in its purest sense, welcoming the feeling back into new experiences often missed when trying to ‘capture’ the moment.
Breathe a sigh of relief, you’re off the hook.
We’re inviting you to let go of the pressure of social media, to relinquish the responsibility of sharing every journey, meal or beauty spot and keep some special moments for you and for you only; to re-build your connection with nature, reconnect with loved ones and rediscover what travel authentically means to you.
