Why 2025's Hottest Travel Trend Is Simply Sitting Down With a Good Book

Ever stared longingly at that stack of unread books on your nightstand, wishing for just a few uninterrupted days to dive in? You're not alone. A fascinating new travel trend is emerging in 2025 that might be the perfect solution for book lovers everywhere: reading retreats.

Imagine yourself sipping wine on a veranda overlooking mountains or ocean, completely absorbed in a novel without a single interruption. No chores calling your name, no meetings to attend, just you and your books in a beautiful setting. These literary escapes are selling out within hours of being announced, particularly from companies like "Ladies who Lit" that have tapped into our collective desire for meaningful, quiet getaways.

The appeal goes beyond just finding time to read. These retreats create a unique social atmosphere where you're surrounded by fellow book lovers who respect your space while sharing your passion. Breakfast conversations might lead to unexpected book recommendations or discussions about favorite authors—socialization entirely on your terms. It's particularly ideal for solo travelers seeking both independence and connection. Since 2020, Americans have increased their spending on recreational books by nearly 23%, and reading retreats represent the logical evolution of this renewed literary interest. They offer not just an escape but a form of self-care that allows us to return home refreshed and inspired, often motivating participants to create their own reading nooks at home to continue the experience. Ready to book your literary getaway? Take our survey linked in the show notes to share what kind of retreat experience would speak to you!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Do you love reading books?
Do you crave time away to adistant retreat escape?
Well, did you know you couldcombine these two ideas?
In today's episode, I'm goingto share how.
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch, your travelcoach and avid reader, so this

(00:21):
whole idea of reading and aretreat combined really piqued
my interest.
So if you're an avid reader butnever seem to find the time to
read for long stretches, maybeyou even have a stack of books
waiting on your nightstand, likeI do.
Often I am reading two to threebooks at a time and just often

(00:45):
get too busy sometimes to get tothe end, or sometimes I got to
go back because I have forgottenwhat I've read.
But how would it feel to go toa beautiful place and just read
to your heart's content?
Well, I just discovered thatthere is a new travel trend out
there and it is called readingretreats.

(01:05):
Now, I've been on silentretreats, I've been on women's
retreats, I've been on churchretreats and I even organized my
own birthday retreat when Iturned 50.
But I had never been on areading retreat.
Now this is a trend that isjust happening this year, in
2025.

(01:26):
Now, in episode 114, I alsotalk about 2025 travel trends,
and I did mention they hadtalked about sort of these quiet
retreats, almost like a digitaldetox retreat, where people
just kind of go away and almostjust do nothing, and so this
kind of reminds me a little bitalong those lines.

(01:48):
As you know, in life everythinggets very, very stressful and
time away is important to us.
It kind of gives us a newperspective, it renews us, it
rejuvenates us.
So a reading retreat mightsound counterintuitive, but
imagine yourself sipping wine,overlooking a beautiful scenic,

(02:12):
maybe an ocean or the mountainsor countryside, whatever you
enjoy environmentally and thenjust reading at your heart's
content, at your heart's content, uninterrupted, I might add.
I think when we're at home andwe try to read, we get
distracted and we get pulled indifferent directions because we

(02:34):
have responsibilities whilewe're at home.
So why a reading retreat whenyou could simply read at home
and you could simply read athome?
Well, I think it does.
It pulls us out of thateveryday responsibility.
It's also a guilt-free readingtime.
It's an escape from the humdrumof our daily life, a release

(02:59):
from responsibilities, at leastfor those few days that you're
away.
Responsibilities, at least forthose few days that you're away,
and I would consider it a formof self-care.
It's also about being aroundothers, so it's not antisocial
if you think it might be.
It puts you in an environmentwhere you're surrounded by
others that have the same joy ofreading and they understand and

(03:24):
respect your space.
So it's socialization on yourterms.
When you go to these readingretreats, you share that same
love.
You're there to escape, butalso maybe to enjoy the scenery,
and it's something you canmaybe even strike up a
conversation and discover youhave some common interests with

(03:47):
others over breakfast and youare just around like-minded
people, which is so refreshing,and maybe you even find some
books that you want to readbecause someone else suggested
it during that time.
These types of retreats reallycater well to solo travelers.
So if you're a reader and youneed some time away, you need

(04:11):
some self-care, you need someuninterrupted, but also want to
go somewhere where it'sbeautiful and just away from
maybe.
You live in a city and soyou're pulling yourself out of
that environment and you'rechanging your perspective at the
same time.
Well, since 2020, the Bureau ofLabor Statistics has noticed

(04:36):
that Americans spent nearly 23%more on recreational books than
prior to 2020.
Well, I think we know whathappened then and I believe many
people rediscovered maybe thisart of reading, this love of
reading.
At that moment we all had timeto read.

(04:57):
Yes, we couldn't go anywhere,we were stuck at home.
But that trend has continued.
They have found and more peopleare joining book clubs and you
will see lots of those around,even popular actors, or even you
know Oprah has always had herbook club, but there's others

(05:18):
that have started and even localbook clubs have sprouted up
everywhere and even online bookclubs have sprouted up and they
find that people that attendthese reading retreats often go
home and either start a bookclub or they create a little
reading nook for themselves,almost like their little escape

(05:41):
within their own home, wherethey kind of designated that
place for some reading and justto get away and create almost
like their internal or theirhome reading retreat area.
Now it is booming.
There are tons of readingretreats.
The one that is most popular iscalled Ladies who Lit and their

(06:06):
retreats have been selling outwithin hours of posting an event
.
Now there are others out thereas well and you can just Google.
The UK has a big readingretreat sort of following.
There's opportunities there.
There's some within the US thatI discovered.
So, depending on where you wantto go and how far you want to

(06:28):
travel, a reading retreat can bejust what you need, and there
are, of course, other types ofretreats.
As I mentioned, there's alsowellness retreats, there's the
silent retreats, which I alsotalked about, and many others.
Uh, just maybe a women's activeretreat as well, and I'd be

(06:52):
curious to know is a retreatsomething that is something
you're interested in?
Would you want to go on aretreat and, if so, what type of
retreat would you be willing togo on?
I know I would love a readingretreat.
I have a stack of books that Ithink I would like to tackle and
get done.
I do read about 50 books a year, though, but sometimes some

(07:17):
months get really busy and Idon't have that time that I
really would love to just committo read a book all the way
through, right, maybe even inone sitting, but that's not
possible with everyday life.
But retreats in general offeryou that sort of escape from
your daily life and it couldreally offer.

(07:39):
No matter what type of retreatyou choose, it definitely
provides sort of thatrestoration, that renewal, that
re-energizing that happens whenwe get away for that kind of
thing where we do some self-care.
We spend that time as we needto kind of refill our cups there

(08:01):
so that we can move, go on andserve others when we come back
home.
Otherwise, we are coming froman empty and depleted cup, and
retreats offer a way to refillthat in us us women especially.
So I'm curious to know whatkind of retreat you would want
to go on if you had theopportunity.

(08:24):
I'm going to include a link inthe show notes.
It's a Google link.
Just a survey I'd like to takeif you're interested in sharing.
What type of retreat would yougo on?
And there's a couple otherquestions like when would you
want to go when?
Just to get an idea of what arepeople wanting out there.

(08:48):
What are you, as my listenerswould want in a retreat?
I would love to offer one.
So I'm just taking a survey tosee where, what's the interest
out there and sister travelers,and I hope that you find your
place, whether it's a homeretreat or you actually do take

(09:10):
some time to get away andrefresh yourself.