If you’ve been reading Wander for a while, you might smile at Curated Spaces’ new 2026 Travel Trend Forecast—not because the insights aren’t fresh or fascinating (they are), but because so many of these movements feel like home turf. Reading retreats, nature as medicine, quiet creativity, digital detoxing, deeply personal travel… our community has been exploring these ideas for years.
But what this new forecast does beautifully is affirm a shift happening at scale: travellers everywhere are craving what our readers have known all along. That slowing down is powerful. That beauty is a balm. That inspiration is best found offline. That taste, intuition, and trust—not algorithms—will guide the next era of meaningful exploration.
Curated Spaces, the tastemaker-powered booking platform that’s quickly becoming a favourite among design lovers and soulful travellers, has distilled six defining movements shaping how we’ll travel in 2026. Drawn from guest behaviour, cultural shifts, and co-founder Molly Cooper’s conversations with conscious hoteliers across the UK, these trends read less like predictions and more like a manifesto for intentional living.
And maybe that’s what makes them so exciting.
1. Soulful Travel & the Pull of Nostalgia
In a world moving too fast, nostalgia has quietly become travel’s most resonant emotion. Searches for heritage stays are soaring, and guests are increasingly drawn to places that feel lived-in, storied, and beautifully familiar.
Think whimsical reimaginings of historic hamlets, weathered inns scented with salt and oak, and train journeys that slow you down enough to hear your own thoughts again.
“These are experiences that awaken all the senses and anchor us in place”, says Molly Cooper. “There’s comfort in the familiar, but reimagined through a modern, soulful lens.”
It’s a return to slow luxury—not the kind defined by excess, but by emotional richness. Heritage architecture. Tactile design. Menus inspired by memory. Journeys that invite pause.
Wander readers will recognize this instinct immediately. We’ve long championed soulful travel—the kind that stirs something ancient and restorative in you. In 2026, the rest of the world is catching up.
2. Bookbound Escapes & the Rise of Reading Retreats
If you’ve ever fantasized about running away with a stack of novels and zero digital distractions, you’re in excellent company. A remarkable 91% of travellers now express interest in reading-centred trips, and reading-related travel searches are spiking across the internet.
As Cooper puts it, “Quiet is a luxury.”
Reading retreats offer a kind of rest that few modern vacations can match: deep concentration, uninterrupted time, and the permission to slow down in a way that feels almost radical.
Destinations like Cowley Manor—birthplace of Alice in Wonderland—or Miiro Templeton Garden, whose literary lineage spans Beatrix Potter to Agatha Christie, are reimagining travel as a portal to imagination.
At Wander, we’ve covered reading retreats for years, long before they became a trend. But it’s heartening to see this movement formally recognized as a pillar of wellbeing. In 2026, the bookish getaway officially steps into the spotlight.
3. The Era of You: Travel as Self-Expression
Perhaps the most powerful shift highlighted in the forecast is the rise of hyper-personal travel. Not in the “AI-curated itinerary” sense—but in the deeply human way of crafting trips that reflect who we are, what we value, and what we’re yearning for.
Curation is replacing consumption. People don’t just want to go somewhere new—they want to express who they are through where they stay.
Solo travel continues its meteoric rise, particularly among women, and design-led stays are leaning into personalization. At Louma in Dorset, for instance, every guest receives a unique itinerary crafted specifically for them—from horseback riding to craniosacral therapy.
At Wander, we’ve always believed travel is an act of self-definition. 2026 simply codifies that truth on a cultural level.
4. Nature as Antidote: Digital Fatigue Meets “Farm Charm”
Digital overwhelm has reached a cultural tipping point, and travellers are responding with a profound return to nature.
Interest in farm stays is skyrocketing. Rewilding projects are drawing global attention. Younger travellers are reconnecting with gardening, wildlife, and rural quiet. “Farm Charm,” as the report calls it, is no longer niche—it’s a primary driver of wellness travel.
“Being in nature and escaping to the countryside have become powerful antidotes to modern life,” Cooper notes.
Coupled with the rise of digital detoxes and analogue wellness, where travellers intentionally disconnect to recharge, we’re seeing wellness within travel shift to a necessity.
For Wander readers, of course, this is familiar ground. We’ve been exploring regenerative travel, forest bathing, and nature-first wellness for years. But seeing these values embraced internationally signals something hopeful: a cultural recalibration toward balance.
5. Hushed Hobbies & the Art of Slow Creativity
Among the most delightful trends is the rise of “hushed hobbies”—quiet, craft-driven pursuits that travellers are actively seeking out. Pottery, journaling, painting, foraging, flower pressing… even egg collecting has become a coveted morning ritual at places like Fowlescombe Farm.
The global craft market is soaring, with projections reaching $74.5B by 2031. People aren’t just looking to escape; they’re looking to make something—to touch, to notice, to create.
Calm can be curated.
These hobbies aren’t distractions; they are grounding practices that reconnect us with presence. They turn trips into tactile, memorable experiences that linger long after we’ve returned home.
6. Authentic Influence in an Age of AI
Here is perhaps the trend with the most cultural weight: a rejection of algorithmic overwhelm in favour of real, trusted voices.
While many travellers remain curious about AI influencers, actual trust lies with human curation. Time spent scrolling has dropped, and younger generations are gravitating toward private, intentional digital spaces—and creators who feel real.
No one’s looking for more content. They’re looking for connection.
Curated Spaces was built on this philosophy. It’s essentially a LikeToKnowIt for soulful travel: design-led stays hand-selected by tastemakers you already follow and trust—people who know how a place should feel, not just how it photographs.
This shift feels like a natural evolution for Wander readers, who have always valued meaningful storytelling over noise. But it also signals a broader cultural movement: the internet is (hopefully) becoming more human again.
A Platform Built for the Future (and for People Like Us)
Soft-launched in 2025, Curated Spaces was born from founder Molly Cooper’s frustration with outdated booking systems and impersonal search results. Her podcast—now an Apple Top 10 Travel & Places hit—revealed just how hungry listeners were for genuine guidance and human taste.
Today, the platform features nearly 100 design-forward stays, each selected by tastemakers like Laura Jackson, Estée Lalonde, Alexandra Dudley, and Gina Goes To. Every property is bookable in seconds, without membership fees or digital clutter.
It’s the kind of platform Wander readers will instantly understand: soulful, intentional, beautifully efficient.
What This Means for Wander Readers
The 2026 trends don’t just reflect where travel is going—they validate where conscious travellers already are.
If you’ve ever chosen a reading retreat over a resort, sought stillness over spectacle, embraced a quiet hobby on holiday, or trusted a creator’s recommendation over an algorithm… you’re leading the way.
Travel is becoming more personal, more expressive, more connected, more human.
In other words: more Wander.