Gen Z Is Travelling To Reconnect With The Real World

We’re the generation that learned how to say goodbye over Zoom. We celebrated 18th birthdays staring at our laptop screens, passed notes over Google Docs, and navigated friendships, internships, breakups — everything — online. While the world was shutting down, we were growing up. And now that we finally have the chance to get out there, we’re doing it differently.

For Gen Z, travel in 2025 isn’t about ticking boxes or taking touristy photos. It’s about feeling present, meeting people who exist outside our algorithm, and touching grass — literally. We spent some of our most formative years indoors, glued to devices. So now? We’re craving connection in its rawest, realest form. And travel has become our way back to it.

Romanticised Travel

When we travel, it’s not to run away from our lives — it’s to reconnect with what we’ve missed. We’re drawn to messy hostel kitchens, chai with strangers, night buses that smell like eucalyptus oil, and stories that don’t fit into 15-second Reels.

There’s something beautiful about logging off and looking up. Most of us aren’t even bothering to post everything — the memory is enough. The moment is enough. Siddhant Pillewar, an engineering student, shares one such moment with us where he was at the top of the mountain surrounded by the clouds, feeling divine.

Reel Real Connections

Group trips with strangers. Last-minute treks. Staying in a shared dorm and hearing a dozen different life stories before breakfast. That’s what we want. We’ve had enough of curated feeds and filtered selfies — we want awkward laughter, people who challenge our opinions, and long conversations under fairy lights.

Platforms like Zostel, goSTOPS, and The Hosteller have become our second homes, not just because they’re budget-friendly, but because they make it easy to meet people. Real people. And that feels like a luxury now. Ipsita Kaul, a fellow colleague of mine, visited McLeod Ganj for her first solo-group trek to connect with nature and people.

Slow Travelling

Fast travel isn’t our vibe. We’re not hopping from one landmark to the next — we’d rather spend a whole afternoon at one local café, listening to a playlist we made for that moment. We’re choosing places that let us live, not just visit.

Cooking with homestay hosts, joining art workshops, walking around small towns with no set plan — we’re more into experiences than itineraries. Because we’ve had enough of feeling like life is rushing past us. Tisha Shah captured this raw picture on the streets of Paris.

Healing Is The Itinerary

We don’t just take trips, we take mental health breaks. Call it a solo travel trip, a soft reset, a wellness weekend — we don’t care. We’ll go where the signal’s weak and the skies are clear. Whether it’s journaling by a river in Rishikesh, joining a yoga retreat in Kerala, or just going offline in the mountains, we’re using travel to process, pause, and breathe.

After the emotional rollercoaster of the last few years, we don’t want to come back with shopping bags. We want to come back with clarity. Krishika Bhatia, a beauty writer, shares this picture from her wellness weekend at Shillim.

Purpose Travel

We’ll take the local bus. We’ll eat Maggi for dinner. But we’ll splurge on that night in a boutique stay with a story, or a farm-to-table meal made with love. It’s not about being cheap, it’s about being intentional. If we’re spending, we want to know who it’s helping. More of us are choosing sustainable, ethical, local-first travel, not because it’s trendy, but because it feels right.

Workations

We’re the hybrid generation. If we can log in from our bedroom, we can log in from Varkala. Or Bir. Or a lake-facing café somewhere in the North East. We’re working, sure, but we’re also living in colour while doing it.

Workations aren’t a flex anymore, they’re a way to balance our lives when everything else feels chaotic. We’ve seen what burnout looks like. We’re not trying to impress anyone. We just want joy to be part of our schedule.

We didn’t get the grand college trips or the easy freedom to “just go.” What we got instead was silence, uncertainty, and way too many hours indoors. So now that we can explore again, we’re doing it differently. We’re showing up fully, connecting deeply, and staying soft through it all. Because after everything we’ve unlearned, one thing is clear: we’re not travelling for aesthetics. We’re travelling for authenticity. And honestly? That feels like the best kind of comeback.