Quietcation: Leave the noise behind

The quest for quiet, be it serene nature retreats, mindfulness breaks, or silent walking, has become a modern travel trend

- Teja Lele

Noise. It was the first thing that hit me when I stepped out for a morning walk after I returned home to India from a two-month break in a small British town. Screeching brakes, loud horns, vendor calls, ringing phones, barking dogs, intermittent chatter... a loud litany of sounds threatened to drown my thoughts.

It led me to think that in a world moving at a frenetic pace, there's been a silent casualty: quiet.

A relentless soundtrack to our always-on lives means that opportunities to find silence are rare. Perhaps that's why, in a year marked by unprecedented temperatures and rising consciousness about the environmental damage, the desire for silent travel is growing.

US-based non-profit Global Wellness Institute had way back in 2017, in a report, identified "sharp new desires: for actual silence, quiet contemplation, to leave the shrieking world behind", and to be near and hear the silence of nature.

Last year, Pinterest's travel report cited "quiet life travel" as one of its most popular trends. "The quest for a quieter, more serene lifestyle is rising, with searches for 'quiet life' soaring by 530%. This longing for simplicity has extended to travel—since last year, searches for 'quiet places' and 'calm places' have increased by 50% and 42% respectively," the report observed.

"Quiet travel is about choosing destinations and experiences that promote calm. Rather than following crowds to typical tourist hubs, people are now turning to quieter, lesser-known locations for more peaceful retreats," says Himani Arora, who runs an Ahmedabad-based bespoke travel agency Shirin Travel.