Burnout Is Fueling a New Kind of Travel-and It's More Than Just a Spa Getaway

"In theory, any vacation is meant to help you de-stress, unwind, and recharge. In reality, much of modern travel can leave you feeling just as depleted-only in a different location. And in 2025, being "out of office" rarely means being unreachable. Emails, Slack pings, and Teams messages still find their way through, preventing the kind of true mental reset most people desperately need."

"That constant feeling of being on-call is a major contributor to burnout. While the term is often used casually to describe everything from everyday fatigue to full emotional exhaustion, it has a specific definition. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as "a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed," and has classified it as an occupational phenomenon since 2019. According to Forbes, 66 percent of American workers are experiencing burnout in 2025."

"Simply booking a beachfront all-inclusive isn't enough for many people, especially when there's pressure for a vacation to "fix" everything. According to Brittany Hunt, lead therapist and head of quality, innovation, and research at Clinic Les Alpes in Montreux, Switzerland, that expectation can backfire. "If work is causing your burnout, then go on vacation and have a couple of stress-free weeks," Hunt told Travel + Leisure."

High earners increasingly spend large sums on burnout recovery retreats because vacations often fail to provide true rest. Modern travel can renew exhaustion rather than relieve it, especially when workers remain reachable through email, Slack, and Teams. Constant on-call availability contributes to chronic workplace stress and burnout, which WHO defines as a syndrome resulting from unmanaged chronic workplace stress and classifies as an occupational phenomenon since 2019. Many workers report burnout, with surveys indicating 66 percent of American workers affected in 2025. Time off helps, but stress-free vacations alone do not address root causes, leading to temporary relief that can quickly evaporate.

Read at Travel + Leisure