This Is the Wellness Trend I'm Predicting Everyone’s Going to Hop On in 2026

This term, coined by Meghan Patke, head of Modern Currency Public Relations, describes a wellness getaway that’s a response to “a never-ending negative hard news cycle and real economic concerns, and travelers that are looking for more out of their vacation. Rest and relaxation are the top travel priority, even amid economic uncertainty, driven largely by Millennials and Gen Z, who see wellness not as indulgence but required maintenance,” she says. She offers as an example Arizona’s Castle Hot Springs which is debuting new wellness treatments including a “vagus nerve toning session,” that seeks to restore travelers' worn-out nervous systems and teach them stress-reduction modalities to take home with them.

“Wellness used to mean booking a single spa treatment during an otherwise traditional trip. Today, travelers want wellness woven into the entire experience. Guests are specifically seeking hot/cold therapy, mineral soaking, outdoor thermal circuits and open-air environments that support calm and relaxation,” says Jackie Stauffer, CMCO at WorldSprings, a company with natural hot springs resorts in Texas, Utah and Colorado.

“Today’s wellness travelers are more inclined to take weekend wellness getaways where they can unplug in their downtime with their closest, like-minded friends, utilizing a three-day weekender as a way to improve their social wellness as well,” Patke says. This was my experience at Cuyama Buckhorn, a high desert California roadside-motel turned boutique hotel, where mingling with other guests at the hot tub and the bocce court is as restorative as a guided hike through the hills.