According to a recent survey from Bloomberg Travel, the top travel trends are nature, culture, spirituality and wellness, bleisure, and sustainability. Nature travel, or travel involving connecting and becoming one with nature, accounted for 50% of respondents, making it the most popular travel trend.

Have you ever traveled to a place and returned with a changed view of the world? These travel journeys can transform a person’s inner consciousness leading to enlightenment or transformation due to interactions with new cultures and forces of nature that stimulate self-reflection.

Termed ” transformative travel,” these trips are a rapidly growing sector of tourism based on spiritual experiences,aka spiritual tourism.

Top Travel Trends for 2023

Travel is evolving to much more than going to Disney every year with family or to the Caribbean to escape winter.

Culture, or travel involving immersing in the local food and local religious culture, was the goal of 49% of respondents surveyed. Wellness travel, or travel to enjoy quiet and remote places to recharge emotionally, made up 46% of travelers’ interest, making it the third most popular travel trend this year. Bleisure (business and leisure) and sustainability travel make up 45% and 35%, respectively.

What Is Spiritual Tourism?

According to the European Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spiritual tourism is travel that nurtures the spiritual awakening and transformation of the human conscience. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, religious pilgrimages dropped off considerably, due to a variety of factors, including several shrines that were forced to close or isolate at the time.

Just as other travel spiked in 2021 and into 2022, as restrictions were loosened, religious and spiritual tourism presumably peaked as well.

Spiritual tourism is based on nature and spiritual healing and can be religious or non-religious, spanning many branches of tourism. From connecting with mother nature and using the natural energy to heal ailments to exploring the religious culture of different destinations, they all have a tie to spiritual tourism and transformative travel. According to Garth L. Lean at the University of Western Sydney, “Everyone is transformed by travel to some degree.”

Religious vs. Non-Religious

Religious spiritual tourism consists of pilgrimages or journeys to a foreign place with religious motives-for example, a religious trip to Vatican City or Mecca.

Non-religious spiritual tourism commonly entails travels that are not focused on defined religious guidelines. These tourists typically describe themselves as “spiritual, not religious,” and tend to focus on the sacredness of energy and mindfulness and are motivated by more secular intentions.

Top Destinations for Spiritual Tourism

The United States houses some areas that are perfect for spiritual tourism. Two of the world’s chakras – spiritual places that carry high energy – and a major energy vortex exist within the United States, powerful and sacred places to visit when looking for transformational travel experiences.

Energy vertices are places on Earth that act as energy hubs. They frequently connect with energy emitted from the Earth’s chakras and work together to become an energetic grid across the planet. These energy centers promote healing, meditation and manifestation, self-exploration, and transformation.

According to Harmonious Earth, these are the top destinations to experience Earth’s chakras and energy vertices for spiritual tourism travel in the United States.

1. Mount Shasta, California

Mount Shasta, a snow-capped dormant volcano in northern California, is the Earth’s crown chakra energy point. It offers grounding energy which leads to self-realization. 35% of tourists visiting Mount Shasta come for spiritual ascension and healing from the chakra. This area has been home to many Native American tribes, with stories supporting the transformative energy of Mount Shasta.

2. Haleakalā Volcano, Hawaii

A visit to the Haleakala volcano in Haleakala National Park will take you to the Earth’s heart chakra. It is located on the Hawaiian island of Maui, making up 75% of the island. The energy at the site of the volcano has sacred powers and emits energy with a frequency that matches the frequency of a human heartbeat. This frequency creates a supernatural feeling that radiates comfort and the feeling of being taken care of.

3. Sedona, Arizona

Sedona, Arizona has been considered a sacred place to visit for many years. While the landscape is breathtaking itself, the area radiates healing energy. Each year, many people visit Sedona to bask in the energy and experience transformations and spiritual awakenings accelerated by the energy vertices. The healing powers of the Sedona vertices can be traced back to the Native Americans from the area. They recognized and honored the sacred spiritual energy in their ceremonies.

Spiritual Tourism Is Transformative Travel

Spiritual tourism is on the rise, and the U.S. has many destinations with spiritual connections ideal for transformative experiences. The energy vertices in Sedona connect to the crown chakra creating an energy powerhouse in the United States and prime real estate to accelerate healing, self-transformation, and spiritual growth.

This article was produced by MotherhoodLifeBalance and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.