Soft Travel is the New Luxury
The travel trend that’s all about slowing down.
Written by Brava Braun
What if the most transformative journey wasn’t far away, but just down the road?
Travel coach and Reiki Master, Brava Braun, invites readers to rediscover Canada through a slower, more restorative lens. From misty lakes to quiet cafés, she reveals how simple, intentional travel moments can reset the nervous system and rekindle wonder. Prepare to see familiar places — and yourself — in a completely new light.
A Quiet Beginning
On a still morning in Calabogie, Ontario, steam rose from my coffee as I started over the lake mirroring the pewter sky. Everything around me seemed unhurried. My breath was deep, my shoulders dropped. I could feel the energy of nature buzzing around me.
This is where The Art of Travelling Softly begins — not in faraway places, but in the quiet moments we choose to notice. These gentle pauses amid the rush, these small acts of intention, often do more to restore our nervous system than a long, itinerary-filled vacation ever could.
Modern travel is fast, busy, stressful. Sometimes even leisure travel can feel like work. With planes, plans and pressure to fit it all in, many of us come home tired, restless and unsatisfied.
My travel fatigue from constant movement set in without even realizing. My circadian rhythm was thrown off, and there was a silent effect on my nervous system. I didn’t notice it until I began to feel a repulsion for the adventures that I once sought out. Packed itineraries that once defined my success no longer appealed to me.
“There has to be a better way to travel.”
What is “Soft Travel”?
It’s not about avoiding adventure, but about arriving at it fully present. It’s when our bodies slip back into their natural rhythm, waking with the sun, resting with the dark. As the overstimulation fades, the vagus nerve relaxes, and somewhere deep inside, the system remembers how to reset.
This way of travelling focuses on simple habits — breathing deeply, drinking enough water, and paying attention to your energy — so you feel your best during the trip and long after the bags are unpacked.
Canada’s Natural Invitation
Few landscapes invite softness like Canada’s. Still waters, long horizons and patient forests encourage the nervous system to slow down. Mountains do not hurry. Lakes never rush.
The Art of Travelling Softly finds its perfect classroom here. Small towns become sanctuaries. Country roads become meditation paths, and the land itself becomes a teacher.
In this landscape, a sunrise walk before emails, a forest breath after a storm, a handwritten note left in a local cafe ground us with community. Each moment rewires the body toward balance. A weekend trip to Prince Edward County has the power to shift more than a week abroad if we lead with intention, and we remember that proximity to our home doesn’t have to diminish the power of the journey.
A Framework for Restorative Travel
The best part about travelling softly is that it’s accessible to everyone and can start with just a few intentional habits:
Before you go: Set your energy. Spend time in natural light, move gently, and pack with purpose so you begin balanced, not rushed.
While you travel: Keep your rhythm. Stay hydrated, stretch, and build in pauses between activities to actually absorb where you are.
When you return: Ease back in. Rest well, reflect on your experiences, and take time to unpack both your bags and your mind.
“The Art of Travelling Softly can always end the same way - with a clear mind, open heart and with a deeper lesson that softness is not weakness, but wisdom. When we travel softly, we don’t just see Canada - we FEEL it.”
Brava Braun is an internationally certified travel coach and reiki master, and founder of Brava Braun Wellness — a space devoted to helping midlife women travel in harmony with their bodies. Blending energy rituals, neuroscience, and biohacking, she teaches the art of restoring vitality through movement, mindfulness, and meaningful connection.
Brava offers a restorative lens on Canadian travel — grounded in nervous system health, circadian rhythm, and reverence for the land. Through her work she explores how small journeys and slow adventures spark profound transformation.
Learn more at www.bravabraunwellness.com