Back in December, I was at ILTM Cannes, the travel industry’s largest luxury conference, for Business of Experiences, our Substack for professionals in hospitality. I spent about twelve hours in press briefings, listening to how the most iconic brands in travel are thinking about what comes next.

Almost without exception, everyone kept circling the same idea—just dressed up in slightly different ways.

Purpose-led/meaningful/intentional travel. The whycation. The carecation. Different phrases pointing to the same curiosity about why people are traveling now—and what they want to feel when they come home.

And whether the conversation was coming from Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, or Taj, it always landed in the same place-- travel is being asked to do more than it used to.

Around the same time, we were asking some of the smartest people we know in the industry what they see coming next in 2026. And their answers continued to track.

One comment that really stayed with me came from Carly Shea at Yolo Journal. She talked about how more people are willing to travel halfway across the world to do the very hobbies they do back home—running, ceramics, sketching, riding. Not because the destination itself is famous, but because shared interests create immediate connection. You don’t need the same language when you share a practice. These kinds of trips become a shortcut to community, which so many people are quietly craving right now.

Stuart Greif from Forbes Travel Guide echoed this from another angle. Travelers are increasingly starting with how they want to feel during their vacation, then choosing the destination—and only later thinking about brand.

All of this sounds very easy to interpret in a conference ballroom.

On the ground, it looks much different.

I’m writing this from Sri Lanka, where I’ve been deep in scouting mode. People often romanticize scouting trips—and my friends always ask to join—but I always politely decline because the reality is super early mornings, late nights, back-to-back meetings, and long hours in the back of a car trying to reach remote places.

Sri Lanka, especially, requires patience. Things are spread out. The drives are long. Which means a lot of time staring out the window at jaw-dropping scenery—and a lot of time letting my mind wander.

Somewhere between those drives, I started asking myself what meaningful travel means for El Camino, especially as the industry gets louder about it. Here are the three beliefs I kept coming back to as I reflected on the last 12 years of El Camino these last few weeks.

Our destinations are intentional—not popular

For us, the destination has always mattered, but the why has always come first. From the very beginning.

When I founded El Camino back in 2014, our first destinations were Nicaragua and then Colombia. That wasn’t accidental. I had spent years working in international development and traveling through emerging destinations. I knew how much they had to offer—and how often they were misunderstood, misframed, or reduced to a single story.

At the time, “immersive” or “off-the-beaten-path” travel wasn’t even part of the industry lexicon. We weren’t trying to be edgy with our choices—we were simply focused on showing travelers the depth and multitudes these places held, and that travel media rarely showcased.

The type of details of an itinerary that actually matter

For us, intentional travel comes down to being obsessive about the details that don’t always show up on an itinerary.

Yes, the hotels matter. The food matters. The pacing matters. That’s the baseline. But we spend just as much time thinking about the in-between moments—the people you meet, the conversations you’re invited into, and the context that helps you understand where you are.

For example, in our Sri Lanka trip we don’t just head South to the beaches, like most visitors do. We spend time on the East Coast, where the majority of the population is Tamil Hindu. You can’t really understand Sri Lanka without understanding that community—its history, its spirituality, and the impact of the civil war. Without that context, you’re only seeing part of the story.

It’s why in Colombia we talk openly about the past violence and the drug war—not to glorify it, and certainly not to turn Pablo Escobar into a caricature, but to meet communities who were deeply impacted and are still shaping the country today.

We don’t sugarcoat destinations. That can feel uncomfortable at times. But we know our travelers don’t shy away from that discomfort—they lean into it. It’s why they choose to travel with us because they know it consistently leads to richer conversations, deeper understanding, and a more honest relationship with the places they’re moving through.

And where it leads, more often than not, is a deep and powerful feeling of awe...

The feeling we’re chasing when we travel

At the end of the day, purpose led travel is also about how you want to feel during and after a trip.

We travel for perspective—to step outside ourselves. To deepen our understanding of our shared humanity with the 8.2 billion other people we share this world with.

Sometimes that perspective comes through rest. Sometimes it comes from completely disconnecting and sitting on a beach. That matters too.

But for us, travel is often about creating moments of awe.

Awe at realizing how small you are in a bustling country of a billion people.
Awe at the first bite of a home-cooked meal that stops you mid-sentence.
Awe at realizing that, even as adults, we can still experience true first-time moments.

Travel can hold sadness, grief, and hope at the same time. It compresses perspective in a way few things do—and that alone can be awe-inducing.

But those moments don’t happen by accident.

They require intention.
They require leaving the resort walls.
They require curiosity, humility, and a willingness to sit with discomfort.

That lens shapes every trip we design and keeps us anchored in why we exist as a small business.

Sound off on the Whatsapp Insider Intel Channel

Now that you know what purpose-led travel means for us, I’m curious—what does it mean to you?

I’m heading into our WhatsApp community to ask this question and hear how you think about it—what you’re seeking, what’s shifted for you, and what travel gives you in this season of life. I’d love for you to join the conversation there.

​You can head here to jump in.

Finally, this way of traveling resonates and you’re curious about traveling with us in the future—whether on a small group trip or through private travel planning—you can share your interest here. We'd absolutely love to connect.

Safest of travels, 🕊️

Katalina

For Funsy. A few links from the past weeks that have brought more meaning to my work and life.

1. I really enjoyed this conversation on faith and modern politics between Ezra Klein and James Talarico, a Democratic Texas State Representative and former public school teacher who is now running for Senate. It gave me a lot of hope at a time when there’s so much despair, and helped me think more clearly about how to lean into my own version of faith right now. One line I keep repeating to myself: “Love is not passive.”
2. An overheard definition of taste that stuck with me: “taste is showing passion in your convictions.”
3. ​Picked up these abstract fish earrings at a store in Colombo that I have been wearing almost every day since.
4. Why we stopped waiting on the group chat to get their shit together a long time ago.
5. Discovered the Spanish artist Guitarricadelafuente via Tiny Desk, and his falsetto makes me feel a certain way [check out moment 5:10]. Also very into the keyboardists shirt-- Future Amantes.​

Did someone forward you this email? You can sign up for our newsletter here.

​Email us | Unsubscribe | Update your profile | Copyright © 2026 El Camino Travel, Inc. All rights reserved.