Written by Lexi Tebet
No matter where you go, there will be screens. No matter where you go, technology and the online world will follow… almost.
And yet, some destinations are reminding us what happens when we truly unplug. Take Sweden, for example. In a playful twist, the country recently launched “The Swedish Prescription,” a campaign where doctors can literally prescribe time in nature (forest bathing, foraging, or even plunging into icy lakes) as a way to reduce stress and boost wellbeing. It’s a clever, cheeky reminder that sometimes, the best medicine is simply being somewhere extraordinary.
Recently, sitting around with friends, we started talking about how much smaller the world feels now. You can watch lions roam the Maasai Mara on your phone. You can look up photos of upcoming accommodations, scroll through reviews, and even preview your excursions before you’ve left home.
It’s incredible, really, how connected we are. Yet at the same time, it’s exactly what makes true connection feel so rare. Because no matter how clear your camera or how vivid your screen, there are certain emotions you simply can’t feel unless you’re actually there.
So, we’re making it easy for you. Here are five emotions no camera can capture, no article can describe, and no device can deliver. Five feelings you only experience when you go there.
1. Awe
That moment when you stop talking mid-sentence because your surroundings take your breath away. Maybe it’s sunrise breaking over the Serengeti, or the echo of your own footsteps inside a centuries-old cathedral. It’s bigger than wonder, it’s the purest form of being moved. You can watch videos of it, sure, but until you’re standing there, goosebumps rising, heart pounding, you don’t truly feel it.
2. Belonging
It’s the warmth of being invited into a cooking class in Tuscany, or the way laughter bridges language barriers at a table in Japan. Belonging isn’t about familiarity, it’s about recognition.
Belonging also applies to the natural world. A familiar phrase – citizens of the world – traveling and making eye contact with a Gorilla in Rwanda will give you a whole new definition for the world and your belonging to it.
3. Liberation
This is a feeling you certainly can not find online. Liberation is what happens when you leave the notifications behind. When you forget what time it is, and it doesn’t matter! It’s the freedom that sneaks up on you somewhere between the airport and adventure, the kind that makes you realize how heavy routine had become.
4. Wonder
That spark everyone claims is dulled by adulthood suddenly reignites. You’re curious again. You want to taste everything, see everything, feel everything. Wonder lives in the colors of a market, in the flow of another language, in the way unfamiliar places remind you of who you are when you’re free to explore.
5. Presence
It’s the rarest feeling of all, being completely, blissfully here. No scrolling, no thinking ahead, no curating the moment for later. Presence is the quiet truth that the world is so much more alive than any screen can show.
