Social media boasts thousands of videos from retreats where guests go away for a weekend of reading. Photo / Getty Images
Social media boasts thousands of videos from retreats where guests go away for a weekend of reading. Photo / Getty Images
As wellness travel continues to boom, so too have retreats. From yoga to surfing, ones for spouses or spirituality, there seems to be a retreat for every interest, including reading.
Reading is an undeniably solitary hobby, often enjoyed by those with at least a streak of introversion. However, that doesn’t mean book lovers don’t delight in discussing the latest novel or speculating about an upcoming release with fellow bibliophiles. The solution for some is a reading retreat; a multi-day trip dedicated to reading and discussing books.
While reading may seem less wellness-coded than activities such as yoga or meditation, studies prove it can be just as relaxing. Reading for just six minutes reduces stress by 68%, according to a University of Sussex study. “By losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book, you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world,” said neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis, who led the study in 2009.
And what is a wellness retreat, if not an attempt to carve time out of our busy schedules to relax and fill up our emotional tanks?
Reading retreats are a seemingly sell-out proposition, with various organisations across the world hosting and booking out novel-focused getaways. Photo / Link Hoang on Unsplash
In fact, reading retreats are a seemingly sell-out proposition, as various organisations host novel-focused getaways. On TikTok and Instagram, thousands of videos show groups huddled outside beachside villas or inside forest cabins with matching jerseys, tote bags or books. Some are annual events run by independent bookstores or book clubs, others are hosted by companies dedicated to reading retreats or accommodations. All tend to include accommodation, catered meals and ample reading time, with some offering scheduled activities.
Reading retreats around the world
Reading Retreats hosts weekends in charming British settings such as Norfolk and Kent in even more charming manors, villas and vicarages. At NZ$1405 to $1962 a person, four of the seven retreats planned for 2025 have sold out. For a more lavish experience, UK-based Ladies Who Lit hosts four-night retreats at luxurious British and European locations. Its 2025 events are almost entirely booked out, including two retreats in Tuscany, where prices start at $3922, excluding flights.
For the uber-trendy, there’s New York’s Page Break, which takes 15 people (selected by lottery because of popularity) upstate for three days of reading, themed dinners and activities such as yoga, campfire smores or lake swims, with the previous retreat costing NZ$2231 a person.
Not all of them are ultra-luxe. Some host “summer camp” retreats, such as Bookish Retreats in the US, where tickets for an annual camp are $1158 for three nights, or Book Cation, a two-night retreat in Wisconsin for $803.
Across the ditch, Reading Retreats Australia hosts all-inclusive retreats throughout the year from $883 to $2873, all of which have sold out, bar one, according to its website.
The unique appeal of a reading retreat
Given how easy it is to open a book and read almost anywhere, it’s fair to wonder why one must escape the city to get through some chapters.
It seems reading is almost too accessible, making it a leisure activity easily interrupted by friends, family or oneself. Sitting on a couch thumbing through a novel can also sit low on the unspoken hierarchy of leisure activities, which tend to value productive or challenging pursuits such as gardening or hiking over more sedentary activities.
Carving out time to sit down and read is often easier said than done, making retreats’ dedicated space and time all the more enticing.
New Zealand reading retreat launches
As with many trendy ventures, there are countless options in the US and UK but few if any in Aotearoa. That’s something Hanna Rauch decided to change by launching Busy with Books.
Hannah Rauch launched Busy with Books in 2024.
The marketing consultant, who moved from Italy to Wellington four years ago, came across reading retreats on TikTok and felt they were something to which New Zealand was perfectly suited.
“We have amazing landscapes, we have beautiful accommodation, and there seems to be a lot of interest from people to go on an experience like that,” she said.
In August 2024, she launched Busy with Books and hosted its first retreat in Hawke’s Bay. Unlike the large summer camps in the US, or castle getaways in the UK, Rauch’s retreats host just six guests, mainly out of consideration for what book-lovers are typically like.
“I feel like readers are often introverts as well; it can be quite tricky to be in a social environment,” Rauch explained, adding that large groups could be quite intimidating. As with retreats abroad, guests don’t have to cook, clean or care for others; factors that may explain why reading retreats around the world are almost exclusively attended by women.
“I want to say 95% women seem to be interested in the retreats,” Rauch said of her social media audience, adding several previous guests were parents of young children who had little undisturbed time to read.
Rauch intentionally keeps the retreats small so guests don't feel overwhelmed.
“They were wanting to be able to spend the whole weekend just reading and not having to run after kids, prepare snacks and all that kind of stuff.” Parents or not, all guests enjoy “Il dolce far niente” (the sweetness of doing nothing), a popular Italian phrase and Busy with Books’ motto.
“In a world that is so fast-paced, it’s so nice to just be able to relax for a while and really do nothing and enjoy that,” Rauch said.
“Sometimes, life can just be about sitting somewhere, reading a good book and enjoying yourself.”
