Farm stays, reading trips, hidden gems in the U.S.

Farcia Harvey considers herself to be pretty well traveled. The 27-year-old has crossed off New York City, New Orleans for Mardi Gras, Barcelona and Madrid from her travel bucket list. But one of her favorite trips was her 2024 birthday trip to Cincinnati, of all places.

“I think about that trip to Cincinnati genuinely all of the time,” Harvey tells CNBC Make It, saying she wanted somewhere not too far from her home at the time in Nashville, but not a staycation either. “It’s one of the best memories I have for my birthday, and it’s something that to this day, me and my friends still talk about.”

Some of her highlights were hitting the Somerset outdoor bar, Brown Bear Bakery, the Riverfront’s walking paths and the city’s free streetcar downtown — simpler and slower luxuries that bigger cities may not offer.

Her social media posts hyping Cincinnati and under-the-radar cities last summer went viral with over 1 million views on Instagram and Tiktok, prompting thousands of comments shouting out other secondary cities worth a visit.

Harvey’s love of hidden gem travel is part of a bigger trend where vacationers are seeking slower, more enriching trips away from the busyness of big-city destinations.

“A lot of people truly believe in order to be well traveled, they have to see Europe, they have to see Africa, all of these other places,” Harvey says. That may be true for some, but not all, she says: “You can have a great time in the middle of nowhere.” 

Farm-stay vacations, in particular, are seeing a boom: 84% of travelers said they’re interested in staying on or near a farm, according to a recent report from Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Interest in rural escapes has boomed for Gen Z travelers over the past two years, with a 300% spike year-over-year in guest reviews mentioning farms on Vrbo.

Even life milestone celebrations are getting the slow travel treatment. Aricka Giglia, 28, gathered 10 of her best girlfriends for her bachelorette at a farm outside Dallas last spring.

The LA resident wanted her bachelorette to feel more like a wellness retreat than a typical party weekend. But finding the right venue was the challenge.

She ended up booking a three-night stay at Lavender Hill Farmhouse, drawn to its features of a chicken coop, fields with cows and horses, a pond with paddle boats, an outdoor grill where they hosted a hibachi dinner, and a big kitchen where they invited a private chef for another.

“I don’t think any of us have traveled intentionally to be with nature,” Giglia says. “If it’s nature, it’s tropical, but it’s never a farm.”

“It’s this slow travel movement. People just want a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday…