Britain’s holidaymakers are trading the departure lounge for the driver’s seat, and new research suggests they are doing it to mend more than their tan lines.

As 2026 shapes up to be the year of the staycation, fresh figures from Goboony, the campervan and motorhome sharing platform sometimes dubbed the “Airbnb of campervans”, reveal that road trips are becoming about far more than sightseeing. A survey of 2,158 travellers and motorhome owners across seven European countries found that 83 per cent would consider a campervan trip to help them process a major life event.

The company’s data points to a growing phenomenon it calls “road trip therapy”, in which the open road offers the time, space and freedom to work through life’s biggest transitions away from the pressures of everyday routine.

Retirement (54 per cent) and burnout (50 per cent) topped the list of reasons cited, but the emotional pull ran deeper. One in three respondents (33 per cent) said they would consider a campervan journey following a break-up or divorce, while more than a quarter (26 per cent) would take to the road after losing a loved one. Almost 30 per cent would set off during a career change, and 19 per cent would use a trip to help adjust to empty nest syndrome.

The appetite for switching off was just as striking. Almost four in ten travellers (39 per cent) said they would actively seek out destinations with no phone signal or Wi-Fi, with most reporting that just a few days offline was enough to feel recharged. It is a pattern that chimes with a wider wellbeing shift, from the surge in digital detox stays that has defined the British break this year to the dark-sky escapes drawing travellers to the quietest corners of the map.

The restorative payoff appears to be real. Road trips scored an average wellbeing rating of 88.6 per cent for improving mood and outlook, while 79 per cent of respondents said they felt refreshed for longer after a campervan trip than after a hotel or resort holiday. A further 81 per cent said they had taken a road trip that left a lasting impact on their lives.

For business travellers weighing up how to spend hard-won downtime, the findings land at a telling moment. With households hunting for affordable, flexible ways to travel, campervan holidays are opening up coastlines, national parks, countryside boltholes and hidden gems closer to home, without surrendering the sense of adventure once reserved for long-haul. It is the same instinct driving the rise of slow, restorative stays and the growing habit of turning a work trip into a domestic get-away worth extending for.

Goboony currently connects travellers with more than 25,000 vehicles and says it has helped 1.7 million people explore the UK and Europe. On this evidence, a good number of them are looking for something more than a change of scenery.