Tell your family you’re going on vacation with friends and you’ll probably hear, “Have fun!”. Tell them you’re going alone and suddenly everyone wants to know whether you’re okay. Solo travel still makes some people uneasy because vacations have traditionally been imagined as shared experiences. Yet traveling alone is increasingly common, and research suggests choosing solitude is very different from actually being lonely.

Explore spiritual destinations around the world where sacred rituals, ancient temples, pilgrimage traditions, and breathtaking landscapes create powerful experiences that photographs simply cannot capture. Discover why travelers must visit firsthand.

Canada’s best known destinations get plenty of attention, but smaller communities can deliver just as much scenery, history, food, and character. Condé Nast Traveler has highlighted places including Waterton, Canmore, Gimli, Elora, Saint Andrews, and Lunenburg among Canada’s most charming small towns. Many of the places that follow pair walkable centers with easy access to lakes, mountains, coastlines, or historic sites. For travelers willing to build a road trip around smaller dots on the map, the payoff can be substantial.

Your parents chose to book a trip near your vacation, but that does not automatically turn the two trips into one shared itinerary. A boundary is a limit on how much you participate in a relationship or activity, according to the American Psychological Association. You can be happy to see your parents without handing over every morning, afternoon, and dinner of your vacation. The first step is recognizing that proximity does not create an obligation to spend every day together.