The Decibel - Why people are taking vacations to pick up new skills

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

The demands of modern life seem to grow every day, leaving little time for people to pursue hobbies. Many Canadians are leaving vacation time unused. In light of this, a growing number of people have started devoting their vacations to intensive workshops, where they can pick up new skills or hone a craft. Toronto-based audio journalist and frequent Decibel producer Allie Graham recently looked into the phenomenon of “skillcations” to find out how people across the country are spending their vacations in the pursuit of hobbies. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Do you ever feel like you just don't have time for hobbies? Between work, school, kids, parents, pets, commuting, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, our days are usually packed to the brim. By the time you get everything done, there often isn't much time left to do what you want to do. Which is why more people now are taking something called a skillcation. The idea is that instead of taking a vacation somewhere, you're taking time to do something. Ali Graham is a Toronto-based audio journalist and frequent decibel producer. You've probably heard her name in our credits.

She spoke with people taking these skill cations across the country, and she's here today to tell us why people are taking their precious time off to learn new skills, how it can actually be pretty relaxing. And what it is about this moment. moment that's making these trips so appealing. I'm Rachel Levy McLaughlin in for Cheryl Sutherland, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. Allie, so nice to have you in studio. So good to be here, Rachel. Thank you for having me. Of course. So skillcation was a new term for me. What exactly are we talking about? What is the skillcation? Yeah, so skillcation and I don't know if you've

heard hobbycation, but they're kind of interchangeable. And it's what you're, you know, you'd think it's a portmanteau. And it's that you are taking a vacation that is revolved around learning a skill, improving a skill. Essentially, you're going somewhere or staying somewhere to do something the whole time versus sightseeing or some sort of adventure where you walk around 30K steps a day. Yeah. And what kind of things are people doing? Oh my God, so many things. I mean, I recently went to a pottery camp for a week, but across Canada there are things like woodworking, sewing camps. They're cultural slash language immersion experiences you can take, music camps.

So it really runs the gamut. Anything you could think of at this point you could maybe do for a week. You wrote about this for the globe. You mentioned that you did, of course, yourself. Can you tell me about the ceramics camp that you did? How does it work? What's the setup for someone who hasn't been on a stay vacation? Totally.

So the thing I've done for two summers now is go to Halliburton in Ontario. So it's about a four-hour drive from Toronto where I live. And I've gone just with a friend. I've also gone with my partner and some other friends this past June. And it's a week-long course at Fleming College, which is an art school there. And essentially, it's a 9 to 5, sometimes 9 to 8 p.m. experience where you are doing it's a long day. And basically I'm at the wheel the entire time with like covered head to toe clay. And yeah, you're essentially just getting to, you're.

You know, our studios open up to the forest that we're right beside, and you are learning as much as you can from the teacher that's in all week. And you're trying to throw as many bowls, vases, cups as I possibly can. And hopefully they all come out at the end. But, yeah, it's really wonderful. It's like tons of class time. And then I go home to a cabin we rented and we swim and eat yummy food together. What made you want to do this in the first place, this intensive camp? So as already stated, I love a hobby.

I have a few of them. And the thing that I find challenging as someone who becomes obsessed with things is there, as an adult, there are very, very few opportunities to really, really get immersed in the learning and to spend a ton of time really getting the hang of things or improving. And so, for example, all over the, like in all major cities, you could take any number of classes in crafts or like sports clinics or what have you that are available as like a one-on-a-one-a-one-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. that are available as like a one-off weekend thing or a one-off day camp for adults or just in the evenings. And what I found is that it's not enough for me. It's not enough. You need more. I need more.

In part because, you know, all of us have busy lives. I don't want to think about, okay, I need to rush home after this and start cooking dinner. Or I'm also trying to see a friend who's in town and I need to immediately head over there or even just, you know, sometimes work runs late. And then I'm like, well, I'm going to miss my class. And it does feel a little bit like when we have these week-long or one-day things, it's a taste of what we really want, which is that experience of getting fully in it. How different is this from a regular vacation? I've heard of people doing themed trips, like a hiking trip, you go somewhere and you hike a specific trail or you do a surfing trip or you go to Italy and take a bunch of cooking classes. What's the difference here?

Yeah. So what I looked into specifically for this piece for the globe was. the experience is offered like this in Canada. And with that comes less logistics. I'm not worried about currency exchange, a language difference. I'm not necessarily distracted by needing to roam the city for five hours. You've been to Halliburton before. I've been to Halliburton before.

But also say, I think there's less logistics you're worrying about. And also there's less distraction. Like I'm going somewhere for a specific experience versus if I'm going to, seeing my friend who went to Peru for the surfing camp. I'm surfing during the day, but I'm also thinking, okay, I need to check out this bakery. I need to go to this UNESCO protected site. I need to. So there's more happening there that I think could lead you to feel exhausted on these trips. Do we have any data? Do you have any numbers here on how much this is increasing? Yeah. So specifically in Canada, we don't have a lot of numbers, but we do have numbers on an international

scale. So the Hilton 20206 trend report found that 72% of travelers expressed a desire to take time off to explore a personal passion or hobby, which is a high percentage. A high percentage. And that survey, it's conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Hilton. The findings were from June 2025, and they had spoken to people who, around 14,000 people internationally, who were all taking trips within the next year. That's kind of what we're seeing now is over the past year, this explosion and interest around skill cations and hobbycations. And then also Condi Nast Traveler highlighted the rise of this craft-led travel specifically. What did you hear from people you spoke with about why they wanted to do this trip? It was interesting. So there was someone I spoke to who, her name's Katie Buckley.

She's a grant writer early 30s in Toronto. And she grew up ice skating and loved it. Never was going to go pro, but always really enjoyed doing it. Ended up teaching at one point. And And a couple years ago, she did a ice skating training camp with Skate Canada. And it was about a week long. And part of it is this interest in, you know, like for me, I'm like, I want to microdose art school. For other people, they're like, what if I could have gone pro? Like, especially she knows a lot of people who are professional skaters. And so she wanted to skate more. But she also wanted this experience of like, what would it feel like if actually every day I was skating? And I was learning from coaches about like how to eat well for skating. What's the mental? kind of strength you need to like push through and all these things, which was part of this camp. And so I think there is like an interesting like I want to experience this other life I could have had. For others, Lorraine Ashton, who's 65, a United Church minister on Bowen Island in BC. Every summer she goes to a music camp called Nimble Fingers up in Sereno, BC. It's about a like five-hour drive. And like one of her main passions is playing music with her friends on Bowen Island. And, you know,

I got to a point where she's like, there are these songs I'm hearing, there's music that other friends can play, and I want to be able to play it. The instructors are really high caliber, and so you really have to pay attention. And if you want to get your money's worth and you come away with something to hold on to practice for the rest of the year, then you've got to kind of really dive in and really focus. And that's one of the things that makes it actually fun, is that you can have little breakthroughs. Oh, I couldn't do that last year. but now I get it. For her and for others, there is this real satisfaction out of trying hard and seeing shifts in your own abilities. What about from the people who are leading the workshops?

What did you hear from them about why they think it's so appealing for people? Yeah, so I spoke to a man named Tom Fidgin, and he's an author and owner of the Unplugged Woodshop. It's based in Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. and I was asking him about, like, who are these people who are, like, signing up to be sweaty? And you're, like, classroom on an island that they have to fly very far from. And it's not cheap, necessarily. Like, who are these people who are wanting to, like, hand carve at a wood station for hours and hours? And, you know, a lot of the people that are going, and people are coming from all over Canada, he's had, and also all over the world.

A lot of people from the U.S., there are people from Japan. there are people from New Zealand. Like, it's a real mix. And he said it's mostly people at this point in their 30s, though there is a huge age range. And he said that there's also a lot of people who work desk jobs, a lot of people who are on screens all day. And he really emphasized that he believes this is about what's physical. When you are at your bench now for six days, you know, come Wednesday, people are like, man, I didn't even know I had muscles there. And being able to create something you can see.

see and feel and show people. And also just this tangible connection, he really believes people are craving it more. Yeah, there's something about making something physical. Yeah. And I think, you know, there is a lot of burnout amongst people who work desk jobs and, you know, these jobs aren't getting less stressful in this period we're in. And I think there is something about staring at a block of wood that is somehow relaxing at this point for a number of. of people. And so that's what he's seen. We'll be right back. All right, All right, Allie, this all sounds lovely.

How much does it cost to do a trip like this? How does that compare to other vacations that people might take? You know, they range. It depends on the course you're going to. It depends if it's in province or if you're going across the country for it. So, for example, when I went to Fleming College in Halliburton, which, again, is like around a four to five-hour drive, there and back from Toronto, all in for the course, cabin, some materials I got like clay, and then, you know, food on the road, groceries, all that and gas.

I paid around $1,800. And so that was for a week. What I will say is with Tom's course, you're looking at more like $1,500 for that week long. This is the woodworking in Nova Scotia. And so for his unplugged woodchop courses, the week long is $1,500. And you're having to get there if you're not based around the East Coast. And so it's flight and then room and board as well. And so I will say for those interested, a lot of arts colleges are hosting courses like this. There are also some options in Alberta

that are similar to Fleming. And when you're going to schools, it is, I think, going to be a little bit cheaper than if you're going to an individual business who's offering one of these courses. And so that's something to weigh as well. What I will say is even when upfront costs can look similar to a trip abroad, you're not really. really spending a lot of money once you're on this trip. So yeah. As we've talked about, this sounds like it can be a lot of work. So how does doing something so demanding help you relax? So what I would say is that I am someone who tries to do too much in my day-to-day life. And, you know, when I'm on vacation, if I'm like in a different city, even though it's so fun getting this like

experience outside of my life and you're kind of pulled away from commitments when you're in a different place already. But what I'm not pulled away from is my phone. And I'm not pulled away from constantly having to look things up. Like if I'm walking around a city, I'm going, okay, how is this place that we're looking at? How many more steps to get to this other place? Are we late? Who has the tickets for this thing? There's still this kind of logistics management that I find is the stressful part of those trips, even though it's so fun in the end, right? With the skillcation, my mind is truly turned off. I am going to a class where someone else has outlined what I am doing all day. I think it's so relieving to have less choice, even though I love my freedom, but it feels really,

really good to not have to think so much about what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and what I'm doing next. And then also, you know, a lot of these experiences are sometimes they're in smaller towns, and so there's already kind of that peacefulness. And you're in nature a lot of the time with these experiences too. And so there is that combination that I think serves really well to make you just kind of feel at ease. And then again, when you're doing physical things, it's hard to scroll. And so you really are getting a break mentally too. All you can think about is the block of wood or the vase. Yeah, the block of wood in front of you. Yeah. Did you come back from your trip feeling relaxed? I did. Yeah. I felt really relaxed. There were a couple times where I, I've

I was still challenged to remember that I was on a vacation. For anyone who's done pottery before, you have to do multiple firings. Like, things can be very finicky. And there's only a small window where you can throw as much stuff as you want to hopefully get it in the end done. And so there were a couple nights where you could stay at the studio, you could be at the studio for 12 to 14 hours in a day. And so I think there are some moments where even if you're like going on a trip to learn as much as you can and improve and be productive. and this thing you care about, you know, no matter what, you still need to be checking in with yourself and kind of creating some balance where it's like, yes, I've had a lot of fun, but also like,

I've been sitting at this wheel for a long time now. I can go swim. I can go for a hike or what have you. What do you think it says about how we manage our time that people are using precious vacation time to focus so intensely on a hobby? I think it says we just don't have enough time. More of us are stressed about work even when we're not at work. The Globe actually reported this past year that less people are taking their vacation time in general. We did a whole episode. You did a whole episode on that. And I think that there's a real sense of a fear around work right now, about stability, about permanence with our roles. And I think that in part what is driving this is a desire to have something else. You know, so many of us have our family's work. And so many of us,

social time. And I think, at least for myself, I'm wanting to build out more of my identity and more of what makes me feel confidence, more of what gives me worth. And it's not that it needs to be that I'm producing other things and that's why I'm worthy. But it feels really, really good to exist outside of these spaces and to be a person in more places. You're not just Ali, the producer. Exactly. There's many facets of Alley. Exactly. It feels really, really good to also be like an amateur potter and a traveling volleyball player. And, you know, it's more life. It's more experience.

It feels really good to exist in these other ways. What do you think it is about this moment right now that's bringing people to these trips? Like, is there something about this specific moment? Yeah, I mean, part of it is, I think, this, like, fear around work, but also this, like, burnout. And yet, burnout around screen time as well. And I think a lot of the thing we automatically jump to as like a pressure valve is going on our phones or going on our computers or watching something. And I think that, you know, we're in this also really, really big analog moment of like, how do I deal with my screen addiction? How do I get off my phone?

I think there is this kind of like push back around tech and a desire to be in the world more. And I think when we're doing physical things, it addresses that desire. And then I also do think the other end of this is we're all. also in a major optimization and look at me culture. And so it's like for some people, it's like, they may have a great time, but if you're also focused on like, I need to record all the stuff I'm making and I want to sell it on the side and like it could just as easily feed into this kind of feeling of I have to be doing more and I have to be more. And like this productivity and improvement culture can also be awful too. So how should people be thinking about trips like

this. On the one hand, it sounds in some ways very tranquil and lovely and you're making something physical or making music and learning a new skill. On the other hand, it's like nine to five of doing this one activity. So how do you think people should be thinking about this? I think that no matter what you should be doing something you care about. And so I think it's awesome if people want to take like a skillcation or hobbycation. I think it's also awesome if you want to check and at the resort for a full we could not move. I think I would just consider that there are other options for the way you spend time off. It could look like going to a woodworking course or a sewing camp or what have you. But no matter what, I just think more of us should be doing things that we actually

want to do and investigating that a little bit more. And it's exciting how many options we have. Allie, this was so great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Rachel. That was Ali Graham, a Toronto-based audio journalist and frequent decibel producer. That's it for today. I'm Rachel Leifie McLaughlin in for Cheryl Sutherland. This episode was produced by Amber Ranson and Dave Crosby. Our producers are Madeline White, Bihal Stein, and me. Our editor is David Crosby. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pichenza is our executive editor.

Thanks so much for listening.