Once confined to cubicles and corner offices, professionals are now logging in from sunlit terraces, mountain lodges, and seaside cafés. The rise of the "workcation" — a hybrid of work and vacation — is no longer a fringe experiment.¹ It’s become a new way in how and where people work.

Productivity vs. leisure time

A workcation blurs the line between productivity and leisure. It’s not time off in the traditional sense. Deadlines still get met. Meetings still happen. But when the laptop closes, there might be a hiking trail, a local market, or a stretch of coastline waiting outside the door. As hybrid and remote work arrangements continue to expand, the definition of a workday is stretching, too.

Owl Labs’ 2024 State of Hybrid Work report shows that 66% of employees work remotely at least once a week, and 22% are fully remote.² Flexibility, once considered a perk, has become a non-negotiable for many. Empower research shows that 26% of workers would consider a lower-paying job if it offered unlimited PTO, while 19% wouldn’t accept a new job without it. Nearly one in five say they’ve taken a vacation in the past year without using PTO days or telling their supervisor.

Read more: Savoring the moment: More Americans embrace slow travel

Fueled by burnout, powered by Wi-Fi

The rise of the workcation can be traced back to early-pandemic burnout. When home and office became one and the same, the novelty wore off quickly.³ Seeking a change of scenery became more than a luxury — it became a form of self-preservation. A new zip code didn’t solve everything, but it offered perspective, routine disruption, and just enough novelty to keep things interesting.

In a study highlighted by Forbes, 98% of respondents expressed a desire to work remotely at least part of the time for the rest of their careers.⁴ For many, the goal isn’t to escape work — it’s to experience life beyond the walls of a traditional office while staying productive.

Digital nomad or desk-hopper?

The term “digital nomad” often conjures images of passport stamps and remote beach towns everywhere from Thailand to Greece.⁵ But workcations are more grounded — often short bursts of remote work from new places rather than an all-out lifestyle shift. Among all employees, 58% have already taken a workcation, working remotely from places besides a home office or coworking space, with 26% saying they’ve done it two to three times in the past year.⁶

Some of the top cities to serve as workcation hubs include New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona and Beijing, with Budapest ranking as the top location, according to a recent study that looked at everything from climate and culture to broadband speed and the availability of flexible workspaces.⁷

The psychology of changing scenery

There’s more than wanderlust behind this movement. Research in environmental psychology supports the idea that changing one’s surroundings, particularly by spending time in nature, can boost problem-solving skills and promote cognitive flexibility.⁸ Even small changes to a daily routine, such as exercising or exposure to sunshine have been shown to improve mood and mental energy by boosting serotonin.⁹

In the Owl Labs study, 49% of remote and hybrid workers said their mental health improved when they had the freedom to change their work setting.¹⁰ That boost doesn’t have to come from a transatlantic flight — sometimes a new coffee shop or a weekend away can be enough to reset the brain.

Read more: America's cities are back: Where people are moving

The evolving rules of time off

The workcation is also rewriting the rules of PTO. In a hybrid world, presence is less about being seen at a desk and more about results.¹¹

However, the same blurring of boundaries that makes workcations appealing can also come with drawbacks as some people never quite fully unplug. According to Empower research, nearly half of workers check email while on vacation, and 42% go a step further and respond. In that same study, 35% say they get anxious when asking for time off.

Not just a trend, but a shift

The workcation is no longer limited to influencers and freelancers.¹² It’s showing up across industries and income brackets. As the workplace becomes less tethered to any one location, this blend of productivity and exploration is carving out a lasting place in professional culture.