What’s A ‘Sneaky Euro Trip’?

As social media users, we’ve progressed a great deal in how we use our favorite apps following a vacation. We went from uploading over 80 unedited, unfiltered photos in a Facebook album to strategically publishing aesthetic Instagram photo dumps, back to unedited images again.

But now there’s a new trend when it comes to social media and traveling ― and it involves not using the apps at all.

This year has become the year of the “sneaky Euro trip.” In a viral TikTok, user Daniel Bennett explained that this is “basically when your friends and acquaintances go dark on social media and when they resurface, they’re in Europe. Radio silence followed by Mykonos.” This is something that he has predominantly observed in people ages 21-35.

According to Bennett, there are three simple steps to taking a sneaky Euro trip: request time off without revealing why, don’t tell a single person online or upload pre-trip content, and then later do the big reveal. (Extra bonus points if you don’t post until you’re home and the trip is done.)

“The only way to reveal it is to post a picture of a body of water with an adult beverage,” he said. But really, any content after a social media hiatus should do the trick.

The concept, also known as a “hush vacation” or an “impulse getaway,” has been gaining in popularity in recent years thanks to an increase in travel following the pandemic — not to mention the fact that people need a break from their life and social media for their own well-being.

“Unplugging from social media and living in the moment is truly liberating and not done enough. Sharing photos to social media, just for the sake of it, is often a waste of your time unless it’s related to your career. Ask yourself, what’s the goal behind these posts or stories? What will it do for me?” said Dr. Sue Varma, a board-certified psychiatrist.

Kseniya Korneva, a real estate agent in Tampa, Florida, booked a five-day trip to the South of France, Cannes and Nice and didn’t finalize the itinerary until a week before the trip. In her profession, it can be tough to plan vacations in advance when she might be in the midst of a time-sensitive deal or have in-person showings for clients; as a result, she did inform her business partner she was going away just to have someone who could cover for her. But on social media, she remained mostly silent.

“I travel often and I never want it to seem like I’m…