Simple Living: Consumers Want to Get Closer to Nature, Food and Place

Consumers are seeking simpler experiences built around nature, local food and a stronger sense of place, with the rise of U.K. farm stays showing how travel is turning this desire into a new kind of rural escape. Farmcation bookings on Airbnb are up 14% versus last summer, led by Gen Z travellers seeking fresh air, slower travel and good food.

Why This Trend Matters Right Now: Consumers Want to Feel Closer to Real Life

Consumers are surrounded by speed, screens and convenience, increasing the appeal of experiences that feel slower, simpler and more connected to the physical world. Nature, locally produced food and visible origins offer consumers opportunities to understand where things come from and reconnect with everyday experiences that can otherwise feel distant.

Travel is becoming an important expression of this desire. Farm stays combine fresh air and slower days with opportunities to eat local produce, explore working landscapes and experience rural life firsthand. Kip Hideaways reports a 50% increase in farm-stay listings over two years, with food and connection to the landscape becoming major attractions.

➡️ Why It Matters: Consumers increasingly value experiences that help them slow down and feel closer to nature, food and place.

Why Consumers Are Changing: Knowing Where Things Come From Matters More

Consumers increasingly want to understand the origins of what they eat, buy and experience. Local production, visible craftsmanship and natural environments make consumption feel more tangible, understandable and connected to everyday life.

Farm stays turn this behaviour into a travel experience. At Knepp, visitors can see produce growing in the Market Garden, eat it at the Wilding Kitchen and learn about biodiversity, regenerative farming and rewilding. Food becomes a direct connection between the visitor, the farm and the landscape surrounding them.

➡️ Consumer Insight: Consumers increasingly value seeing, understanding and experiencing where things come from.

Who Is Driving This Trend: Simplicity-Seeking Consumers

Simplicity-Seeking Consumers are looking for experiences that provide a break from busy, highly connected lifestyles. They value nature, good food and authenticity, but they do not necessarily want to abandon modern comfort. Simple Living is becoming less about giving things up and more about choosing experiences that feel grounded and meaningful.

In travel, this creates demand for rural escapes that combine nature with quality hospitality. Gen Z is helping drive the farmcation boom, but the appeal also extends to food-focused travellers, couples, families and urban consumers looking for a meaningful change of pace.

Core Audience: Consumers looking for simpler, more natural and grounded experiences.

Secondary Audience: Gen Z travellers, food-focused consumers, couples, families and urban consumers seeking a break from everyday routines.

Age: Broad appeal, with Gen Z helping accelerate current farm-stay demand.

Lifestyle: Busy and digitally connected but increasingly attracted to nature, local food, sustainability and slower experiences.

Travel Behaviour: Chooses destinations for the complete experience surrounding the stay, including landscape, food, activities and connection to local life.

Core Motivations: Feeling Closer to Real Life Matters Most

Simplicity: Consumers want experiences that provide relief from complicated, fast-moving everyday routines.

Nature: Consumers want to spend more time in natural environments and open spaces.

Food: Consumers value fresh food with a visible connection to where it was grown or produced.

Authenticity: Consumers seek experiences that feel genuinely connected to local places, people and traditions.

Discovery: Consumers enjoy learning how food is produced and landscapes are managed.

Comfort: Consumers want simpler experiences that still provide quality, convenience and attractive surroundings.

➡️ Key Insight: Simplicity-Seeking Consumers want nature, food and authenticity without giving up the comfort they value.

Why Everyone Is Talking About It: Simple Living Is Getting a Premium Upgrade

Simple Living no longer necessarily means rustic or basic. Consumers can reconnect with nature and food while staying in architectural cabins, eating restaurant-quality meals and enjoying beautifully designed surroundings. This makes the lifestyle attractive to a much broader audience.

Travel is making this combination especially visible. Daylesford Organic combines its farm with restaurants, cottages and farm-adjacent pubs, while Knepp combines rewilding with glamping, walking, safaris, a Market Garden and its Wilding Kitchen.   The result is a new form of rural hospitality where simplicity and quality reinforce each other.

➡️ Conversation Driver: Simple Living becomes more desirable when consumers can reconnect with nature and place without sacrificing quality or comfort.

Viral Potential: Natural Experiences Give Consumers Something Real to Share

Nature, kitchen gardens, seasonal produce, animals and beautiful rural accommodation provide naturally visual material for social platforms. These experiences connect with the popularity of cottagecore and slower lifestyles while giving consumers a real-world version of the aesthetic they see online.

Farm stays add participation to that visual appeal. Travellers can explore farms, discover how ingredients are grown, eat locally produced food and learn about regenerative agriculture. The experience becomes more shareable because consumers have a personal story behind the image.

➡️ Viral Insight: Simple Living becomes highly shareable when consumers can experience the natural lifestyle they admire online for themselves.

Marketing Strategy: Make Simplicity Feel Valuable

Brands can respond to Simple Living by helping consumers feel closer to products, places and processes. Making origins visible, simplifying experiences and creating opportunities for participation can transform ordinary products and services into something more meaningful.

Business Area	Strategy	Description
Product	Bring consumers closer	Build products and experiences around nature, local origins and visible production.
Pricing	Value the experience	Show how quality, provenance and meaningful experiences create additional consumer value.
Promotion	Tell the origin story	Show where products come from, who produces them and what makes them distinctive.
Distribution	Connect product and place	Bring retail, hospitality, food and experiences together so consumers can explore more of the story.
Innovation	Make production visible	Turn gardens, farms, kitchens, workshops and sustainable processes into consumer experiences.

➡️ Strategic Insight: Brands can make Simple Living commercially powerful by helping consumers feel closer to the origins, people and places behind what they consume.

Trend Snapshot: Consumers Are Rediscovering the Value of Simpler Experiences

Farm stays provide one visible example of a much broader movement toward slower, more natural and more understandable consumer experiences. Simple Living can influence travel, food, retail, wellness, beauty, home and other industries wherever consumers want a stronger connection to what they consume.

Trend Area	Insight
Broad Trend – Simple Living	Consumers increasingly seek simpler experiences that reconnect them with nature, food, people and place.
Industry Trend – New-Era Farm Stays	Rural hospitality combines stylish accommodation with food, farming and nature.
Lifestyle Trend – Slower Living	Consumers seek more grounded moments that provide relief from fast everyday routines.
Strategy – Create Connection	Businesses can help consumers understand and experience the people, places and processes behind what they buy.
Consumer Motivation – Feeling Closer to Real Life	Consumers seek simplicity, nature, food, authenticity, discovery and comfort.
Business Opportunity – Meaningful Simplicity	Brands can create value by making natural origins, local connections and simpler experiences more accessible.
Innovation Outlook – Visible Origins	More industries can turn provenance and production into meaningful parts of the consumer experience.

➡️ Trend Snapshot Insight: Simple Living creates value by making consumers feel closer to the natural, local and human stories behind everyday experiences.

Final Thought: Simpler Living Does Not Have to Mean Giving Up Comfort

The new generation of farm stays shows how traditional ideas about rural simplicity are evolving. Knepp attracts around 140,000 annual visitors to its rewilded estate, while its accommodation, Market Garden and Wilding Kitchen turn the landscape into a complete visitor experience.  The Pig's planned 35-room Warwickshire farm hotel will similarly centre the experience around kitchen gardens, estate meats and hyperlocal food.

The wider opportunity goes beyond travel. Consumers can seek Simple Living through local food, natural beauty, wellness, home products, retail experiences and other choices that make everyday life feel more grounded. Farm stays demonstrate how businesses can translate that desire into experiences that combine authenticity with modern expectations.

➡️ Final Insight: Simple Living is becoming more attractive as brands make nature, local origins and slower experiences easier to enjoy without sacrificing quality or comfort.

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/why-farm-hotels-are-trending-in-the-uk-and-should-you-try-one