Booked Retreats

Stuck in the hustle and bustle of city life, many people are craving for a proper ‘pause’ and ‘full-stop’, both figuratively and literally. More and more people are looking for booktopia hideaways to read, write and simply relax. No socially awkward small talk. No wellness gyaan. No travel to-do list. Just a moment in the reads!

“Booktopia retreats are like a quiet nervous system. They reduce anxiety and allow memory pathways to reset,” says Aparna Verma, Counselling Psychologist & Co-Founder of Manovriti. Aparna opines that such bootopian retreats help individuals think clearly instead of unconsciously absorbing hive-mind options circulating online. Aparna adds, “Mentally and emotionally, Booktopia nurtures clarity, self-connection and emotional grounding elements that are otherwise often lost in a hyperconnected world.”

These reading and writing retreats are a ‘safe haven’ for people from all walks of life. Across all age groups. They could be in the most unexpected of places. Maybe an old barsati dwelling (terrace room) overlooking the Ganga in Benares, a small homestay in Cherrapunji, a remote beach shack in Gokarna or a cosy hillside outhouse in the Nilgiris. A perfect getaway for the brain. Less hustle. More chapters. Less scrolling and more scribbling. Point being, at Booktopia silence isn’t boring, it’s electric. Imagine, a bunch of readers sunk deep into bean bags under trees or writers tapping away in sunlit corners or sketch artists doodling in hammocks and poets turning their morning coffee into metaphors! You can almost hear silence wave its wand and the sound of creativity spurt through the quiet.

“Book retreats and booktopia ventures are becoming more common due to the bustle of city life,” says Vanshika Paharia from Mumbai. Vanshika points out the importance of deliberate disconnecting. She believes that when one reads, it isn’t just about mechanically reading through words. It’s about willingly stepping away from the outside chaos.

Vanshika says, “To read is to dive deeper — to introspect, absorb a story, and keep turning it over in your mind long after the last page.” She admits that despite having finished more than 24 books this year, very few have truly seeped into her system.

For many, the reason to dive into reading retreats is the relentless hustle of work life. The nonstop rush that comes with living in a city. There’s hardly any stillness, hardly any pause —just enough time to sit and read. Reading retreats offer the space and the mental breathing room to let stories finally sink in.

Kruthika Kumar, Curator of Bessy Reads, from Chennai, says, “Personally, I prefer taking my books outdoors, finding a quiet spot by the shore, and simply reading.” She feels that something so simple can offer her the emotional balance she needs most. She adds, “Books reveal many answers when we read them in peaceful places.

Those answers help shape our emotional well-being.” Kruthika also observes that, in recent times, more people seem to feel the need to step outside their homes and spend time in greener spaces with a book for company. For her, these small escapes into nature are more than just leisure —they are moments of grounding. Kruthika believes that disconnecting from everyday noise and immersing oneself in a calm, natural environment creates space for reflection, clarity, and emotional renewal.

While books are the central theme in reading retreats, the location matters too. Aparna says, “Most people prefer calm, sensory-soothing locations such as seaside retreats, mountain stations, forest cabins or lakeside homestays.”

Aparna opines that such places naturally reduce digital cravings and ease nomophobia by offering a sense of grounded presence. People choose places that reflect the inner calm they wish to experience.

A fascinating fact is that studies in environmental psychology also point out that natural surroundings can lower cognitive load and improve attention restoration. Vanshika shares, “I usually prefer mountains or beach houses, anywhere away from the city with greenery, nature, birds and a lot of space works.”

Reading retreats are not simply random escapes – they are deliberate acts of reclaiming attention in a world that constantly fractures it. Moreso, in a culture where constant noise has become the norm, choosing to step away and immerse yourself in reading and writing is an act of reclaiming your own mind. Aparna adds, “It restores one’s ability to exist without constant digital companionship and reminds us that mental spaciousness is a human need.”

These reading retreats force a temporary ‘pause’, not an escape or a permanent ‘full stop.’ So that the return lands with clarity.