Self-directed inner recalibration: a grounded theory of inner tourism among solo travelers

This study develops a constructivist grounded theory of inner tourism to explain how solo travelers actively turn inward during journeys. Based on interviews and field notes from 30 participants, the analysis identifies five stages: strategic withdrawal, spatial–emotional resetting, embodied slowdown, interior emergence, and initial inner dialogue. These stages are integrated by the core category of self-directed inner recalibration, capturing how travelers adjust psychological boundaries, spatial environments, bodily rhythms, emotional openness, and reflective attention to restore inner balance. Rather than viewing inner tourism as a spontaneous emotional episode, destination-induced state, or variant of wellbeing or spiritual tourism, the study conceptualizes it as a self-organized inward process. The findings offer a context-sensitive model that refines transformative tourism, solitude and slow travel, and spiritual–eudaimonic scholarship by specifying micro-mechanisms through which inward change may unfold. It offers practical implications for designing low-pressure tourism environments that support reflection and emotional decompression.