Well-being in digital-free tourism: A mixed-methods rhythmanalysis

Tourism research has largely treated well-being as a motivation or outcome, neglecting how it unfolds in-situ and relying on self-report data. Through a mixed-methods rhythmanalysis, this study examines how well-being emerges and evolves in digital-free tourism. Following 23 participants through three-night digital-free cabin stays, we integrate electrodermal activity, interviews, and diaries to capture embodied experiences of disconnection. Participants experienced rhythmic re-attunement from linear, digital temporalities towards cyclical, embodied rhythms aligned with nature and interpersonal connection. Physiological data showed varied responses to disconnection and fewer detected skin conductance responses post-trip, supporting qualitative accounts of calm and rhythmic re-attunement. Through attunement, plenitude, stillness, and reflexivity, we reconceptualise well-being as a dynamic rhythmic process shaped through embodied experiences, environmental cues, and relational synchrony.