Many people in modern society are searching for greater meaning in their
lives. Modern issues such as excessive materialism, secularism, stress, global
warming and terrorism have led people to search for additional meaning in their
tourism experiences. This paper explores how discontentment with modern life may
influence upon an individual’s travel decisions and experiences. Through
conducting multiple interviews with eleven tourists over an eighteen months period,
this paper explores how the frustrations of modern life influenced the travel
decisions and experiences of tourists engaging in travel with Hands up Holidays, a
tourism operator marketing them as offering meaningful travel. This paper
evidences that tourism experiences can be used as a ward against and relief from
the negativities of modern life. In this way, tourism can be viewed as a potential
antidote against anxiety and depression caused by the stressors of modern living