I hid out in a 1950 Frank Lloyd Wright house to revive my hibernation hobby and stop doomscrolling

I’d spent most of September—hell, most of 2026—in airports. LGA, LHR, VIE, BCN, FLR—you name the hub, I was probably buying an overpriced Smartwater somewhere inside. So when the sweet folks over at Vrbo invited me to come hide out in one of their coolest vacation rentals for a few days and turn off NYC and the rest of the world, I jumped at the chance.

But this wasn’t just any property: This was the Palmer House, a 1950 Ann Arbor residence designed by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. (That means a lot of gorgeous geometry and zero TVs.) And this wasn’t just any stay: The trip was an IRL tryout of Vrbo’s Unpack ‘27, the company’s annual global report with Expedia and Hotels.com that highlights both the shifts in traveler behavior and the destinations set to dominate itineraries in the year ahead. 

RECOMMENDED: I stayed at one of Vrbo’s top vacation rentals of the year—here’s what it was like

I would be tackling two of the report’s top 2027 trends in one go: “Hobby Hubs” (think destinations made for group crafting weekends, photography retreats, antiquing escapes, etcetera) and “Heartland Hideouts” (smaller, landlocked spots known for their vibrant culture and charm). And after weeks of travel overstimulation and busy work, I was very much looking forward to stepping back in time when things like Microsoft Teams, Slack Channels and Instagram Stories didn’t exist. I was also keen to use the getaway as an excuse to tap back into my long-dormant scrapbooking hobby, to take those travels out of my iPhone’s camera app and put them onto (heavily decorated) paper.

Armed with an absurd amount of craft supplies (yes, you can get through TSA with a guillotine-style paper trimmer, FYI), I moved myself into the Palmer House, a Usonian-style masterpiece with no right angles—even the beds are hexagonal—a seamless connection to the outdoors (the whole place fittingly smells of red cypress wood), and a marked lack of technology. There is WiFi, but most of the available gadgets situated around the home were of an analog nature: mechanical typewriter, film cameras and the like. (Even the kitchen stove was a midcentury original.)

I won’t lie and say that the rental had instant healing properties. The combination of secluded Michigan woodland, floor-to-ceiling windows and my solo-traveler status had me seriously regretting watching Zodiac on the flight over. But soon enough, I started feeling that much-needed nervous system reset, boosted by the transporting architecture, the surrounding greenery and, yes, by turning my f***ing phone off. Without the dreaded pull of doomscrolling, I stickered, glued, embellished and reminisced with abandon, using the property’s teeny backyard teahouse—where the only nearby lifeforms were local deer and the odd wild turkey—as the de facto headquarters for all of my Edward Scissorhands-esque snipping and shearing. It felt as far from Manhattan life as I could get, and as easy as an exhale.

Even with a list of local recommendations from well-meaning friends (yes, I tried the reuben at Zingerman’s and yes, it was only just fine), I found myself wanting to just stay: At the Palmer House itself, sure, but also in that so-called “hobby hub,” where I was disconnected from home distractions but happily connected to a pastime that I thought was just that, in the past. When I needed to give my carpal tunnel a scrapbooking break, I read books or Ann Arbor newspapers around the house; I also took advantage of the cute puzzles and coloring books thoughtfully left behind by the Vrbo hosts.

Soon enough, the high-pitch call of New York and a full Gmail inbox would beckon me back to real life, but for a minute there, I had the peace of an alternate reality, where the couch I was potato-ing on was designed by America’s most famous architect and I had seemingly all the time in the world to go through old photographs and make them into something new.

Want to resurrect an old hobby, all while exploring somewhere new? Check out Vrbo’s list of more “Hobby Hubs” below and book one for yourself; you can also find the full Unpack ‘27 report here for even more travel inspiration.

• The Puzzler's Retreat — Tucson, Arizona, U.S.

• The Photography Maison — New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

• Troubadour Farm — Seattle, Washington, U.S.

• The Dipsea House — San Francisco, California, U.S.

• The Antiquing Villa — Palm Springs, California, U.S.

• The Vintage House — Round Top, Texas, U.S.

• The Birding Nest — Telluride, Colorado, U.S.

• Lake Reflections — Hiwasee, Georgia, U.S.

• The Game Room Retreat — Nekoosa, Wisconsin, U.S.

• The Stargazer’s Lodge — Big Bend, Texas, U.S.