Wellness Travel: Retreat, Refresh, and Re-Energize

Wellness.  I don’t know about you, but it is top of mind for me these days.  It has certainly been a stress-filled year.  I expect it has been for you as well.  But how would wellness combine with travel experiences?  What would that look like and, perhaps more importantly, why do I want and need it?

The answer will be different for each of us, and certainly we cannot fully define it in one short article.  You have undoubtedly heard that phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know”?  Donald Rumsfeld first said it when discussing terrorism intelligence, but we hear it often in regard to many topics these days.

My own personal journey seeking wellness began a very long time ago, when first becoming a mom to (eventually) our three boys.  The desire to provide the best nutrition, movement, and physical well-being for me and my family was focused, and I read constantly to keep up with knowledge as it was provided by “experts” in the world.

That was over 40 years ago now, and my men are healthy and happy.  Of course, that was the goal all along!  Raising my boys to be wonderful young men, good fathers and loving companions is my greatest achievement, to be sure.

Something devastating happened to me.  In late 1999, after giving blood for the first time I received a letter from the blood bank in the mail saying I had Hepatitis C and should see a doctor! (I was a small woman and in child-bearing years so never had given blood during those years.)   My well-being became uncertain in that moment, and after two failed and nasty chemo-like treatments, I resolved further to remain vigilant about my health so I might stay alive until treatment was successful.  Yes, it eventually came 15 years later, thank God!

And then I flew solo for some time, working diligently myself and my own physical and emotional well-being.  This health journey of mine is a big part of my story now, and as annoying as I may be to friends and family when I share tidbits of my knowledge and practices, I PROMISE, it’s only because I love and care for you!

Fast forward to today.  I recently began a new sort of wellness journey by enrolling in and aligning with an educational program all about Wellness Travel.  I will be sharing much more as I follow this path of my education.  I am energized and excited about the doors it may open to me, and in return the opportunities I will be able to provide to you, my friends, industry colleagues, and current and future travel clients.

So, what exactly is Wellness Travel, you ask?  First, it’s a growing segment of the wellness industry, which is huge and getting larger, especially as we enter the post-pandemic economy.   The short answer is that Wellness Travel is a journey to seek an improved state of health and well-being.

The Wellness Tourism association describes Wellness Travel to be: “Travel that allows the traveler to maintain, enhance or kick-start a healthy lifestyle and support or increase one’s sense of well-being.”  That’s a good definition.

In This Life Wellness Travel defines it this way:

“Wellness Travel is a proactive approach to health and well-being, offering time-out from the stresses of our modern-day world, with a chance to rest,  reconnect to nature, the earth, and your mind and body through various treatments and activities which, specific to you, will reignite your spirit.”

I would love to add that it is further defined by what you are seeking in your own personal life.

But there’s more to it than that, right?  Do you feel energized while being in nature?  Do you find it restful simply listening to bird sounds, ocean waves lapping the shore, planting your feet on the soft earth on a mountain path?  Mind and body benefit!  When you feel balanced and sense a wholeness of your physical, spiritual and mental state, things just flow easily, don’t they?

As I study further to gain more knowledge, I will be better able to guide you in the right choice of destination, lodging, activity and treatment modalities.  For now, know that if and when you decide you would love to experience a holiday with a focus on your well-being, it will be my pleasure and honor to recommend a unique and wonderful solution.

In the meantime, I wish you… 

Peace, Bobbie