Sometimes just going on vacation can feel like real work. Take some real R&R on your next trip with one of these creative ways to get relaxed.
Meditation Kayaking In the Keys
Book a flight to: Key West, FL
Guests staying at the historic Casa Marina, a historic luxury hotel sitting on the largest private beach in Key West, can merge adventure and zen with a kayak tour around the area that culminates with individual meditation should you seek a moment to escape your thoughts. But as you glide along the winding mangroves around the backside of the island, you’ll be hard-pressed to see the definitive line between adventure and tranquility.
The Spa at Kukui`ula
Book your flight to: Kauai, Hawaii
Kukui’ula is a luxury resort community in Kauai, which includes The Lodge at Kukui’ula. Besides farm-to-table dining—and, oh ya—the beautiful beach, you’ll also find the 18,000-square foot Spa at Kukui`ula—that’s a whole lotta room for chill. Enjoy lava rock saunas, hot and cold plunge pools, and then wash all your worries away in your own outdoor garden shower.
Neon Lights & Yoga In Puerto Rico
Book a flight to: Puerto Rico
From the “Big Island” hop on a charter plane or set sail for the island of Vieques, specifically the W Retreat and Spa. If the private beaches aren’t enough to draw you, the amenities and wellness activities will. One of the resort’s most unique offers is also complimentary. Weekly glow-in-the-dark yoga classes bring body painting, fluorescent black lights, and glow bands to Strala-style flows.
Morning Ritual Near the Grand Canyon
Book your flight to: Sedona, AZ
At Mii Amo, a destination spa and resort not far south of the Grand Canyon, guests can start their morning with intention by joining a meditation session and a smudging ritual (burning of sage) inside an earthen floor grotto. The circular space is designed to connect earth and sky via a domed ceiling with a skylight carefully positioned to frame the sun on the summer and winter solstices. The morning ritual experience is a great way to reset, reenergize, and clear your head before hiking, biking, and exploring all that Sedona has to offer.
Cocoon Naps In the Southwest
Book a flight to: Scottsdale, AZ
We don’t need to tell you that the best part about “school” when you were 5 years old was naptime. Next thing you knew adulting happened and there went your beloved afternoon nap. Feel like a kid again—a well-rested kid—at the Well & Being Spa at the Fairmount in Scottsdale. Choose a 30- or 60-minute nap cozied up in a zero-gravity So Sound® Lounger and finally catch up on some sleep.
Coffee Plantation Views with Your Cardio
Book your flight to: Costa Rica
Your regular run around the neighborhood usually takes a backseat during vacation and is replaced by a boring treadmill inside a poorly equipped hotel gym. (Who wants to be staring at four walls when you could be out on an island adventure?) Costa Rica’s Marriott Hotel San Jose changes all that. A workout with a view of a 30-acre coffee plantation and nearby evergreen rainforest canopy makes any treadmill run a lot more bearable.
AcroYoga Workshops in the Rocky Mountains
Book your flight to: Breckinridge, CO
Take a break from days’ worth of hiking and stretch those tired limbs with some AcroYoga. Workshops are offered at local studio Meta Yoga, but if you’d rather take your zen outdoors (and you’re in Colorado, so who wouldn’t?) you can also get in on the action right in the heart of town in the Riverwalk Center Lawn.
Waterfront Group Painting
Book a flight to: Cape Coral, FL
Standing on the shores of nearby Sanibel Island, you just might see an isle and canvas set up on the waterfront on the Caloosahatchee River. The Westin Cape Coral Resort is partnering with an eclectic local artist to offer group-painting classes on the resort’s lawn. Channel your creativity as you let the breeze take you to a place where deadlines don’t exist and ever you have the skill set of Michelangelo.
