In a third-hand account of spa-going, I offer you the results from this year's list of best spas, based on a reader poll done by Conde Nast. I tried going directly to the Conde Nast site, but they offered their results with that annoying web trick of forcing you to click here, there and everywhere to see all the results.
Instead, you can go to A Luxury Travel Blog and see all on one page, the top spas in the U.S., Canada, Hawaii (yes, I understand that Hawaii is part of the U.S., but I didn't make up the categories), cruise ship spas, spas in Mexico and Central America, spas in the Atlantic and Caribbean and top hotel spas.
Take the recommendations with a grain of salt...or with a sugar scrub. Theses spas are not being reviewed by us skilled and trained professional journalists, you know, those of us who majored in spa going and can write about it objectively.
But the list of top spas at least gives you some names of places to research if a solo spa vacation is in your cards. While you're researching, of course, investigate what the solo scene is to see if you'd enjoy going alone.
The sound of cross country skis in fresh snow has never mixed with the smell of the sea in my imagination. Until this year.
I met up with my friends Adele and Sheara in Boston last month for our 14th annual cross country ski weekend. After an overnight in Massachusetts, we headed to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, near Portland, a new destination for us.
While my cross country skiing jaunts have never been solo trips, keep reading solo travelers. Everywhere we skied, we saw solo skiers. Mostly female. Several accompanied by dogs. But clearly the ski areas are popular and safe spots for solo skiers.
Fodor's recently ran a blog post on "Luxury for Less." They described five tips for budget spa visits. So why did they include Mandarin Oriental's "Signature Spa Treatments" that cost $450 to $470 for 110 minutes?! (Coincidentally, I've already written about one of the cheapest places they include - BodyHoliday at Le Sport, on St. Lucia. No single supplement.)
Fodor's, what exactly is your definition of "less?" Less than a million dollars? Anyway...
I liked some of the tips for solo travelers. Such as book short stays at hotels close to home. I could use one of those little spa holidays this minute.
If only I weren't going to Mexico in three short weeks...oh wait. I'm thrilled to be going to Mexico in two weeks! Si, estoy muy alegre!!
Any day now, the nice folks at my Spanish school in Guadalajara are going to email me with information about who my host family is for four nights.
Now the trick is working double time at my job to get everything done in advance so I can actually enjoy my vacation. This is why being independently wealthy would come in so handy sometimes.
I wake up but do not get out of bed. The Iron Girl triathlon was the day before. A .6 mile swim, 17 mile bike and 3.4 mile run. I finished. "To finish is to win," as JT, a fellow triathlon "girl" kept telling the eight of us doing it. I won.
In that sense.But I do not know how my muscles will react to vertical. Instead of throwing my legs over the side of the bed, letting my feet hit the floor and my body go upright, I stay on my back and lift my knees to my chest. And pull. Stretch.
I lower my legs. Lift the left one all the way up. Straight. Then reach it across my body to the right so it's perpendicular to the rest of me. And stretch. I repeat on the right side with my left leg. Feels good.
I continue these stretches and gentle exercises. As many as I can remember.All learned nearly two years ago now, at Devon Hiking Spa. "Fit Health into Life" is the spa's tagline, and this is what I'm doing. Fitting healthy stretching into my morning. (Tucson solo trip stories here. Read in reverse chronological order.)
I don't remember all I learned during my week in Tucson. But I remember how good it felt to contemplate morning instead of diving into it. Instead of rushing and buzzing and scrambling to start the day. As I usually do.
I admit I haven't been doing those exercises every day since that trip. But there are mornings when I remember. Either because something aches. Or I'm not willing to get out of bed too quickly.
I also remember my lessons about eating mindfully, not gorging at meals. Not that I can always follow those either. I try to gauge when I'm starting to feel satisfied and stop eating. It doesn't always work but each time I tend to think about my options and often I succeed at "being good."
It is not essential to finish everything on my plate. Sometimes, I find it fascinating how hard it is to stop eating. To purposely leave just one bite. It's a challenge to the irrational desire to finish what's in front of me, even though if that bite weren't there I wouldn't miss it. Try it. Leave one bite of food on your plate at every meal. Can you do it?
What's my point here? My point is, I traveled alone to a beautiful part of the country because no one was able to go with me. Met a nice group of people to hike, eat and exercise with. The health lessons have stayed with me. I would have missed out if I had passed on this trip.
Instead, I have post-triathlon exercises to do, better eating habits than before and fond memories of red rocks, rushing streams, snow in the desert (it was December), skittering critters and intriguing visions of myriad cacti everywhere.
The only down side was getting just a tad too close to one of those cacti. A nice, big prickly pear. And unwillingly taking a bunch of its cactus spines home with me. But even that turned into an up side. It made for a really great story for friends and family.
And, um, let's just say sharp memories for weeks after, as I'd find a spine here and a needle there. I'd love to go again.
And perhaps, hike just a tad more mindfully when amongst the cacti.
The next spa weeks are in September 2009 and January and May 2010.
Here's a fun read on solo travel from the Mail Online, a British Web site. The writer rounds up "the best" (that's subjective, though, isn't it?) "holidays for solo travellers." That is, the "best vacations for solo travelers" in American English (just taking the mickey, that is, kidding the British friend who gave me the heads up on this article).
Not all of the trips will make sense for Americans because they're based on British pounds and are geared to travelers starting in England. Nevermind. The article is a good basis for ideas and a reaffirmation that going solo can work out well for all types of travelers, including those who leave spouse and children behind.
Besides, how often do you hear about people vacationing in the Isles of Scilly, off the Southwestern tip of Great Britain, or hiking the Atlas Mountains in Morocco? It's a fun cultural experience for Americans and other non-Brits just to read the article.
I also like sharing articles like these so I can have other people say what I've been saying all along: that things often work out great when you take the risk of traveling solo.
In the article, a 29-year-old court reporter went snowboarding on her own in the Canadian Rockies because she was "fresh out of a relationship" and had no desire to go on a singles tour. " I thought it would be all couples, but there were only a few. It was really good fun and very bonding."
A 46-year-old divorcee who went to a health sanctuary in Thailand: "At the end of my stay there were six of us eating together – a German headhunter, New York museum curator, Italian lawyer, Greek fund manager and a lecturer."
I bet she stays in touch with at least one or two of these new-found friends.
In Monday's post I asked you to name which item did not belong in Hershey, PA. Now for a rundown of what Hershey has, and the one thing I put on the list that it doesn't. And, finally, whether this is a place for solo travelers.
Hershey has a large amusement park, as well as a minor league hockey team called the Hershey Bears. And a medical center that is the town's largest employer.
Milton Hershey opened a school for orphans that still operates today. And I saw Highmeadow Campground, with its 300 sites, with my own eyes. Who would have thought? A campground at Hershey? (It feels more KOA than Yellowstone in that it is not particularly woodsy rustic. But it's inexpensive and close to the attractions.)
There is a Chocolate Workers Local 464, the union Hershey workers must belong to. And an iceless "ice" skating rink, but let me tell ya, there is no real gliding without ice. Raptors? Yes, you'll find them there. I tried falconry and I highly recommend it.
The rose-filled garden is down the hill from The Hotel Hershey and hosts many weddings. On the way to the new "cottages," which are actually modern stone buildings with luxury rooms good for business retreats, is an activity area with shuffleboard and croquet, along with bocce, horseshoes, volleyball, basketball and tennis. Shockingly non-gimmicky.
There's a spa at the hotel, and the boardwalk and the tubing are at Hershey Park, the amusement park. Harvest Restaurant is under construction now and will open soon, serving food from local producers.
The pond behind the hotel is filled with koi, a Hawaiian fish and the imports I mentioned? From Tanzania, Ecuador and Java? Those are the cocoas you can try during a cocoa tasting made with beans from six different countries. What doesn't Hershey have that I put on the list in Monday's post? An inline skating factory. (As far as I know.)
And the winner is...drum roll please...
ME! I'm afraid no one guessed correctly and I get to keep the Hershey's chocolate bar. But, as consolation, here is a view of the wrapper I designed, which would have wrapped around your very own imported Hershey bar.
As I've gone on too long already, I will save for the next post descriptions of the two things I think solo travelers would enjoy - the spa and falconry - and the things they might want to avoid.
Photos: Ellen Perlman
1. Cocoa pods at The Hershey Story's (it's a museum) chocolate lab; 2. Thunder, a Harris's hawk; 3. front porch of The Cottages; 4. the chocolate tasting at The Hershey Story.
When you think of Hershey, Pennsylvania, what comes to mind? Really, I want to know. I've just returned from a weekend there and having been there at least twice before, I now think of it with a new twist.
But everyone seems to have their own impressions. What do you think? Is it land of chocolate? That's a given. What other impressions do you have? Talk to me.
And now, here's your chance for a prize. Which one of the items in the following lists is NOT found in Hershey? There's just one correct
answer. The first one to send it, either via comment or email, wins.
Here we go. Hershey. Home to:
A large amusement park? Minor league stadium? Medical center? School for orphans? A campground?
Rose-filled garden? Museum? Old-fashioned outdoor games such as shuffleboard and croquet?
Luxury spa? Boardwalk? Tubing? Weddings? A restaurant with food all from local producers?
Hawaiiian fish? Business retreat? Imports from Tanzania, Ecuador and Java?
Name which one doesn't belong. The winner will get a prize: A milk chocolate Hershey bar imported directly from, um, Hershey. By me. Wrapped in a one-of-a-kind wrapper I created myself at The Hershey Story, a museum on Chocolate Avenue. At one of the interactive exhibits.
I will send this unique chocolate bar to the first person who correctly names the one item/answer that doesn't belong.
I'm going to limit the "contest" to U.S. residents for two reasons:
One, how well is a chocolate bar going to hold up over days and days during a trip overseas? And two, I have found from experience that non-Americans are not enamored of Hershey's chocolate. It tastes odd/unpleasant compared to what they're used to. So why waste the postage?
On Thursday, I will announce the "winner" (with permission) and reveal the wrapper I came up with. Don't get too excited. It's not like I'm an artiste or anything. I was just fooling around as best I could with the tools the exhibit provided. (And having a good ole' time doing so, too.)
The exhibit allows you to email your creation to yourself and print it out in the perfect size for a regular-sized chocolate bar.
Contest rules: Employees of Hershey and its affiliates not eligible. haha.
Photos: Ellen Perlman. The Hershey Hotel, from the front and back.
Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Serengeti, Tanzania. Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. All destination favorites of the folks who book the tours at iExplore. Take it with a grain of salt, naturally. It's likely to be biased because it's put out by a company promoting tours to certain places. And yet...it IS a list of great places.
What they say about Antigua, Guatemala:
"With more language schools per capita than anywhere else in the world, it
is no wonder Antigua is a favorite stop on the gringo trail for solo
travelers. When not studying, you can climb volcanoes, hike, go drinking, and
visit with the remnants of the Mayan culture."
A friend of mine toured Antigua with his wife last year and he noticed students of all ages sitting on lawns in the front of houses practicing Spanish one on one. Presumably with hosts they were living with for the week or month while they went to language school. It's high on my list of places to go to learn Spanish.
Another friend, who I went to Thailand with, traveled solo to the Phi Phi Islands (pre-tsunami) after I flew home from our trip together. She raved about the excursion. She's a pretty outgoing person and that helps. But the Thai people I met wherever I went in the country were friendly and welcoming.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, another recommendation on the list, would be a great place to go to a spa solo. Eat Tex-Mex. Buy silver jewelry and belt buckles. Mix with the one-third Angle, one-third Hispanic and one third Native American population that lives there. Relax in the adobe splendor of it all.
I went solo to Santa Fe before joining a hiking and biking tour with The World Outdoors, which I think was called Roads Less Traveled when I went with them. I didn't love the group on that particular vacation, so I couldn't wait to be on my own.
There you have it. A few more vacation spots to ponder.
Prologue: The heart-wrenching break up. Leslie Keough's 30th birthday was coming up and her boyfriend was going to take her to Palm Springs. Then it all "kind of fizzled." But we don't focus on the prologue here. We move right along to the restorative part of things, where solo travel is the balm to the soul. Or comes to the rescue. Or however you want to put it.
All Leslie knew was that 30th was drawing near, the boyfriend was a goner and she didn't feel like explaining quite yet what had happened. Not to her girlfriends. Not to her mother. Not to anyone.
Off she went to The Spring, a secluded resort in Desert Hot Springs, California. By herself. She hadn't known about it before finding it during her research. Now she raves about it.
Although it's set in a neighborhood, once you're inside the walls, it's completely secluded. Part of its beauty is the simple, clean lines of the place, says Leslie, an artist.
It has only 10 rooms, so no busy comings and goings. Just nice people, she says, wandering around in robes. "You enjoy your solitude without ever feeling lonely."
The best part was being decadently alone. As in not
having to talk to anyone or make many decisions. Just do what she wanted to do, in a new place. "I wanted to be in an
environment inspiring to me that didn't remind me of him."
Once she
found it, she burrowed in. Spa guests are served a continental breakfast. Other than that, there are kitchens provided or people go out to eat. Which
means, very few deadlines. Or set times for things. There's all day to relax under palm trees or drift off in thought or sleep in a hammock. In between spa treatments.
Leslie's room had no TV or phone. That may not suit
everyone. But it helped her get started on a project she'd been
mulling for a long time.
Seven years ago she was in a serious motorcycle
accident and was hurt badly when she was propelled off the back of it. Without getting
into detail, she suffered hemorrhaging, burns, road rash and
more. She had no short-term memory for six months.
About three years ago, she decided she wanted to write a book about what happened. While she was at the spa, without the constraints of daily life,
work, friends and family, she finally had time to sit down and start to tackle it.
"I decided to work on my passion project." She
wrote a book proposal while at The Spring. Her stay "allowed me to
focus on my project and my personal goals. It allowed me to
reprioritize things."
She also spent her time in the mineral pools, having spa treatments, sleeping well and meditating. She lost several pounds. And she felt some of her anxieties fade away amidst the grass and the flowers of the unpretentious resort. "This spa was perfect for what I needed."
In Ojai, a charming old California town crammed with art galleries, is a spa called The Oaks. Margaret Lukens, from the San Francisco area six hours away, booked a visit for this month, having so enjoyed her first trip. Though married with grown children, she often travels solo, especially to spas.
The Oaks is gracious but also casual, she says. "No competition for the latest designer workout gear here." Sounds good to me.
Last time, Lukens stayed in the main building with its Spanish style decor. This time she treated herself to a small private cottage and brought along books to indulge in during her down time.
Lukens, who does business coaching and consulting, takes relaxing spa classes, such as yoga, and less typical ones, such as West African dance and qigong, (which is spelled any number of ways, but has to do with working with the body's energy). The spa offers up to 16 exercise classes a day.
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