I'd love to hike here.*
Once upon a time, many years ago, I was lucky enough to take a spa vacation. For three days I was nestled at the Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas. But contrary to popular belief, I didn’t spend my days getting massage after massage. Each morning, from 8:00 AM until noon, the spa offers a wide variety of fitness classes. So for four hours each day, I’d spend my time doing tai chi, yoga, Pilates, dance and an array of other multidisciplinary fitness classes. It was fantastic. Yes, I did go for massages and acupuncture in the afternoons, but after four hours of exercise I felt like I’d actually earned it.
As wonderful as it was, I more or less forgot all about it after returning home. After all, it seemed like such a decadent luxury! But while in Hawaii I got my hands on a spa magazine (huh, spas have trade magazines!) and found that there are actually places that specialize in active but relaxing spa vacations.
Now my new goal is to someday find the time and the money to go to Red Mountain Spa in St. George, Utah. Hiking at state and national parks, outdoor swimming pools, oodles of fitness classes… this is the sort of place that I dream about.
What’s so great about these places? Good, healthy food feeds your body, giving you the energy you need to exercise as much (or as little) as you want. Distractions are minimized so you can focus on your fitness and health without worrying about having enough time to squeeze in a workout before that next meeting. And it can establish healthy habits that can carry you back to your everyday routine.
I think I’m going to start saving my pennies and looking ahead to my next fitness spa adventure.
* Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunaway/168382/
Tags: Fitness, Health, lake austin, red mountain, spa, travel, vacation
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