Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
wellness escapes
I started wondering. Is this what we're going to do with our mar-
riage—reroof the house, resurface the driveway, redesign the house?
—Julie Madsen, a psychologist who quit her job, bought an RV, and with
her husband traveled the country looking for a new vision
D
on't you just love dictionaries? You look up a definition and end up more confused than you
were when you started. Take the word wellness, for example. Here's how the dictionary de-
scribes it: “A dimension of health beyond the absence of disease or infirmity, including social,
emotional, and spiritual aspects of health.”
One definition of wellness would be this: the condition in which things that used to be
huge and overpowering are not so big anymore. Things that you thought mattered before your
vacation—say, your retirement package or that car fender your teenager accidentally ran into
a telephone pole—don't count for as much.
Needless to say, this chapter includes many vacations that have traditionally been labeled
“wellness,” things like spas and yoga retreats and learning a brand new sport (mushing any-
one?). But also included is a juicy selection of vacations you might not have considered before
