Charged Up

Wellness has been the biggest travel boom in decades, as people turn to various wisdoms to deal with their own health. Daisy Finer shines a light on the effective players—and what’s next

- Daisy Finer

Imagine being dropped into the middle of the Namib Desert by helicopter: nothing but a vast expanse of ochre sand, glaring African heat, a survival pack containing a GPS or compass, and the knowledge that you’ve been abandoned in one of the world’s harshest landscapes. You’d better hope you can handle the 100-mile trek along the Skeleton Coast, camping under a canopy of stars so vast it only confirms your own insignificance. Don’t freak out. There’s nothing like a bit of danger to sharpen your awareness.

One of a clutch of new “get lost” adventures from cool-crowd tour operator Black Tomato (blacktomato. com), such tests of mental and physical fortitude have become magnets for the disaffected seeking to soul-search through suffering. As a veteran spa journalist, I’m far more interested in such a wellness experience than in a fancy treatment menu. In truth, we’ve moved way beyond salt scrubs and meditation labyrinths. We’re looking instead for the emotional, spiritual, and physical recharge, the blood refresher.

Calum Morrison, the ex-Royal Marine behind the UK-based Extraordinary Adventure Club (extraordinaryadventureclub.com), arranges extreme expeditions with maxed-out extras for his wealthy-yetweary clientele looking to face the fear of conscious disengagement: off-grid living with Mongolian camel herders, or an epic Jeep journey from Johannesburg to Khartoum while being followed by a team of life coaches, psychotherapists, and holistic practitioners. This is the new breed of transformational travel.