So I went to a spa. First time ever. First pedicure a couple of years ago (never since!) and now the spa.
What next? What’s the world coming to?
I’m just joking (sort of). In my mind spas aren’t meant for me. Like pedicures, I think of spas as a THING RICH PEOPLE DO.
It’s not that I don’t spend money on luxurious things, like expensive bicycles, I do. And it’s not like I don’t spend $60 (the price of spa admission) on meals or concerts pretty regularly. I do.
But for reasons of family background in the first part of my life and resisting normative feminity, in the second, spas have never been on my radar. I’m the kind of person who didn’t have nail polish or make up for my own wedding. I did my own hair and it was touch and go whether I’d shave my legs.
I resisted getting a hot tub at our old house for years but then loved it and used it lots. I love sitting outside, in the heat, surrounded by snow and ice. I loved soaking after long rides and tough Aikido classes. My highlight of my holiday in Iceland a few years ago was soaking in a hot river after a long hike.
We went to the Scandinavian Spa on the Sunday of our weekend at Mount Tremblant when it was too cold and icy to ski or fat bike. I loved how much of it was outdoors. I really liked the steam rooms and the sauna and the hot tub but probably my favorite thing was relaxing in front of a fire outside wearing a bathrobe while covered in a giant warm fuzzy blanket. I loved basking in the sun, surrounded by trees and snow.
Some quick observations:
I loved wandering around outside in a bathrobe and bathing suit in the middle of winter. I love the outdoors and I’m almost always happier in the sun.
I’m so glad it was a silent place. I realize that I’m quiet anyway but I was so glad I didn’t have to listen to other people’s conversations. I found that really relaxing. I didn’t mind the other people there with everything quiet.
There are a lot of beautiful bodies out there. But it’s mostly the women who are on display. That’s no surprise but I forget that sometimes. I saw a lot of women in thong bathing suits with men in baggy board shorts. What’s with that?
I loved the idea of swimming in the river in the freezing cold water between hot things but I couldn’t make myself do it. Instead I settled for the cold bucket of water over the head a couple of times. That actually felt pretty refreshing.
I didn’t count the spa time as a workout though it turns out that time in hot water does have similar health benefits to exercise.
I’d definitely go again.
Aaaahhhh…. that looks positively luscious. I adore spas with fun outdoor water places of different temps, along with the warm relaxation areas for cuddling up in a bathrobe and blanket. I admit I’ve only been to one real full-on spa like this one (it was in Iceland, and I loved it). But life is not over yet, and there are spas yet to explore… What a great way to end a snowy vacation!
That looks amazing! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I actually quite like spa-ing every once in a while, not too often but maybe once or twice a year. My parents moved to a little spa town a few years ago and they live literally across the street from the spa facilities. So when I visit them, I sometimes indulge.
Nice!
I love spas–the pools, the hot and cold, the quiet and also the super low key social element if you’re there with friends. I don’t think of them as locations of normative femininity. Maybe because I most often go to the very accessible (financially) Korean spa where we all wear giant t-shirts and even more giant knee length shorts in all the communal areas and nothing at all in the women’s area (which is where all the pools are). So there’s no inequity in the body display and in fact there’s the opposite. We are wearing the most ridiculously unflattering outfit possible for all the saunas and we are enjoying each other’s device free company.
I think I need to find this spa!
When next you are in NYC, we can go!