For almost a year now, our lives paused in so many ways. Now, 2021 looks like the year in which people will resume their lives and travels.
Destinations are important. But so is the journey, the How of travel. And in 2021, we believe that you’ll take your time travelling and doing it serenely. It’s about experiencing a location and feeling it. Appreciating the gentle transformations of a landscape as it comes into being.
So, where will we go in 2021? And just as importantly, how will we travel? The answers are coming into focus. We asked Hugo, founder of Helios Retreats, his top what travel trends pick to set you off to meaningful adventures in 2021.
After a year of stress, doom-scrolling; battling comfort-eating-related weight gain, quarantine and anxiety: we need to take care of ourselves now more than ever. We have built Helios Retreats on the foundations of active, wellness centred, and soul-stirring adventures in spectacular locations.
Where?
Bali is a go-slow haven and the perfect place to embrace the healing power of nature after a long, painful year.
How can you take a wellness break with Helios Retreats?
Salute the sun in Ubud at the 6-night Wellness Helios escape in Bali. Experience yoga in the spiritual Ubud, practising on a hand-crafted wooden deck facing the almighty jungle, accompanied by our Helios yogis who will lead you into an extraordinary journey, encouraging new yoga postures and meditation techniques on the paradise isle.
As much as we enjoyed going wild in our location and enjoyed adventures on our doorsteps, we are itching to explore further afield once more.
Where?
Wild and wonderful Morocco. This vast region of spectacular scenery straddles the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, where people are few. The perfect place for an epic adventure while learning how the ancient bedouins live in complete harmony despite the harsh Saharan climate.
How to visit Morocco and the Sahara with Helios Retreats?
Experience Morocco and the Sahara Desert with your 7-night Morocco retreats and Sahara itinerary.
During 2020, we took time to consider how we can make up for the trips we missed out. Naturally, many of us are ready to chase new highs in 2021 with jaw-dropping encounters and experiences. The stuff you always wanted to do but always held off.
Where?
Our epic, awe-inspiring retreats after lockdown. Swim in the Aegean Sea, feed turtles, and seek majestic dolphins in the Caribbean. Meet the bedouins of Sahara in Morocco. Sail down the Sardinian coast and discover waters so clear you never knew existed in Europe. The world is yours to rediscover.
How can you make up for lost time with Helios Retreats?
Experience joyful sunsets in Mykonos or see the best of Italy in Tuscany’s rolling hills. Enjoy a week at the world’s most beautiful villa in Bali. For a long time, we’ve been filling our bucket lists. It is time we’re looking forward to ticking them off.
There has ever been a desire to seek for destinations and experiences that are socially distant by design. Many of us have already embarked on trips to private and deeply hidden locations, seeking time to rest and space to reset.
Where?
Whatever your motivation for seeking somewhere secluded, our upcoming retreats in the Bahamas will contribute to your mindfulness and well-being.
How to travel remotely with Helios Retreats?
Here’s an example: a morning stroll at our private beach-front, where you can walk for miles undisturbed, we’ve created our version of Paradise; a week of fitness and yoga activities designed to strike the perfect balance of solitude, mindfulness and health, at a stunning exclusive-use villa.
Given the difficulties of the last year, many of us are desperate to reconnect with our loved ones in significant ways. Isolation and estrangement have been hard on all of us. But now, in 2021, that means we are setting off on multigenerational adventures and family getaways, coming together and forging new traditions. And what better way to do this than booking an entire villa, hotel or private island.
How to travel with friends and family with Helios Retreats?
It is precisely why we created our Helios Bespoke service, meaning it’s easier than ever to create the perfect Bubble getaway, steering clear of cities and crowds, and fostering a nest into which we can settle down.
As the world became Remote, we realised that we could exist almost anywhere we want. A Caribbean island. A secluded Sardinian 5-star hotel. A Morocco luxury desert camp.
We want to make our 2021 trips count. Deep, meaningful, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that we can remember forever, and even be changed by it.
Not being able to travel - and having our plans cancelled -reinforced just how important travel really is. To mark this renewed realisation, we want to seek fresh ways to make an impression and leave a mark.
How to make it count with Helios Retreats?
Some of us will visit new destinations. Embed ourselves. Others will linger for longer in other places, absorbing cultural contrasts from the inside out, developing new skills. Making time for a mental and physical reset.
What many of us want is simply a holiday in a place we love, whether we’ve seen it with our own eyes or just on the screen or the page.
The world’s largest desert in Morocco offers the bucket-list experiences that many travellers dreamt of while sheltering at home.
How to visit Morocco with Helios Retreats Enjoy a seven-night Morocco & Sahara expedition from £1,261 per person.
Hugo Martini Mensch is the founder of luxury fitness travel company Helios Retreats. Recognised as an innovator and leading authority in the fitness-wellness travel industry, Hugo founded Helios Retreats in 2015 after recognising the need for his clients to step back and focus on their physical and mental health.