C6 Tuesday, April 23, 2013
FITNESS & WELL-BEING
GREAT
Tech-free tourism is gaining popularity among travellers looking to detox from the digital world. Kylie Knott looks at places designed to recharge your mind and not your phone
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unched over, a young Fruit Ninja fan squirms on his MTR seat, slicing bananas as if his life depends on it. Next to him two women share earphones, while a sharp-suited, but slouching businessman opposite frantically scrolls through his BlackBerry. There’s no doubt we are slaves to digital devices in a world where technology is an allpowerful and, at times, addictive tool. But in a city with a high penetration of mobile devices (16,385,012 public mobile customers as of November 2012 according to the Office of the Communications Authority) it also means the average Hong Kong executive is on call around the clock – even while on holiday. So it’s refreshing to see one industry bucking the trend by offering “digital detox holidays” – getaways where guests can wean themselves off their smartphones, tablets and laptops. The World Travel Market, one of the travel industry’s largest events, predicts these holidays will be one of the biggest trends of the year as hotels and resorts look for ways to help guests go cold turkey from the internet. “It shows how hotels are bucking the gloomy trends in travel by tapping into the zeitgeist and providing an escape for busy travellers,” says World Travel Market chairwoman Fiona Jeffery. But it remains to be seen how quickly the industry will embrace a trend that goes against the grain of technological advancements like in-flight Wi-fi. Some hotels are taking baby steps by blocking Wi-fi at their bars and restaurants, while others – such as The Hotel Monaco Chicago – have adopted a more Betty Ford Center approach where guests surrender their gadgets. “Guests love that we are an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city,”
says Marco Scherer, the hotel’s general manager. “We gave them the option to experience this seclusion by forfeiting all methods of e-communication at check-in.” At the Chiva-Som Wellness Retreat in Thailand, guests who break the no-mobile-phonesoutside-of-guest-rooms rule are asked to leave, while at the Echo Valley Ranch in Canada, those who part with their devices are rewarded with free massages and horseback rides. The Four Seasons Costa Rica invites guests to take a holiday from technology with its Disconnect to Reconnect programme that includes a list of tech-free activities. “Digital detox packages must be part of an overall experience, rather than just about keeping customers away from their devices,” says Kristina Bush, director of sales and marketing at the Marriott Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, which offers weekend packages to help the “always-on” switch off. The hotel has also adopted a novel approach – literally – to help guests unplug by stocking the rooms of participating guests with literary classics. Goodbye tablet, hello Tolstoy. In the US, Via Yoga caught wind of the tech-free travel phenomena early on and for the past couple of years has been offering digital detox retreats to Mexico and Costa Rica. It also offers discounts to those who
Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds young people inhabit DR RICHARD GRAHAM
leave their iPhones at home. “It takes a few days for most guests to stop feeling anxious,” says Via Yoga owner Suzie Cavassa. Also ahead of the game is Digital Detox, a US-based organisation that lures stressed executives off the grid with body and mind balancing programmes of yoga, meditation and hiking. The BlackBerry, not the baby, is left at the “crèche” at the Lifehouse Spa Resort in Britain, while travellers to St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean are encouraged to leave gadgets behind as a part of a digital detox holiday package that comes complete with a guidebook – a sort of tech-free travel for dummies. But while it’s easy to mock tech addicts, a growing wave of research highlighting the negative impact of hyperconnectivity exposes a more serious underlying problem. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is considered the authority on mental illness in the US, plans this year to include a chapter on internet-use disorder. In 2010, London’s top independent mental health institution, the Capio Nightingale Hospital, became the country’s first tech rehab clinic when it introduced the Young Person Technology Addiction programme amid fears children as young as 12 were becoming addicted to the web, computer games and mobile phones. “Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds young people inhabit, and we need to understand just how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, onscreen or in-game,” says the hospital’s consultant psychiatrist, Dr Richard Graham. In South Korea, one of the world’s most wired countries, the problem has been exasperated by the internet
HEALTH BITES
rooms that sit on practically every street corner. In 2007, to help combat the country’s addiction to computers, the government established Jump Up Internet Rescue School – a boot camp for people addicted to the internet. Then there are the horror stories that regularly pop up to hit home just how much of a problem this is. In South Korea in 2009, a three-month-old baby died from malnutrition after her parents spent hours each day in an internet room raising a “virtual child” on the online game Prius Online; in 2011 a couple in China sold their three children for money to feed their video-game obsession; and last year in Taiwan two men died of heart attacks linked to marathon gaming sessions. At Baylor University in Texas, researchers found that mobile phone addiction was similar to compulsive buying. Throw in cases of phantom buzzing – phone addicts jumping to answer the phone only to realise it never went off – and we have a picture of a society that is anything but healthy. But as society grows more dependent on technology, is it possible for tech addicts to pull the plug completely while on holiday? “I’m constantly checking my BlackBerry and iPhone,” says Claire Blackshaw, director of public relations at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong. “I was having a massage and manicure and I couldn’t hold a phone – it sent me into a panic … I’m not a control freak, but I’ll be more able to return from a break relaxed knowing my inbox has been filtered quietly by me from afar, sending emails to colleagues to deal with anything urgent. I can still relax poolside – phone palmside, book lapside…” And, as if to stress her point, she e-mails these comments via her BlackBerry while on holiday in the Philippines. kylie.knott@scmp.com
The number of public mobile customers in Hong Kong as of November last year
Get away from IT all Three Camel Lodge, Mongolia (threecamellodge.com) There’s nothing like the vast Gobi Desert in Mongolia to give you a feeling of isolation. Following strict environmentally and culturally sustainable guidelines, guests stay in traditional gers, the tent-like dwellings used by locals. The electricity provided in the gers, restaurant, bathrooms and bar is mainly from solar power. The lodge also uses wind energy. Adrere Amellal, Egypt (adrereamellal.net) Deep in the Sahara Desert, this eco-lodge blends into its mountainous surroundings. There is no electricity (rooms are lit with candles and natural light from the sky) or any phones. Drive, walk or dine in the dunes of the Great Sand Sea. Petit St Vincent Resort, St Vincent and the Grenadines (petitstvincent.com) This privately owned Caribbean island features 22 sumptuously decorated cottages made from native stone. There is no television, telephone service or internet access, so guests can communicate
Privacy is a priority at the luxe Petit St Vincent. Photo: Tony Toy to the unobtrusive staff by raising coloured flags on a bamboo flagpole. The elegant beach bar is also famed for its crabs and lobster. Sal Salis, Australia (salsalis.com.au) This remote beachside bush camp is nestled in the dunes of the Cape Range National Park near Ningaloo Reef. Guests get to sleep under canvas, dine under the stars and spend days underwater mingling with the manta rays, whale sharks and other marine life.
All power is solar-generated and there is no Wi-fi access or mobile phone reception. Abu Camp, Botswana (abucamp.com) This camp comprises six luxury “tents” in the heart of Africa’s Okavango Delta, so forget the iPhone and instead connect with the vast natural wonders. For the ultimate “get away from it all” experience, stay in the Star Bed and be lulled to sleep by the snores of the elephants below. Kylie Knott
Enjoy sand, sun, sky and serenity at the remote Adrere Amellal lodge in the Sahara Desert. Photo: Matthias Weiskopf
BOOK REVIEW
Caffeine, the flavour enhancer What if you could learn to like vegetables by having them with coffee? It’s possible, according to a study by the University of Buffalo in New York state. Researchers randomly assigned 68 men and women aged 18 to 50 to receive a drink containing a placebo or caffeine, and then to consume a low- or high-energy yogurt. The yogurt flavours were unusual to avoid any taste preferences: almond, maple, peppermint, pumpkin pie, raspberry and lemon, strawberry and coconut, and cumin. After rating the yogurts over four days, yogurt liking increased over time, with the yogurts paired with the caffeine liked more than those paired with the placebo. Garden path to happiness Here’s a great reason for Hong Kong to value its green space: urbanites with more of it tend to report greater well-being than those who don’t have parks, gardens or other green space nearby. By examining data from a British national survey, researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School found that individuals reported less mental distress and higher life satisfaction when they were living in greener areas. This held even after changes in income, employment, marital status, physical health and housing type. The data was collected annually from more than 10,000 people between 1991 and 2008. Worried about your health? Don’t lose any sleep Researchers at the University of Birmingham in Britain put eight healthy volunteers through two nights of normal sleep (eight hours), followed by three nights of four-hour sleep. After the first two nights of restricted sleep, the subjects had a significant reduction in vascular function compared with that after normal sleep. However, after the third night of sleep restriction, vascular function returned to baseline – possibly an adaptive response to acute sleep loss. Finally, the volunteers slept 10 hours a night for five nights, and vascular function improved. “If acute sleep loss occurs repetitively over a long period of time, then vascular health could be compromised further and mediate the development of cardiovascular disease,” says Keith Pugh, a researcher.
A path to health illuminated by gods High-stress lifestyles can be overcome with regimens based on ancient Indian teachings ................................................ Rachel Jacqueline life@scmp.com Inspired by my travels to India, I was drawn to what Reenita Malhotra Hora, a lifelong devotee of ayurvedic medicine, had to say about holistic ways to cope with the stresses of life. And in her new book Forever Young: Unleashing the Magic of Ayurveda, I was not disappointed. Ayurveda could be called the oldest medical science in existence, passed down by the Vedic gods more than 5,000 years ago, according to Indian folklore. Unlike Western medicine, which focuses on the physical, ayurveda acknowledges that the mind and body are intertwined. So if we have high-stress lifestyles, drink too much coffee and alcohol, spend long hours under bright lights (which interrupts our natural rhythms)
and eat based on whims rather than the seasons, our mind and body are both under pressure. These stresses, Hora explains, cause imbalances that deplete our life energy, or ojas, and lead to ailments such as a feeling of heaviness in the mind and body, and intolerances to certain foods. These problems, she says, cover up our true, radiant selves. To strike a balance, we must first start determining our natural tendencies, called doshas, which are classified as: vata (air and space), pitta (fire and water) and kapha (water and earth). Combinations of these doshas exist within us – although one type tends to be dominant – and in the world around us. I learned, for example, that I am a fiery pitta type, so I am prone to acne, heat toxins and many ills that end in “-itis”. (I do suffer minor acne, gluten and lactose sensitivity and have had
stomach issues for most of my adult life.) I am advised to take up calming beauty routines, yoga and avoid yeast, spicy foods, and stimulants such as alcohol and coffee. A handy quiz in the book helps readers determine their dosha type, after which Hora offers practical tips on how Ayurveda can heal through balancing one’s doshas. Her short guidebook is packed with daily rituals and traditional recipes for homemade care products for the hair, skin and body; yoga practices for dosha balance; seasonal practices for well-being and even instructions for a do-ityourself home detox retreat.
This book is for anyone who wants to end the cycle of stress and exhaustion REENITA MALHOTRA HORA, AUTHOR
She promises that readers can achieve a state of purity and balance, which in turn will unlock their true inner beauty. While many of the exotic treatments and practices may seem impractical for some – such as an intensive, 10-minute morning massage followed by eye and feet washing and nasal cleansing – the tips point to a simple underlying philosophy: it is vital to take care of oneself and to take the time to do just that. This is a lesson often lost in our fast-paced lives. Hora offers an alternative, accessible way to make practical changes in your life so you can bring about a better state of well-being and maximise your energy. She says in her introduction: “This book is for anyone who wants to end the cycle of stress and exhaustion and the toll this takes on our health and appearance by making simple, sensible lifestyle changes.” I couldn’t put it better. A book launch and signing event will be held on Thurs from 6.30pm-8pm at Dymocks, IFC Mall