How to Island Like a Billionaire

by ALESANDRA DUBIN

It can’t always be a tropical island, you know,” said my pragmatic husband as I sat peering at my computer, calling out vacation destination ideas. When I registered what he’d said, my heart skipped a beat. I swiveled in my chair, looked him dead in the eye, and in utter confusion asked, “Why not?”

Two kids and 12 years later, we still laugh at that pivotal point early in our marriage. From that moment on, David understood that I’d almost always rather be on a palm-lined beach than anywhere else in the world. And I’d always rather come home from my sundrenched days to luxurious accommodations.

In keeping with this preference, I’ve made it my life’s mission to learn about and visit as many screen-saver-esque islands in the world as humanly possible. So imagine my surprise when I came across an island in the Caribbean that had completely escaped my acutely honed tropical destination radar.

The island is Canouan, a j-shaped spot of land about halfway down the remote archipelago of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. After doing a bit of research I learned it

has an area of just five square miles, a population under 2,000, and a nascent reputation as the place ”where billionaires go to escape millionaires.” While I’m hardly a billionaire, I am a luxury lover through and through – and this over-the-top descriptor set deliciously high expectations – so I set my sights on getting there.

On Canouan’s southwest coast, the pristine Sandy Lane Yacht Club plays host to yachts belonging to top film stars and the world’s financial elite. Lacking a yacht, my family and I opted to fly in via Barbados. And, I must admit, we felt quite posh touching down on the private-jet-friendly runway only to be whisked away to the Mandarin Oriental resort.

There, our oceanfront suite spanned a whopping 2,500 square feet—twice the size of our house in Los Angeles. iPads controlled everything from the lights to the climate. For the ultimate in billionaire island escapism, we were assigned a private butler, who must have seen the twinkle in my eye because she arranged for a date night at … Soho Beach House?

Yes, the buzzy, chichi members-only club actually opened a location on this tiny island over a year ago, thanks to Italian developer Andrea Pignataro, who has generously applied his banking fortune to sprucing up the island. There in the beachfront lounge area, over cauliflower fritters, barracuda crudo, and Soho Mule cocktails, we met another couple from Los Angeles, and instantly registered the significance of the man’s C-suite job title at one of Hollywood’s most prominent firms. The pair were dining with the private pilots who’d delivered them to this island where they could quietly sip, sun, and be noticed by few other than their socialstrata peers.

Equally delighted to be free of the crowds, my family and I spent our days lounging by the Mandarin Oriental’s infinity pool, strolling bright white sand beaches, reef snorkeling, and indulging in treatments in the seaside spa—where nature provides a built-in sound machine. Feeling ambitious, we hiked one morning to the top of Mount Royal, the island’s highest peak. After a steep ascent along a trail inhabited by tortoises and hermit crabs, we were rewarded with views that took our breath away.

As we sat there soaking in the turquoise sea down below as island breezes cooled our perspiration, I felt grateful for the chance to get to know yet another exquisite tropical island that had previously escaped my radar — after all, it’s my life’s mission to experience every single one.

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Amber Cove, Dominican Republic

Princess Cays, The Bahamas Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos

Credit: Jill Salter

Into the Blue

Tofino Resort + Marina in Vancouver

From thermal pools to floating spas, taking advantage of the innate healing powers of water is good for the body and soul

by ROBIN CATALANO

Sky Lagoon, Reykjavik Credit: Norris Niman

I float, nearly weightless, on my back in the warm lagoon. The water muffles the sound of nearby conversation, and fans out my hair like a halo. Overhead, rain clouds drift across a slate-colored sky. I close my eyes and inhale, salt air filling my nostrils. Here in the water, without a phone or computer or other distractions, time stands still.

I came to Sky Lagoon, a brandnew wellness facility outside of Reykjavik, to experience their signature seven-step healing ritual. Rooted in the centuries-old Icelandic tradition of communal bathing, the treatment includes dry and steam saunas, a salt scrub, and alternating warm- and coldwater therapies. The centerpiece is the geothermal lagoon.

Whether standing under the manmade waterfall, reclining on a rock seat with a glass of wine from the walk-up bar, or peering over the edge of the infinity pool at the vast Atlantic Ocean, I feel relaxed and at peace. There’s plenty of science to back up my experience.

Wallace J. Nichols, a marine biologist and author of Blue Mind, points out some basics: all life on Earth comes from water and 60 percent of the human body is liquid. We spend the first 9.2 months of our lives underwater. Without it, we would cease to exist in less than a week’s time.

Exciting the Senses

“When we see, hear, smell, taste or notice in any way the presence of water, there’s an emotional and biological response,” he says. “Your body responds to the presence or absence of water, or even the idea of its presence or absence. It’s that important to maintaining life.”

While green spaces have gotten the lion’s share of attention for their mental-health benefits, blue spaces – everything from streams and waterfalls to rivers, lakes, and oceans – have more pronounced healing effects.

Water lacks the visual and auditory stimulation of a green space such as a hiking trail, where the terrain, plants, trees, and animals command our attention. The sound of the water, whether trickling or rushing in waves, creates a soothing “bubble of silence or privacy,” explains Nichols. There’s also the somatic experience of being splashed by waves, wading into a lake or, in my case, floating in a lagoon.

Uniting Communities

Cultures with community bathing traditions have long understood water’s ability to boost clarity and promote calm. Viktoria Seavey, a life coach and mentor, grew up in Hungary, where thermal baths are common.

On a recent trip home, she spent several hours at Thermal Hotel Visegrád’s Lepence Spa. “The water in the mineral pools was so buoyant that I could actually

Thermal Hotel Visgráds Lipence Spa

Banyon Tree Mayakoba, Mexico

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AmaPrima on Danube River, Dürnstein, Austria

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Lake Austin Spa Resort

feel the bubbles on my skin. It was magical,” she says. “I literally had no jet lag. Water just resonates with the human body.”

Transforming Resorts

Resorts are now honing in this connection with a plethora of unique water-based therapies. At

Banyan Tree Mayakoba in Playa

del Carmen, Mexico, a practitioner of Wave Stretch gently cradles, massages, and stretches guests in the water.

Coco Collection in the Maldives

offers a unique coral reef gardening program, as well as floating breakfast in the private infinity pool of each overwater villa. At Tofino Resort + Marina in Vancouver, travelers boat out in the Clayoquot Sound, part of a stunning UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, to experience cold plunges and heat therapy in a floating sauna.

According to Nichols, there’s no specific prescription for how much we should expose ourselves to water, but 20 minutes several times a week has shown promising results in reducing stress and encouraging a positive emotional state. Even those who live in places that lack natural blue spaces, he explains, can substitute with manmade ones – for example, a swimming pool or a bathtub.

Coco Collection, Maldives

“We are water beings on a water planet,” says Nichols. “If the eight billion people on Earth understood blue mind and practiced it somewhat regularly, it would transform our public health and the environment. We would have a different value equation for the river that runs through our town, and for ourselves.”

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Beyond Imagination

The Galápagos Islands

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The Galápagos Islands await your discovery with some of the most diverse fl ora and fauna on the planet. Black volcanic rocks, white-sand beaches, sapphire-blue waters, and sherbet horizons. Giant tortoises, marine MUSIC MUSIQUE iguanas, Blue-footed Boobies, and Waved Albatross.

Guided by an Expedition Team of local experts, you can immerse yourself with included activities: kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, wildlife watching, and more. RECIPE RECETTE Travel as a modern-day explorer on a Hurtigruten Expeditions small-ship adventure to the Galápagos Islands.

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