Today’s health-conscious travelers are seeking experiences to take them beyond just pampering to one truly helping them soothe their spirit, de-stress mentally, reconnect with nature and realign with their best selves. Travelers will be interested in a new bespoke travel website Farm to Wellness Retreats that can match their individual wellness wishes with a curated resource of destinations that not only offer wellness, but either farm-to-table cuisine, farms / gardens on property, or provide spa services utilizing all-natural or indigenous products, the three distinct pillars of this refreshing new travel site.
The brainchild behind this curated travel resource Farm to Wellness Retreats is Mary Blackmon, who is on a mission to help people have a valuable wellness experience that also integrates farm-fresh food in its business. “Whether on your body, on-property, or on your plate, farm-fresh food is at the core of one’s body, mind, and spirit well-being. Keeping farm-fresh food central in your life is critical to your holistic health, and that’s why Farm to Wellness Retreats has this guiding principle and highlights each property’s farm-fresh ‘twist,’” said Blackmon.
Blackmon has selected approximately 200+ properties around the globe (with more being added every week) that offer wellness with a farm-fresh twist, and these five resort picks are perfect for those travelers whose New Year’s resolutions call for health and wellness:
1. Located on Belize’s Placencia Peninsula, Naia Resort & Spa offers 19 acres of secluded tropical landscapes and palm-lined beaches, nestled within the private 200-acre Cocoplum Community. Experience a fresh farm twist with a visit to an organic cacao farm. Dark chocolate is the star, and chocolate making from roasted cacao seeds with a Mayan chocolatier is a royal treat. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle, and Prince Harry, have been spotted enjoying these pure, health-packed treats on-site.
2. The White Lodge, Bajo Carbo, Mexico – this destination fully embraces a farm-fresh twist as it is uber-authentic, eco-friendly, and solar-powered. Each casita was hand-built using straw and clay, offering an authentic vibe and a bow to area traditions. Casitas are decorated with local artisan crafts while providing picturesque views of the ocean, the desert, the cactus, the trees, and wildlife — paying homage to nature. Guests will flip over the Plant Ceremony / Mayan muscle ritual that uses cleansing properties of organically sourced ancestral medicinal plants and massage therapy, harmonizing the body, mind, and spirit.
3. Melia Punta Cana Beach Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – is a water experience de jour. Guests of the resort can enjoy the Caribbean Sea and four pools, complete with a seaside garden, to help reset the mind into a restful, almost hypnotic space in response to the soothing effects of water. The stone massage is an extraordinary farm-fresh twist, using local Larimar stones. These beautiful blue stones possess a soft blue color reminiscent of pristine oceans, combining water and fire energies – a farm-fresh twist not to miss.
4. Yovan Longevity & Health Resort – A Catskills Ayurvedic Sanctuary, New York – is an ideal retreat, especially for those fond of slow travel. Enjoy strolls to the lake or plunge into the many hydrotherapies they offer that specialize in numerous medical ailments. The resort is also heralded for Ayurvedic practices and the specific foods that benefit your dosha – energies that define a person’s makeup. Enjoy long nature walks, extraordinary sunrise lake views, and the beauty of the Catskills on this grand adventure. A beneficial farm-fresh twist was the vegetarian foods to compliment your dosha.
5. Coral Cove Wellness, Jamaica – Discreetly nestled in a lush and serenely secluded fishing village in Little Bay, Coral Cove Wellness Resort is a restful sanctum offering a reimagined approach to holistic wellness and healing. An intimate on-site farm provides guests with bananas, mango, pineapple, noni fruit, kale, arugula, spinach, zucchini, peppers, breadfruit, and a variety of herbs plus spear-fishing – the catch is cooked to guests’ preferences. A memorable farm fresh twist is a stroll to the local village. This walking tour includes visits to bat caves and a mineral spring that was a favorite of Marley’s.
About Mary Blackmon
Blackmon is pioneering a new wellness travel philosophy, which she calls Farm to Wellness Retreats with a farm-fresh twist. It has a requirement of not only wellness, but either having farms / gardens / vineyards on property, or serving farm-to-table cuisine, spa services or products that use local ingredients offering holistic, self-care, and mind-body-spirit health. Blackmon, a serial entrepreneur and certified integrative health and wellness coach, continues to inspire, motivate and educate audiences on how to be their most healthy versions of themselves, and live grounded.
