What to Pack for a Wellness Retreat: Five Days at Euphoria
Earlier this summer, I spent five nights at Euphoria Retreat in Greece [link to the site]. I have visited some wonderful spas and retreats over the years, but Euphoria was unlike anywhere I had been before.
There were plenty of firsts. My first experience of acupuncture left me so unexpectedly exhausted that I went straight back to my room and slept for 2 hours. I tried the Human Regenerator, which felt like something from the future. Designed to help the body repair and recharge at a cellular level, I spent 40 minutes lying there feeling a strange tingling while the technology worked away in the background.
Then there was Watsu, where I was stretched and massaged while floating weightlessly in warm water. Slightly crazy, completely new to me and absolutely amazing.
Some of the simplest experiences were just as memorable. The morning hikes through the forests and mountains were breathtaking. There is something incredibly mindful about walking through that landscape. You aren’t trying to switch off or telling yourself to be present. You simply are. Add yoga, the beautiful water facilities, saunas, plunge pools and treatments, and I found myself moving between completely different activities throughout the day.
Which also made me realise that I had packed rather well.
What I packed for a wellness retreat
The Wet Bag
Probably the product I used most.
I was forever in and out of the pool, sauna and plunge pool, and often wanted to change into a dry swimsuit before relaxing or heading to lunch. Because is there anything worse than sitting around in damp swimwear?
My wet swimsuit went straight into the Wet Bag, keeping everything else dry. I also kept my room key and phone in the back pocket, which meant I always knew exactly where they were.
Such a small thing, but incredibly useful when you are spending most of the day wandering around in a robe.
The Sweat Bag
The Sweat Bag stayed in my room, but quickly became one of the most useful things I had packed.
I used it to organise my clean workout kit when I arrived. Then, after mornings spent hiking, yoga sessions and visits to the gym, all the worn kit went straight back into it.
Being antimicrobial and deodorising makes it particularly useful as a laundry bag. At the end of the five days, I simply zipped up my suitcase knowing all my sweaty workout clothes were contained and separated from everything else.
You would also be surprised by how much you can fit inside one. It is a bit of a Tardis.
The Shoe Bag
My trainers went into the main compartment, smart sandals into the separate pocket and my flip flops fitted on top.
Three pairs of shoes in one Shoe Bag, without dirty trainers coming into contact with everything else in my suitcase.
Particularly useful after those mountain hikes.
The Go Anywhere Convertible Belt Bag
The Go Anywhere Convertible Belt Bag was perfect for the morning hikes when I only needed a few essentials: sun cream, lip salve, phone, sunglasses and a scrunchie. Everything I needed, while keeping my hands completely free.
It also came into its own when I wanted to find a quiet spot for a little R&R. It fits a Kindle and my glasses perfectly. Sadly, no room for a glass of wine, but luckily Euphoria had that covered.
The Anywhere Everywhere Pouches
I packed all three sizes of our Anywhere Everywhere Pouches: Small, Large and Wallet. Initially, they were for organising toiletries, cables and all the other small things that somehow disappear into a suitcase.
Once I arrived, they became just as useful around the retreat. Sun cream, my Kindle, headphones, and other poolside essentials went inside, so I could simply pick up the pouch I needed rather than carrying a larger bag everywhere.
What I learnt about packing for a wellness retreat
A wellness retreat sounds as though it should require very little packing. In reality, you can need something for hiking, the gym, yoga, swimming, treatments, lunch and relaxing, sometimes all within the same day.
For me, the answer wasn’t taking more. It was having somewhere for everything to go, particularly once it became wet, sweaty or covered in mountain dust.
For five days at Euphoria, wellness was simply part of the rhythm of every day.
At home, life looks rather different. Instead of moving from a morning hike to yoga, a swim and a treatment, it might be work, the gym, picking up the children and then out to dinner. The setting changes, but the principle doesn’t.
Making it easier to have what you need with you, without carrying your life around, is exactly why La Pochette exists.
Pack wellness into your everyday.
