Sometimes what you want when you set off on a trip is not just somewhere lovely to stay, but adventure. A journey that will take you to a place you’d never dreamt you’d go to physically, emotionally or spiritually. This month, I uncover three ways to inspire travellers to get out there and have adventures: a book by women who’ve traversed the world, often on their own; a treehouse hotel in Mexico that encourages guests to get to the heart of a community; and Scottish castles that allow private groups to live like a laird.
Many of the 20 international women profiled in Prestel’s latest travel book, Adventuress, didn’t set out to be full-time explorers. Some wanted to work through something that was troubling them. Others found a hobby they loved that took them into the mountains, or over deserts on a bike, or up canyons using sets of ropes. One even took her husband and three small children on a journey across America in a converted bus. What each of them discovered, diving in the oceans, or exploring their local area for an hour every single day, or even going into derelict buildings to photograph the abandoned interiors, was a stronger sense of who they were, a raft of new skills and an appreciation of the luxury of having time to explore the globe on your own terms. Brought together by the adventurer Carolina Amell, who wrote Surf Like a Girl, Skate Like a Girl and Extreme Like a Girl, and illustrated with stunning photography, Adventuress is full of advice and insightful tales of what life’s really like on the road. It’s an inspirational guide for women who dream of setting off solo, but aren’t quite sure how. Adventuress by Carolina Amell is published by Prestel at £39.99 on September 5
Few properties are both luxurious and eco-friendly, and even fewer are beautifully designed and surrounded by organic gardens. But Playa Viva was set up by two passionate conservationists, whose Rainforest2Reef organisation had already created national reserves on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. So when they decided to turn 200 acres and nearly a mile of beach into a resort in 2009, it was always going to be to benefit not only themselves, but the community and wildlife around them. Nearly 15 years later, their B Corp-certified hotel, at the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains on the Pacific coast, is a model of regenerative hospitality, with the surrounding community at its heart. Their 19 architectural, open-fronted beachside rooms are sophisticated, cathedral-shaped treehouses built from bamboo grown on site. Food is grown either on their farm, or by village farmers. Heating is solar. Activities revolve around what people do in the area: boating in mangroves, cooking lessons in villages, surfing, snorkelling and fishing, visiting local coffee and chocolate producers (as well as yoga, hiking, gardening and massage on site). If any proof was needed that they’re doing it right, they keep winning luxury awards (from design magazines, travel magazines, even Fodor’s) and have started another business, Regenerative Travel, to pass on what they’ve learnt to other hoteliers who want to do better. Doubles from £228, playaviva.com
Americans have always loved Scotland. But since lockdown ended, the owners of grand estates in Scotland tell me, demand has not just increased, but surged. Hence the transformation of several properties into smart retreats, offering fully staffed accommodation, great food (obviously with a dram or two), access to beautiful countryside and great sporting estates.
For those wanting a proper escape, Rodel House, built in 1781, on the Isle of Harris has been transformed into a Scandi-style harbour house for ten. Activities might include boat excursions from the private harbour to destinations including Taransay, fishing trips and lobster potting, gin and whisky tasting, and Harris Tweed demonstrations (from £7,500 for three nights, ltrcastles.com).