I'm on vacation?

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.

~ Anonymous

My husband Dave wanted to travel to Europe.

I was reluctant. Long flights are concerning for someone with recent clotting events. 

But, he was determined. Eventually, I agreed to do a wellness retreat closer to home.

Much to my surprise Dave booked a one-week trip to Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, located off the coast of Morocco. According to my husband, it was closer to home, and my place of birth.

Branded by some as the Hawaii of Europe, Madeira is breathtakingly beautiful. It’s a hiker’s haven recently naturally attracting a growing community of digital nomads. 

The island’s mineral-rich soil is ideal for food production. The historically isolated small towns dotting the coastlines and mountainous terrain are self-sufficient. 

Our hiking guide said that in the small town where he lives, the only food supplies they get from Funchal, the capital, are salt, sugar, pasta, and rice. 

Madeira residents are blessed with an abundant supply of fresh fish from the ocean. They grow and raise everything else they need and export bananas to Portugal.

The abundance and variety of fruits and vegetables, growing in steep terraced gardens, are awe-inspiring.

The weather in September is hot, dry, and sunny. Along the mountainous terrain, shaped by volcanic activity are levadas (aqueducts) that transport mountain water throughout the land. 

Along these levadas are many very challenging hiking paths. 

It is easy to understand how an environment like this can produce an elite athlete like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Why the question mark in the title

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.

~ Anthony Bourdain

We are spending five days at a wellness retreat.

There are a lot of food restrictions. No caffeine, no sugar, no alcohol, no gluten, no dairy, no meat other than an occasional fish dish.

On a typical day, we get up at 6:45 AM (1:45 AM Toronto time) to do a yoga class. 

One morning, the flow class featured a magnificent violin player that moved me to tears. I am uncertain if it was the music or the realization of how stiff I had become.

After breakfast, we leave at 9:15 for hiking excursions throughout the island. The two-plus hour hikes in the heat, climbing long winding paths that include rock stairs, with no end in sight, test my endurance. 

The first morning, on a very steep climb at a high elevation, I felt faint and nauseous. I persevered, not wanting to hold others back, reminding myself that we do hard things.

We get back well after 1 PM and eat a light lunch at around 1:45.

Fortunately,  the lunch is easy to digest because at around three we do an intense weight-bearing fitness class followed by relaxing yoga or meditation. 

These events are not optional. Attendees are expected to participate in all that has been planned.

We have dinner at 6:15 PM and thankfully on three of the five days are treated to a much-needed massage.

Unfortunately, with this level of activity, jet lag, and maybe the new moon, my nervous system is over-activated. I can’t sleep. 

During meditation, I set an intention to accept what is.

Once again, my husband has enriched my experience and challenged me to become a better version of myself.