Is it possible to call yourself a weary traveler even if you haven’t been anywhere new or on a typical “adventure” in a while? I think yes. We are all in one way or another a weary traveler on the road of life. A bit poetic perhaps, but it’s true. The stress, anxiety and frustration we feel at home doesn’t automatically leave us when we hit the road, instead it is somehow transformed into positive stress (what time is the train? wait, what time is it now? oh no…), anxiety and yes, even frustration. We’ve all lived through it on the road, and when we get home we swear to our friends that those were the best moments of the trip. And yet at home, those are the moments that cause us to scream “I can’t take it anymore!”
As a weary traditional traveler, exploring the world, I took to the spas of Tbilisi in the hopes of some relaxation. What I got can only be called the most unorthodox way to relax…the massage and scrub. Now, repeat that with a heavy soviet accent.
Massage and scrub.
Read about the spas of Tbilisi before you continue. Yes, the scrub was painful, humiliating and yet afterwards I was willing to do it again, because… it was relaxing in that painful stress relieving sort of way.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we were waiting for our twins to make their appearance in this world. We headed across the State of Florida to check out one of our favorite staycation options- Marco Island. Let’s just say the differences were abundantly clear from the moment we arrived:
No scary woman with a scrub brush and a hose here. Instead, the locker room looked like the inside of a softly lit palace, complete with uniformed attendants and fluffy white towels. Unlike the sulfurous water and back slapping, the spa massage included soothing instrumental music, soft mood lighting, aromatherapy and moisturizing massage oils. No one approached me with a look of determination to scrub me clean or beat into submission my aching back. The atmosphere was soothing, quiet and relaxing.
Too relaxing.
90 minutes after crawling onto the massage table I woke up.
Does a massage count if you fall asleep?
Maybe I’m just better off handling my stress and anxiety with a trip!
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