Spa Travel Tips

Wow, was the La Guardia airport busy the day before the Christmas weekend! I have never seen such long lines for checking in bags. Oddly, the check-in line was long and the security line was short. Two flights (and no food) later, we arrived in Palm Springs. My husband had a surprise arranged: A massage just hours after arriving. What a great way to begin a vacation.

It reminds me of what Birgit Brin (the brains behind the Ligne St. Barth line of spa products) mentioned to me when I met her recently at a spa conference in the Caribbean. She said that she always recommends that people indulge in a treatment immediately after they initially arrive at the spa. Not only is this the quickest way to relax (something I have always said) but she added that the difference between your pre- and post-treatment mindsets is even greater than normal (something I have never really considered). But it is a good point. The “wow effect” of a spa treatment is clearly demonstrated when a client is taken from exhausted to refreshed over the course of a single service.