If you feel that unstoppable urge to unplug and run away to recharge your batteries, then it’s time for a holiday dedicated to JOMO, literally the joy of missing out. In practice, the exact opposite of FOMO, fear of missing out, the fear of being excluded from social life, missing out on news, events and trends. This increasingly widespread form of anxiety pushes people to stay constantly connected, to share their life and follow the lives of others, with the result that they return to work more tired than before. Have you ever tried, instead, to take off your watch, turn off your smartphone and computer and then… hug a tree? Or sit down to contemplate a mountaintop? Or even walk barefoot in a forest? A restorative forest bath can help you rediscover spiritual and corporeal well-being. Slowly your mind lets the everyday thoughts slip away and you start listening. You hear the sounds of birds and other animals, which overlap with the rustling of leaves, and you smell the scents too, observe the sun’s rays and the infinite shades of colors, establish contact with plants and with the earth, and while doing all this you get back in touch with yourself again. It is scientifically proven that these activities, which are based on the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, produce beneficial effects for the body and also for the mind, as the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy explains: they lower anxiety levels, help breathing and promote relaxation.
SKYVIEW CHALETS
Where: Toblacher See, Dobbiaco (Bolzano)
www.toblachersee.com
South Tyrol is an ideal destination for forest bathing. Along the shores of Lake Dobbiaco you can immerse yourself in the quiet of the Dolomites, staying in the Skyview Chalets, innovative glass cubes made of glass and wood, where the boundary between inside and outside dissolves in an interplay of transparencies. After waking up in a bed that seems suspended between heaven and earth, you can go straight out into the woods. An ideal location for serial contemplators and lovers of mountain silence, even at night, in the presence of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Martin Lugger
Those who don’t want to relinquish the thrill of adventure can opt for more intense experiences of sensory stimulation, as long as they always remain connected with the immensity of nature and its phenomena, whether that’s by admiring a night sky, discovering the secrets of the stars and the most distant galaxies in areas with low light pollution, or observing volcanoes, geysers and hot springs.
NABI RESORT E GLAMPING
Where: Via Occidentale, Castel Volturno (Caserta)
https://laghinabi.it
Come experience the restorative power of water at the Nabi Lakes, the first natural oasis in Campania, born out of the environmental regeneration of formerly abandoned sand quarries on the Domitian Coast. The immersion in the landscape is totalizing when you choose the Nabi Resort and Glamping, a luxury and eco-sustainable campsite with lodges suspended on stilts, elegant lakeside tents and the uniqueness of a floating house. A holiday dedicated to multisensoriality, between yoga, walks, a wellness pool and masterful cuisine.
A multi-sensory holiday, between yoga, walks, a wellness pool and masterful cuisine
Of course, you have to choose the right places, but you don’t necessarily have to fly to the other side of the world: well-being isn’t found only in exotic locales or extreme experiences, it’s also in the wind that caresses the skin or in the water that flows over rocks in places near to us. Nature asks for nothing, it imposes no rhythms, has no expectations: it simply welcomes, envelopes and teaches us that we don’t need to fill every moment, allowing time to flow freely and lightly.
BORGOTUFI
Where: Via Borgo Tufi 80, Castel del Giudice (Isernia)
www.borgotufi.it
The chaos of the city is just a distant memory in Borgotufi, an albergo diffuso, or scattered hotel, located in Castel del Giudice, on the border between Molise and Abruzzo. Here, forest bathing begins at the windows of the stone houses, which overlook the Apennine peaks and the landscape dotted with forests and organic apple orchards, born on reclaimed disused land. Various paths, along which mushrooms and truffles grow, lead to the discovery of places rich in biodiversity, but also peace and energy, ideal retreats to regenerate the body and mind.
Places rich in biodiversity, but also peace and energy
OLM NATURE ESCAPE
Where: Via Unterwalburgen 21, Campo Tures (Bolzano)
www.olm.it
With 80 peaks over 3,000 meters, the Aurina Valley is a hymn to nature par excellence and OLM Nature Escape, in Caminata di Tures, is the first eco-aparthotel that is fully energy self-sufficient in South Tyrol.
From the outside the structure looks like a futuristic oasis, while inside it offers the warmth of the mountains, thanks to the modern interpretation of a malga, or mountain hut. It is a place of regeneration, of the absence of time, where you can indulge in stays that offer full immersion in relaxation, especially in the suites with a private wellness area.
Hannes Niederkofler
text by Maria Carla Rota
