The cheapest of the bunch (a four-day running tour of Florence) starts at $2,350, while the priciest (six days of hiking in Morocco) begins at $6,250. Attendees who can afford the latter will summit Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in the Arab world, alongside two professional trainers, dine on local cuisine and engage in breathing sessions, yoga and hammam treatment.
The goal with Explore, Howe says, is for members to return home feeling better than when they left. The attendees are intent on maintaining their focus on health, fitness and luxury even while away. It’s because of their pre-established connection to the brand that they trust Equinox to be the authority in the travel space and beyond, she says.
Proven practices?
Some might argue that allegiance to particular brands can be far more costly than necessary. Contrary to what some providers might suggest, maintaining wellness can be simple and relatively inexpensive. “The basics of good health are straightforward,” says Margaret McCartney, a Glasgow-based general practitioner and author. “Not smoking, careful with alcohol, diet with fruit, veg and wholegrains, exercise, social connectivity.”
The benefits provided by wellness brands can be numerous, but as the industry swells is there a risk we’re being persuaded to spend excessively? That depends, says David Colquhoun, a pharmacologist at University College London and author of science-debunking blog DC’s Improbable Science. “Nobody could possibly be against wellbeing. It would be like opposing motherhood and apple pie,” he wrote in 2011. “The only question that really matters is, how much of it works?”