As well as epicurean remedies and glamorous locations, there are more simple solutions to heartbreak, as divorce coach Sara Davison advises. “It’s important to choose the right kind of trip that is going to be restorative and give you time for reflection,” she says. “Research shows that being in nature renews our spirits and encourages us to look beyond our immediate circumstances. It allows us to process difficult feelings in a judgement-free zone, enabling us to regulate our emotions and find our natural balance again.”
Heartbreak Hotel
One place explicitly designed for this process is the aptly named Heartbreak Hotel in the UK. Founded by psychologist Alice Haddon and co-founder Ruth Field, the Heartbreak Hotel runs retreats that address romantic heartbreak through one-to-one therapy, group sessions, nourishing food and a little pampering on a bucolic estate in Sussex.
“We’ve had everyone from a 28-year-old who had broken up with a partner of six months to a 72-year-old who had got divorced from her husband of 45 years,” says Field. “The work of the retreat is to bring every guest back into connection with who they really are outside the relationship that has broken down.” Around 50 percent of the attendees come to the retreat from abroad, from countries including the US, Germany, Australia, Vietnam, and Bahrain. “The journey doesn’t seem to be a barrier—it’s an attraction,” says Field, “and the experience of heartbreak is universal.” If you’re craving more distant scenes, there are plenty of programs geared up for heartbroken travelers across the globe, from the remote jungles of Mexico to the valleys of Bhutan and the rolling hills of Tuscany—more on which below.
Of course, there’s no quick fix when it comes to heartbreak, as Chance Marshall, co-founder of mental health service Self Space, reminds us. “As much as travel captivates our spirits, it will never properly mend a broken heart,” he says. “There is no ‘cure’ for heartbreak, and travel cannot magically erase the pain.” But it can help us get out there and explore our complex interior life against a shifting external world, allowing us to process our emotions in a context that differs from the everyday. And if it doesn’t help, you can always come home – an option that might look more appealing after a long journey. And all without even a hint of a squabble over a suitcase.
The hotels healing broken hearts
Below, find the hotels providing the ultimate escape for heartbroken travellers – from retreats dedicated to healing aching hearts to breathtakingly beautiful escapes to distract you long enough to begin mending.
