This week, in the  Somewhere Luxurious travel blog, I featured 8 places around the world with warm and highly inviting hot springs. People say that the hot springs are healthy for various reasons. The waters can make you look younger, make skin more elastic, heal skin irritations and so on. Whether the claims are true or not, I’ll let the readers decide, but in any case, hot springs are typically comforting and a good soak can make you feel better.
You don’t even have to travel abroad if you live in the United States. The Hot Springs National Park is a fixture in Arkansas and although, apparently, the bulk of the bathhouses on Bathhouse Row in Arkansas are no longer open for customers, the Buckstaff Bathhouse is still open and offers soaks from the hot springs (with spa-like prices).
If you don’t mind traveling, the Blue Lagoon (not the movie) is huge and the waters have been said to help people with psoriasis. The water is a milky blue color and in the winter, the steamy air is incredibly beautiful as it wafts above the water. Like some of the other hot springs, the Blue Lagoon has a nearby hotel. If you are like me, you hate getting totally relaxed only to have to make your way through traffic to get back to your hotel room. When my room is close, I can keep my feeling of bliss going for a little longer.
The Blue Lagoon, photo courtesy of the Blue Lagoon
Also on Somewhere Luxurious this week, is an list of some of the super foods and beauty products that you probably have heard about, but might have wondered where they are from. Coconut oil and shea butter are a couple of my personal favorite skin moisturizers. Together, they make a body butter so moisturizing and scrumptious that you can’t help but become addicted to it. I’ve also included maca, which is claimed to increase stamina and balance hormones. All I know is that it tastes great. I often added it to my banana smoothies before I traveled abroad to South Korea. Â I’m definitely going to start using it again.
I had a great time researching both of these articles, and it’s always fun to watch shows like the Real Housewives of Atlanta and write about the cool spots in the ATL. Since it’s the second day of 2015, I’m sending you all a virtual toast and wishing you all as many days of relaxation that you can handle and tons of pampering in the new year.
Claudine has been published in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hotel Chatter, and other distinguished publications.
She has a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and a master's degree in Information Design and Communications.
- Here’s to a Relaxing and Beautiful 2015 - January 2, 2015
- YouTube Video: Babies in Cabbage Patch Land - February 2, 2011
- YouTube Video: Villas MedSpa, Atlanta - February 2, 2011