Why Wellness Is the New Cool Kid of Travel

By Matt Coyle, Founder, Travel Project

A few years ago, if you'd told me my favourite trip of the year would involve a 6am meditation, a body scan and zero cocktails, I'd have laughed you out of the office.

Yet here we are.

I've just come back from three of Asia's best wellness retreats: Kamalaya on Koh Samui, then RXV and RAKxa just outside Bangkok. I came home lighter, clearer and, if I'm being honest, a bit of a convert. And I'm not the only one. Wellness has quietly gone from the "nice to have" add-on to the reason people are booking the trip in the first place.

It's the new cool kid of travel. Here's what it's all about, and why I loved every minute of it.

So, why wellness? And why now?

We're all running on empty. Busy jobs, busy families, phones that never stop. Most of us get a holiday and spend the first half just coming down, then fly home and pick up exactly where we left off.

A wellness retreat flips that. You arrive, someone else takes care of everything, and the whole stay is designed around making you feel better. Not for the week. For when you get home.

The other thing that's changed? Wellness got good. It used to mean lettuce and a lecture. Now it's beautiful villas, incredible food, world-class therapists and doctors who actually explain things. It's luxury that leaves you better off.

What you actually get

Every retreat does it differently, but the best ones mix and match a few of these:

A plan built around you. Most start with a consult, and some with full health testing, then build your days from there.
Body work. Massage, traditional Thai and Ayurvedic treatments, hydrotherapy, ice baths and saunas.
Movement. Yoga, Pilates, hikes, personal training. As gentle or as hard as you like.
Food that's actually delicious. Fresh, clean, often grown on site. No one's counting your calories.
Mind and spirit. Meditation, breathwork, sleep coaching, and in places like Kamalaya, time with monks and healers.
Medical and longevity programs. Blood work, scans and specialists for people who want real data on their health.
Permission to do nothing. Honestly, this might be the best bit.

Who's it for?

Short answer: more people than you'd think.

The burnt-out. You're tired, stressed and need a proper reset, not another busy itinerary.
The curious. You want to know what's going on inside and how to feel your best for the next 20 years.
The milestone-marker. A big birthday, a career change, a new chapter. It's the perfect way to start fresh.
Couples and friends. Do it together, or split your days and meet for dinner.
The first-timer. You don't need to be into yoga or green juice. Most of my fellow guests weren't either.

If any of that sounds like you, keep reading. Here's where I went.

Kamalaya, Koh Samui: the one that got under my skin

I expected a nice spa. I didn't expect to be moved.

Kamalaya sits on a hillside on Koh Samui's south coast, built around a cave where Buddhist monks once came to meditate. You feel that history the moment you arrive. It's quiet in a way most places aren't anymore.

The highlight for me was a blessing with a monk. He blessed a set of beads for me, and I'm not too proud to admit it hit me harder than I thought it would. I still wear them. They're the best souvenir I've ever brought home.

Kamalaya is for anyone who needs to switch off properly. Not "check emails by the pool" switched off. Actually switched off.

RXV and RAKxa: one team, two very different resets

If Kamalaya was for the soul, this double act was the full service on the engine.

RXV and RAKxa come from the same team and sit close to Bangkok, but they each do their own thing. I did two days at RXV first, then moved across to RAKxa. Honestly? That's the order I'd book for every client.

RXV is about an hour out of Bangkok, inside Suan Sampran, a big riverside estate of organic gardens and old Thai teak houses on the Tha Chin River. It feels like a village, not a clinic.

This is where you slow down. Morning yoga or Tai Chi, Thai bodywork, sound healing, a dip in the hydrotherapy pools, then dinner straight from the garden. Two days here and my shoulders had dropped a good five centimetres.

It's also great for families and groups, which is rare in this space. Mum's in the spa, the kids are in the garden, everyone's happy.

Then I crossed over to RAKxa in Bang Krachao, the leafy "green lung" just across the river from the city. Ten minutes from the chaos, and you'd never know Bangkok was there.

RAKxa is where it gets serious, in the best way. It blends proper medical testing with traditional Thai healing. I sat down with the team, went through my results and learned more about what my body actually needs than I have in years. Sleep, food, stress, the lot. No lectures, just clear advice I could take home.

I walked out feeling ten years younger. The TP team will tell you I've been insufferable about it ever since.

Why do both

RXV gets you relaxed. RAKxa gets you results. Arrive at RXV and you turn up to RAKxa already switched off, so you get far more out of it. Book them back to back and you've got the perfect Thai wellness week, all within about an hour of Bangkok.

Three retreats, three completely different experiences. That's the bit people don't realise. Wellness isn't one thing. Picking the right one for you is everything, and that's exactly where we come in.

Switzerland: the reset your Euro summer needs

Here's my cheat code for Europe. Don't fly home straight after the Amalfi Coast.

After weeks of long lunches, late dinners and one too many spritzes, a few days at Huus Quell is the perfect full stop. It's tucked into the hills of Appenzell in north-east Switzerland, an easy trip from Zurich. Think green alpine meadows, cowbells and a seriously impressive spa: pools, saunas, steam grottos, a floating yoga platform and a longevity centre with cryotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen. You can go full biohacker, or just float and look at the mountains.

You land back in Australia rested instead of wrecked. Trust me, your Monday self will thank you.

Closer to home: no passport required

Not every reset needs a long-haul flight. Some of the best wellness in the world is right here.

Gwinganna in the Gold Coast hinterland is the gold standard for an Aussie reset. Adults-only, phones away, early nights and early starts in the bush. A long weekend there can do more than a fortnight somewhere you spend the whole time sightseeing.

Why I'm a convert

I've spent almost eight years sending people to the most beautiful places on earth. I've never had clients come home and say they felt this good.

These are the places I'd send my own family, and they're exactly what we're choosing for our clients right now. A spiritual reset, a deep dive into your health, a soft landing after Europe or a long weekend up the coast. They're all wellness, and they're all completely different. Matching the right one to the right person is the stuff that can't be Googled, and it's what we do best.

Ready for your reset? Let's script one just for you.

Matt

Travel Project Founder

Less Burnout, More Glow: The Wellness Retreats Worth Booking

KAMALAYA – THAILAND

Built around a hillside cave where Buddhist monks once came to meditate on Koh Samui. Kamalaya does burnout better than anyone, with tailored programs, Thai healing and villas that make doing nothing feel productive. Matt left with monk-blessed beads he still hasn’t taken off. Wellness with a soul, minus the lecture.
RAKXA – THAILAND

Ten minutes from Bangkok, hidden in the leafy green lung of Bang Krachao. RAKxa pairs proper medical testing with traditional Thai healing, so you leave knowing exactly what your body needs. Sleep, food, stress, the lot. It’s the full service on the engine, and Matt swears it took ten years off.
RXV WELLNESS VILLAGE – THAILAND

RAKxa’s laid-back sibling, about an hour out of Bangkok on a riverside estate of organic gardens and old teak houses. Think Tai Chi at sunrise, Thai bodywork, hydrotherapy pools and dinner straight from the garden. Families welcome, which is rare in this space. Start here, then move to RAKxa. Trust us on the order.
HUUS QUELL – SWITZERLAND

Your Euro summer’s perfect full stop. Tucked into the alpine meadows of Appenzell, it has nine pools, eight saunas, a floating yoga platform and a longevity centre with cryotherapy at -110°C. Go full biohacker or just float and stare at the mountains. Either way, you fly home rested, not wrecked.
CHIVA-SOM – THAILAND

The original wellness icon, doing this since 1995, long before it was cool. Set on the beach in Hua Hin, Chiva-Som blends Eastern healing with Western medicine. Think tailored programs, beachfront yoga and a team that’s seen it all. It’s a classic for a reason, and an easy add-on to a Bangkok stay.
GWINGANNA – AUSTRALIA

No passport required. Up in the Gold Coast hinterland, Gwinganna is the gold standard for an Aussie reset: adults only, phones away, early nights and bush walks at dawn. A long weekend here does more than a fortnight of sightseeing. Your inbox will survive, we promise.