That might include restorative yoga, reiki, and tarot card reading, as I discovered at clarvergence, a wellness center in Breckenridge, which helped my 17-year-old recover from the betrayal of a friend the day before she competed in boardercross at Copper Mountain. After the race, a glass blowing class at Breck Create kept her mind off the outcome.
Physically active grief travel
Grief inevitably brings up a swirl of thoughts and emotions. Keeping physically active can help channel those feelings into something productive—and release some of the tumultuous energy.
“Traveling is therapeutic to the grieving process, because traveling is a process just like grief,” says Alice Ryan, board member at Wild Grief, a nonprofit that offers campouts, backpacking trips, and hikes for young grievers. “It is an adventure. The point of travel is to keep going. You don’t stop. You’re moving through it.”
Mariyana Castleberry, founder of YOLO Dream Adventure Travel, agrees. When she contracted a debilitating form of COVID before she was supposed to depart for Kilimanjaro, she grieved the canceled climb and the time lost to treatment. When she finally summited the mountain, she also released the grief that remained from her father’s passing decades earlier. Now she designs excursions like this for her clients.
Commemorative grief travel
Honor a loss through commemorative grief travel by visiting places that were important to your loved one, incorporating rituals, or even retracing the past. For example, The Grief Cruise allows grievers to scatter the ashes of loved ones into the ocean, join support groups, and attend workshops run by grief experts.
As Russell suggests, however, it’s important to do this mindfully. “You may be drawn to visiting this place, but it is important that you feel ready to do this, and it is not ‘too soon’ for you.”
After my mother and brother died, I avoided Huntington Beach, where I grew up.. But this winter break, I felt ready. My older two kids were now around the age of my brother and I when he died. We kayaked in Huntington Harbor, did yoga on the beach with Chanda Halpin, and surfed with Rocky McKinnon—adventures my mother and brother never had the chance to experience. At Disneyland, we introduced our youngest to my mother’s favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and while Avengers Campus proved too emotional to enjoy—my brother would have loved it—the Waterfront Beach Resort’s heated outdoor pools, waterslides, and hot tubs restored us. On New Year’s Eve, Beach Bros Sharing reset my family’s tradition of bonfires on the beach by taking care of everything: setting up beach chairs, lighting the firepit, and stocking a smores bar with allergy-safe chocolate, making it possible for our allergy-prone kid to taste her first.
Informative grief travel
Broaden your perspective and learn something new. Russell suggests that if you are a task-focused person, you might find value in a goal-oriented solo trip that includes volunteering to help endangered turtles or a snow leopard expedition.
