Luxury Wellness Retreats That Don’t Cost the Earth (Literally)
The Emptiness of Traditional Luxury Travel
Luxury, as the world sells it, is a performance.
It’s designer labels, five-star hotels and butler service - status symbols designed to scream "Look how much I can spend!" But peel back the veneer and you’ll find the truth: real luxury isn’t bought. It’s lived. The discerning traveller isn’t interested in this charade anymore - and neither are we.
At The Big Love Retreats, we reject the idea that luxury is about exclusivity, extraction or ego. Instead, we believe true luxury is an energy - one that nourishes, connects and regenerates.
Here’s what that actually looks like.
1. Luxury is Sovereignty - Not Servitude
The illusion: The more people wait on you, the more ‘luxurious’ your experience. Butlers, personal assistants, staff scrambling to fulfil your every whim.
The truth: Real luxury isn’t about being served - it’s about freedom. Freedom to choose your rhythm. Freedom to exist without performing.
At our retreats:
🌿 "Your pace, your peace." Sleep in. Join a sunrise yoga session - or don’t. Every activity is an invitation, not an obligation.
🌿 No Instagram pressure. No staged "bliss shots." Just real moments, unhurried and unposed.
🌿 A ‘no’ is a complete sentence. No justifying, no people-pleasing. What lights you up? Do that.
Because the ultimate luxury? Not needing to prove a damn thing.
2. Luxury is Ethical Energy Exchange
The illusion: A ‘luxury’ resort where staff earn pennies while guests pay thousands. Where a $200 spa treatment costs more than the therapist's monthly rent.
The truth: Real luxury doesn’t exploit - it empowers.
🌿 We don’t just preach "fair wages." We audit them. Our Nepali wellness practitioners earn multiples above local rates - because their art and labour deserve respect, not extraction.
🌿 Cody, our Chief Love Officer, ensures our team is rested, valued and thriving - so they can pour that joy into your experience.
🌿 We invest in people. Even as a young company, we fund training for practitioners who grow with us - because luxury shouldn’t end when the retreat does.
This isn’t charity. It’s justice.
3. Luxury is Earth’s Whisper, Not a Shout
The illusion: A manicured ‘jungle resort’ where every leaf is trimmed, every bug sprayed away and the ‘infinity pool’ drains local water supplies.
The truth: Real luxury is nature untamed.
🌿 No pesticides. The bees, butterflies and geckos are our co-hosts.
🌿 Let the land breathe. We design spaces to work with natural climates - whether that's Himalayan breezes, desert winds or ocean air.
🌿 No ‘Instagrammable’ landscaping. Just raw, unfiltered beauty.
We don’t conquer nature. We converse with it.
4. Luxury is Deep Presence - Not Distraction
The illusion: A ‘wellness retreat’ where you're still glued to your phone, hustling for content, mentally stuck in your inbox.
The truth: Real luxury is uninterrupted presence.
🌿 Digital detoxing. Optional device check-ins with Cody (your Chief Love Officer).
🌿 Slow meals. Farm-to-table feasts savoured in silence or laughter - no rushed buffets.
🌿 Guilt-free unstructured time. To read, journal or stare at clouds like you did as a child.
We’re all bankrupt in the currency that matters most: unbroken attention.
5. Luxury is Leaving Things Better Than You Found Them
The illusion: ‘Eco-friendly’ resorts that tout bamboo straws while dumping waste into rivers. The wellness industry's dirty secret: greenwashing - when ‘sustainability’ is just a marketing sticker.
The truth: Real luxury regenerates.
🌿 With us a % of every booking funds local initiatives (education, healthcare, clean water).
🌿 Intentional Packing initiative: Guests reserve 2kg in their luggage for school supplies or hygiene kits. You bring it; we organise the rest.
🌿 Living reciprocity: Share stories over chai with locals. Learn to cook with foraged herbs. Let connection - not transactions - define the exchange.
Because luxury shouldn't cost the earth.
The New Luxury Checklist
Forget star ratings. Here's how we measure opulence:
🌿 Does this honour my boundaries?
🌿 Does this pay people fairly?
🌿 Does this protect nature?
🌿 Does this fill my soul - not just my feed?
If the answer isn’t hell yes, it’s not luxury.
Luxury Really is an Inside Job
The world will keep selling you the lie that luxury is something you buy, but you know better. And so do we.
Real luxury is:
🌿 The confidence to move through the world without begging for validation.
🌿 The awareness to know where your money goes - and the integrity to ensure it heals.
🌿 The stillness to enjoy a moment without always needing to capture it.
This is the luxury we stand for. No gold leaf. No empty status. Just the unshakable richness of a life lived in alignment.
Real luxury isn’t bought - it’s lived. At our retreats, you’ll experience sovereignty, ethical wages, and wild nature - no gold leaf required.
"Rinpoche’s thread still ties us to the Himalayas. Come feel it."
