*The following features a gifted trip. All opinions are my own*
Working for yourself from home takes its toll on you. That’s what I’ve learned over the past four or so years. While there are so many positives to it that I needn’t get into, the drawbacks to having yourself run your own schedule is that I really do just work when I feel like it and pay for it when I’ve been too lax.
Every minute counts. While I’ve been living like that for years, it’s different when you have so much more freedom like this. This year I’ve had a great idea for a project that I want to work on, but whenever I’m on my laptop I always fall into the trap of doing something else. When the kids are home, my laptop time is sacred (because it’s so limited) so I usually end up doing the things I HAVE to do rather than what I WANT to do.
When the opportunity came along to have a spa day – a few hours away without the temptation of my laptop – I literally saw it as the perfect opportunity to work on that project that I’ve been yearning to get going for months. All I had was my phone and my thoughts.
So I’m going to tell you how it went.
Me and Hollie rocked up to The Spa at Ardencote in Warwickshire fresh from the school run. We didn’t want to waste a minute, so hit the motorway straight after the boys were dropped off.
Once we arrived we were wowed by the snow-dusted settings, with the luxury spa found nestled in a woodland not too far from Warwick Castle (a place we’ve somehow been to three times this year!) It felt like a proper escape from the real world and the kind of break that we needed after a very intense past few weeks.
I decided many years ago that massages are not my thing. Whenever we spa together, it’s agreed that Hollie cracks on and I’ll keep myself occupied by finding a relaxation room and doing as instructed. On this occasion I was on a mission – while Hollie was gone for an hour with her intense Tribe 517 Warm Harmony full body massage, I managed to write the first 1,000 words of an ebook. Just like that.
Because I don’t commute or have much uninterrupted downtime like that, I would never otherwise have done it, but that hour gave me the boosting catalyst required to get this thing off the ground.
From there I felt accomplished and as though I could chill. Once we were reunited we had plenty of time to explore the rest of the place. We gave the outdoor hot tub a go (which feels so much better when you can see the non-heated pool is literally frozen). We sampled the soothing foot spa to relieve a little tension down below. We were given a wake-up call by the ultra-bubbly jacuzzi. There was just so much to do.
While I agreed to relax, the whole time my mind was racing thinking about all the possibilities with my new project now that I’d actually made some progress with it. Over the course of the day I ended up reorganising my iCloud notes, rewriting a video script and planning my next moves all while in the comfort of a mind-settling spa. I might have been ‘working’ but it was working on the admin and infrastructure things that I just wouldn’t find the time to do if I wasn’t in this environment.
Midway through our day we had to prise ourselves from the outdoor hot tub to go get some lunch. The on-site Brasserie sorted us out with a light lunch. Hollie got the Salt and Pepper Fried Squid while I went with the Charred Lamb Koftas and we were both very pleased with our choices. The fact that mains are free included as part of the cost of your visit is a massive bonus.
Of all that we explored – including the swimming pool, steam room, Tyrolean Kilo Sauna – we decided that the Tepidarium is pretty much our favourite place to be. If we were given the chance, we probably would have spent the whole day in it.
All this and I didn’t even miss the gym!
For what I got from the experience I can’t praise The Spa at Ardencote more. It’s exactly the kind of way I’d like to spend more of my Fridays and the fact that I got so much productive stuff done in the process makes me feel like I need to rethink my home office set up.
For those that truly want an actual escape from all things work, this place is nicely laid out, presented and hosted to give you the escape you deserve.
For more on our trip, check Hollie’s Insta:
Find out more on their website.
The Spa at Ardencote can be found at The Cumsey, Lye Green Road, Claverdon, Warwick, CV35 8LT.