Beyond experiences

Visiting monuments or relaxing on a beautiful beach no longer satisfies our needs like it used to. We upload dozens of photos to our social media profiles, but we still feel that something is missing. We'll return from a trip and scroll through a collection of memories that curiously have little to do with where we were and more so about what we did and what happened to us. 

To be able to talk about unique and personalized trips, these have to be designed based not on the destination, but on us. Concepts such as our scale of values, whether some of us will prefer to fly first class or tourist class; some of us will like to get closer to a new culture and others to great landscapes; others will want to learn to do something new; but surely we all share the illusion to live the authenticity of each destination through experiences that are truly special for us.

You may have been fascinated by the immense landscapes of eternal ice and their people. How many of us have imagined ourselves with a thick coat walking among great snowy landscapes or racing on a snowmobile?
 

Imagine this: Swedish Lapland is the land of the Sami. Jukkasjärvi is a town near Kiruna, 200km from the Arctic Circle, whose name means "meeting place by the water". As it passes through Jukkasjärvi, the Torne River widens so much that it looks like a lake. This village, founded in the 17th century, has always been a strategic point for fishing and trade in the area and a meeting place for the Sami, the Finns, and the Swedes. 

The igloo is the traditional way to build a house in this area, as the building materials are easily and cheaply purchased. One day someone thought of recovering this ancestral tradition, now in disuse, and building a hotel entirely of ice so that we could all experience how those people who slept under the ice felt. Thus arose the Ice Hotel, the first ice hotel in the world.

Since its opening in 1990, this hotel has been rebuilt from scratch every year between December and April with snow and ice from the village of Jukkasjärvi. All the furniture is made from blocks of ice from the Torne River. In addition, dozens of artists from all over the world visit the hotel every year to design the rooms, common areas, and surroundings with ice sculptures. As guests, we can feel like ice artists for a day by participating in a workshop where we will be taught how to make our own glacial sculptures.

Sleeping in one of these ice rooms is the closest thing to sleeping in an igloo. We can spend an unforgettable night at a temperature of -5ºC in a comfortable bed, covered with reindeer skins and thermal bags. Before going to sleep, you can try one of the cocktails at the Icebar, served, of course, in a cup made of ice.

In the area, we can also walk long distances with skis under our feet to make the crossing more comfortable and faster, a necessity of yesteryear and today turned into a sport, cross-country skiing. Or explore the immensities of the ice in snowmobiles and, if we are lucky, under incredible boreal auroras.

Others of us have dreamed of the marine worlds that have impressed us so many times in wonderful documentaries. Today, the sea's protection and sustainability are starting to become more conscious in everyone, and luxury tourism on many occasions is a source of funds for the conservation and protection of this fragile ecosystem. 

There is an almost magical place called the Sea of Flowers, located in Indonesia. It is the largest archipelago in the world consisting of more than 13,000 islands. In its depths have been filmed great marine documentaries about sharks, spectacular coral reefs, wrecks of Japanese fighters of the Second World War, and countless treasures. On its surfaces, we can find large rice fields cultivated in colorful terraces, Komodo Dragons, currently endangered and protected by the Komodo National Park, and a trail of volcanoes that protrude from the sea, some of them still active.

But one of the lesser-known islands is Moyo Island, located between the islands of Lombok and Flores. With an area of 349 km2, it has one of the best seabeds for diving in Indonesia, with pristine reefs and a great diversity of marine fauna.

Most of the island is uninhabited and its nearly 1,000 inhabitants are mainly engaged in tasks related to fishing and the care of animal farms. This natural reserve, declared a National Park in 1986, is home to numerous species such as macaques, wild boars, deer, about twenty species of bats, and more than 80 types of birds.

Amanwana, a name that means "forest of peace" in Sanskrit, was one of the hotels that wanted to be able to bring this small paradise to all of us. Here we can feel like Robinson Crusoe of the 21st century, and live to the rhythm of the ocean and nature, reminiscing on our childhood summers. We will be able to enjoy traditional, healthy, and organic cuisine based on local dishes, cooked with fresh ingredients grown in the hotel's garden, or fresh fish from local fishermen.

The coast of Moyo and the seabed of the Sea of Flowers are a true paradise for divers and snorkelers who will be fascinated by the quantity and number of species that can be discovered on each dive. In addition, we will be able to join the Amanwana team in their coral recovery program in the waters surrounding the island and create, together with a local expert, an environment for the coral to attach and grow, building a real coral farm, leaving our mark for future generations.