According to the Global Wellness Institute, the wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and is predicted to soar to $9.8 trillion by 2029, while wellness tourism alone reached $894 billion in 2024 and is on track to surpass $1.4 trillion by 2029. McKinsey’s Future of Wellness research even found that 84% of US consumers consider wellness a top priority in their everyday lives. It’s clear most people want to be well, and now more than ever, they’re refusing to leave their routines at home when they travel.

We’d been talking about this trip for months: an eight-day private catamaran tour with Sail Croatia that I intend to enjoy every minute of. I’m not immune to the pressure to be well and look well—especially when I’ll be in a swimsuit for eight days—so I’ve made the ocean my gym for the week, stand-up paddle boarding and swimming in the Adriatic. I know I’ll eat and drink more and sleep less over the next several days, but I also know I’ll swim and walk more and have memories that will last forever.

I take a deep breath and stretch before diving into the sea. When I surface, Tony throws me the paddle, and one of my friends joins me in my “workout.” We wobble around on the board until we successfully balance our weight, which proves even more interesting when Matea hands us two Aperol Spritzes.

I work up a sweat as I paddle us to the cliff walls, where we down our drinks before taking to the shore, acting like children as we take turns cannonballing into the water and climbing the rocks, looking for shells.

Perhaps I’m doing the same thing as my friend, but I’m more secretive about it—turning moments of this trip into an opportunity to stay fit—but for me, getting outside and into the landscape is what I call balance.