Ecuador, Day 2: Even at a Five-Star Spa, It’s Not about You

Jackie here again, sending you your second free report from our Ecuador Travel Writing Expedition in Cotacachi, Ecuador.  As part of our week-long event, attendees enjoyed an hour-long massage and a half-day of pampering at Cotacachi’s renowned 5-star Relais & Chateaux, La Mirage.

They could choose between the bamboo massage where you relax for 15 minutes in a warm bath followed by a full body massage with bamboo sticks… a chocolate massage where you’re brushed in warm chocolate, then wrapped in warm blankets before your 60-minute massage with a crystallized chocolate body scrub and warm chocolate … or a couples massage (if they’re here with a loved one) where you first bathe in a heart-shaped tub sprinkled with rose petals then massaged together in unison in front of a crackling fire.

In total, La Mirage has 13 different spa treatments to choose from (each more coveted than the last), so it’s no surprise that many of our attendees have decided to write their first travel article about their spa experience.

However, no matter how self-indulging a day at the spa can be, travel writer Steenie Harvey reminds us that even a spa article shouldn’t be about you.  As she put it, “You aren’t the story.  Your destination is the star of the show.”

So, while personal experience can add a bit of humor or emotion to a piece, ultimately the reader isn’t going to be taking a trip to that place with you.  And they will want to be able to read about that destination or experience without you getting in the way.

Taking Steenie’s advice, attendee Barbara G. found a unique way to write about her spa experience without focusing too much on herself.  Here’s a small excerpt from her article titled “Cleopatra’s Bath: A Spa Treatment Others Can Only Dream About:”

“As my body slides into the milky white water, my transformation from woman to goddess is complete.  I am Cleopatra! Last Pharaoh of Egypt! Seductress!

“Picture her. She lies luxuriously back in the warm water. Her eyelids slowly close to the sounds of Egyptian music playing gently in the background. She begins dreaming of the evening that she has planned with her new man, Mark Anthony, when she plans to seduce him with her beauty. The bubbles massage her body as they glide up to the surface. The perfume of roses pervades the air. Rose petals gently balance above the mass of bubbles in the water and move softly whenever her body moves sensuously in the water…”

By transforming herself into Cleopatra, she removes herself completely from the article and allows readers to visualize exactly how they would feel if they were experiencing the Cleopatra’s Bath treatment themselves.

It’s a creative way of getting yourself out of the picture and focusing on the reader and your destination.

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]