Unique Retreats

Immersive Cold Water Retreat in Loch Tay, Scotland

About…

Given the success of our 2021, 2022 & 2023 retreats, Travel Matters has been working tirelessly to bring you an alternative holiday experience. During 2024, we invite guests to participate in a bespoke ‘Immersive Cold Water Retreat’ on the banks of Loch Tay, Scotland - Saturday 21st to Wednesday 25th September 2024 2025 Dates TBC! (as featured in Outdoor Swimmer Magazine).

The experience itself will take place in our favourite Edwardian Lodge on the banks of Loch Tay and runs for four nights and five days. The retreat will be co-lead by Guinness World Record holder for Apnea and Free Diver, Amber Fillary. Morning swims & cold water immersions in Loch Tay with invaluable information on safely swimming in cold water and the health benefits therein, will be followed by breakfast, mindfulness experiences and physical well-being exercises. After a relaxation period you will be served lunch and then the afternoons are yours! Previous guests have explored the immediate picturesque countryside surrounding the lodge, ancient woodlands, cascading burns and the nearby mythical Waterfalls of Archan…all of which is over-looked by the brooding Ben Lawers mountain range. You are cordially invited to take a step into the great unknown and emerge rejuvenated, creative and powerful!

Sunrise Cold Water Immersion

We will swim in Loch Tay each morning and learn how to safely swim in cold water with breathing techniques, how to heat up your core and understand what happens to our bodies during and after immersion. You will experience the transforming benefits of cold water to the system, from improved circulation, muscle relief from pain and mental health. You are invited to feel the full benefits of cold water to body & mind by not wearing a wetsuit! Whether you just put a toe in, or swim for several minutes, we go at your pace.

Self Care (Mindfulness & Physical Well-being Exercises)

The water unblocks our mind, which in turn unlocks us and helps us make sense of the world!

Over three mornings, between 10.30am to 1.00pm, this course will be facilitated by Amber and will give you the chance to explore a spectrum of mindful practices in endurance, strength, calmness and flexibility exercises (breathe work and core Yoga stretching). Before, or after these sessions, we encourage participants to get ‘creative’! Bring your sketchbook, notepad or book and allow creativity to flow. The estate has several rooms that are devoted to hosting group discussion, or generating a peaceful & pensive atmosphere. Some people may share their work at the end if that feels beneficial and you are free to decide what you want to write over these mornings. There is ample opportunity to have intimate one-to-one sessions with Amber or Karen, to discuss your what’s on your mind. Amber has been practicing Yoga for over 15 years, so is equipped with all the physical knowhow to instruct a group of willing Yogi’s! Amber has also been incredibly self-reflective during her years of competing and has recovered her former creative self through her grasping of the ‘The Artist's Way’. Your hosts are with you to enable your inspiration, so please consider sharing some of your ideas with the group if this feels beneficial.

Remember, cold water can help with the flow of creativity and aids stimulation to activate the Prefrontal Cortex and improve the Prefrontal-dependent Cognitive Function. This will assist with sustained attention, response inhibition and your working memory.

The Daily Programme

Please bring something to record your creativity with - perhaps a diary or notepad. Everything you experience, from the cold water immersion to the mindfulness exercises, are pointed to better your practice of meditation. This takes on several forms, so if you wish to be pensive and apply your thoughts to independent reflection, we urge you to do so. If you wish to have active discussion with like-minded people, we would enjoy being part of this experience.

There is a large stone built ‘Snug’ with a significant open fire and Library, also with open fire, television, baby grand piano and media and entertainment room if required. We will also have times around the firepit outside and inside around the fire to sing around the piano, talk and gather. Your menus will have been created by a proud Kevin McGillivray, former ‘Scottish Chef of the Year’, who enjoys using seasonal and local produce (we’ll ask for your dietary requests before the departure date), so be prepared to be well fed.

We prefer you not to have your phones on you except for taking pictures at swim and walk times, and check it only when you are in your rooms. Try exchanging your screens for the landscape of Loch Tay.

The Accommodation

Within the grand Estate, guests will be able to enjoy beautifully styled bedrooms, with comfortable and plush furnishings. Each bedroom has its own unique style, ranging from more traditional chambers to contemporary fashioned bedrooms. Depending on your booking preferences, you will either be hosted in a Triple Bedroom or Double Bedroom, all of which have a private en-suite bathroom. All bedrooms have outstanding views of rolling hills, the countryside and Loch Tay. (All rooms in the lodge are with Super King Beds, with one twin room and three rooms offer a Super King Bed and additional single bed for three people sharing.)

Your Hosts

Amber Fillary was born in South Africa. She lives with one foot there and the other in the water. Her life and passion for free diving and apnea swimming has taken her all over this beautiful planet and the ocean is her sanctuary. In the last few years she became focussed on apnea swims in ice cold conditions. Between 2019 and 2021 she got 3 Guinness World Records for apnea swims and is now ready for the next (and maybe last) apnea ice swim record! She loves the water both warm and cold, it is her happy place.

Karen Simmonds is the Founder & CEO of Travel Matters. Karen has a hospitality and travel background spanning 30 years. She is the founder of Travel Matters and the Make Travel Matter™ Campaign. She facilitates exclusive retreats and journeys all over the world. An avid fan of being out in nature and wild swimming, whatever the weather (breaking ice if needs be) she is keen to share the holistic benefits of spending time in or by the water.

What’s Included...

• Breakfasts, Lunches & Evening Meals will be catered for by a private chef giving you time to enjoy the majestic views over Loch Tay. 

• All Activities are included.

• A donation to our partners Trees for Cities (who will plant some trees and help us keep tabs on our overall Carbon Footprint.) 

• A contribution to a Bursary Fund, enabling an anonymous individual, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford such an experience.

• Supervision from an experienced Open Water Lifeguard/OWL.

Cost 

Single Occupancy (based on private bedroom) = £1,400 pp

Two Sharing (based on sharing a bedroom) = £1,200 pp

Three Sharing (based on sharing a bedroom) = £1,100 pp

(Should you require a room to yourself, please book as soon as possible as these are selling FAST! Have you asked your employer if they can make a contribution to this experience, as part of your personal development? Check out the UK Research and Innovation’s ‘Employee Wellbeing Policy’ for some guidance).

Travel

Travel is not included, but we are happy to assist. Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports are 90 minutes drive from the estate. A train from Glasgow Station is 90 minutes. Local taxi & minibus details available on request.

Dates

Saturday 21st to Wednesday 25th September 2024 2025 Dates TBC! (To be added to our priority guestlist, please enquire today)

Terms & Conditions

Based on 4 night stay: £1,400 pp for private bedroom with Super King Bed, £1,200 pp sharing a bedroom with Super King Bed & £1,100 pp based on three sharing a bedroom with Super King Bed and Single Bed. 15% non refundable deposit required at time of booking. The retreats are not able to guarantee the inclusion of any specific host due to illness or unforeseen circumstances.

Arrival Time: 4.00 p.m.
Departure Time: 10.00 a.m.

(Terms & Conditions may be amended at time of booking.)