I’m already missing the crisp mountain air, the warm Portuguese sun on my skin and the endless forest views! And I’m already missing Portugal so much – London is freezing cold!

I’m astonished by the amount of new knowledge I’ve brought back home with me from the inaugural Connections Wellbeing. And I’m feeling incredibly honoured by the high-calibre speakers who graced us with their presence, and inspired us by sharing their limitless passion for wellbeing.  

This event for me was a wellbeing journey. I could not agree more with the words our speaker, Dr Coelho. I will now take probiotics, magnesium and vitamin D every morning – I have already ordered them – and will try to keep to as much of a dairy-free a gluten-free and dairy-free diet as possible.

I’ve also been exposed to the Ayurveda philosophy, thanks to Dr Naresh, and am already looking into the possibility of travelling to the Himalayas to try it out for myself. 

And what an incredible story was told by John Stewart – it was such a privilege for him to share his life experiences with us. It really resonated with me when that life will take you where you need to go, as I’m a great believer fatalism. And John has done an amazing things to give back along the way, and it was wonderful to hear about them and feel inspired by his actions. 

I hope you all enjoyed Stella Photi’s tips and honest insights, which really brought home the importance of thoroughly understanding wellbeing travellers’ different needs. I really had fun walking in the travellers’ shoes, and I hope you all did too! 

I applaud our wonderful host hotel, Macdonald Monchique Resort and Spa. Not only for the exquisite wellbeing experiences provided by the property, but for the cocktail evening, delicious healthy food, and the diligent, conscientious team that made us all feel so welcome and looked after throughout the event. Thank you for being our home! 

I cannot thank all of our other sponsors and partners enough for making the first ever Connections Wellbeing come to life Turismo de Portugal, Macdonald Monchique Resort and Spa, VIP Chauffeurs, Municipio de Monchique,Wellbeing Escapes, The Telegraph, Vila Vita Parc Resort and Spa, Anantara Vilamoura Algarve and Travizeo.

I’ll leave you with the fantastic video for Wellbeing in Portugal, created by our video sponsor Travizeo – which takes me right back to how wonderful I felt at the end of our inaugural event. Toby and Marco from Travizeo, thank you for capturing the fantastic memories! 

Connections Wellbeing will be back next year – we’ll be taking the event to the stunning Out of the Blue Capsis Elite Resort in Crete! So please, do keep in touch with me, let me and my team know if you would like to join us at one of our events for 2018. 

Ciao! 

Micaela