What do you get when you combine two of my favorite things, travel and wellness? If you’re Jessica Van Antwerp, you get wellness guidance, retreats, and education to learn how to unlock your body’s natural healing capacity while connecting with others.
As the owner and CEO of Integral Travel, Jessica invites travelers into the world of transformational travel and its regenerative potential, with incredible results.
A Life in Motion
Jessica has been traveling since she was a child, flying multiple times a year, even as a baby. At 11 years old, she took her first international trip, and from there, her passion for travel continued to grow.
A few decades of international travel exposed her to different cultures and ways of living around the world, including developing countries. As the child of divorced parents with joint custody, Jessica and her brother went back and forth between their parents’ houses every two weeks.
Feeling like she was constantly in motion, she developed a need for movement and change in her life, leading her down various career paths. A stint as a bartender gave her a taste of lending a listening ear as she chatted with bar patrons. As the manager of a wellness center, she ironically found herself working 90-hour weeks and fueling up with nonstop coffee and cigarettes—and ultimately, she had a nervous breakdown.
A new world unfolded when Jessica entered massage therapy school, where she found her passion for health and wellness. Through the lense of Chinese medicine and shiatsu massage, Jessica explored the connection between body, spirit, and mind, and how our emotions can manifest in our bodies as aches and pains.
Jessica furthered her wellness education in yoga and qigong. With a newfound desire to travel and teach, she ultimately came across an opportunity to purchase an existing business, and Integral Travel was born.
Travel Afar to Find Yourself
Initially focused on massage education, Integral Travel became a way to help people learn how to care for their bodies and increase their own sense of vitality. Through immersive retreats ranging in duration from a few days to a couple of weeks, travelers incorporate daily health and wellness practices and discover the healing power of nature.
Integral travel retreats incorporate yoga, qigong, meditation, massage, journaling, time in nature, and plenty of free time. The experience allows participants to step away from their daily routine and gain new perspectives in a completely different environment.
Once they return home, they have tools to continue their wellness journey on a daily basis—tools that go beyond typical surface-level, “calories in, calories out” health models. Participants learn to manage not only exercise and nutrition but also stress and sleep habits, while also unlocking their body’s natural healing capacities.
To learn more about Integral Travel retreats, go to integraltravel.com and check out their online classes, free meditations, and other media. Also, be sure to sign up for your free seven-day fresh start healthy eating plan at rockbottomwellness.com.