The Bliss Series – The Long Tail Of The Zoe Effect
After five days at Bliss Sanctuary for women in Canggu, Bali, I felt the long tail of benefits in all areas of my life.
I had new meditative tools for dealing with anxiety about business deals, my ability to be fully present in the moment improved, the big picture was back in focus and I could see solutions in steps.
I really felt like I’d been on more than a holiday – I hit the reset button.
It’s The Zoe Effect.
When Zoe Watson found traveling solo was tricky for women, she wanted to remove some of the downsides:
– the awkwardness of dinners for one
– the difficulty of connecting with people when travelling because it often consists of insular groups such as couples and families
– safety
So she created Bliss Sanctuary for women with the following propositions:
– no couples, no kids
– dedicated staff that are available to attend to your needs and travel desires all the time
– a la carte dining all day which women can do solo, by the pool, in the beauitful rooms with their own mini indoor rainforests or at the big open air banquet table with other guests.
Specialist concierge hostesses are also available to co-ordinate spa treatments, tours and transport – it’s all part of the no fuss, casual service. Bliss even provides guests with their own mobile phone pre-loaded with all the numbers and names of the drivers and hostesses.
Meeting great people is easy, rewarding and fun.
While I was at Bliss, I spent time dining and going on tours with Alexa* who was making her first solo trip overseas after the husband she’d been with since she was 18 died suddenly leaving her with two grown up kids and the task of getting on with her life without him.
Katrina* was another amazing woman who at 58 years of age who took a voluntary redundancy then took off on a trip to Bliss without doing any research or planning. That was definitely stepping out of her comfort zone. She was a self-admitted cynic and had lost her father recently. By Day 2, we were laughing by the pool and both talking through the deaths of our dads with great understanding and some humour. I got a real kick out of making her laugh 🙂
We all became friends.
Zoe set out to create a specialist holiday experience for women travelling alone, with mums, sisters or besties. This is also a great experience for the burnt-out executive and women of any age for whom life is great with no problems and they just want the kind of holiday Bliss offers.
Giving back to the local community, Zoe has incorporated a humanitarian aspect into the business of Bliss.
Part of the proceeds from Bliss packages purchased by guests goes towards helping orphan children particularly the Bali Children Foundation and Bali Kids. There’s plenty of information about this essential and compassionate work on the Bliss Sanctuary website.
Here’s a video of a Network 10 report on the work Zoe does for Balinese kids:
Just as I was leaving, I spent an evening with cocktails, wine and a cheese platter with the newbie from Zimbabwe. She had her arm in a cast – nerve and tendon damage – from being attacked by a lion. The stories about her work were enthralling. I was sorry to say goodbye and board a flight back home.
