More vacationers seeking outdoor conquests, organic food, spiritual getaways

When planning her recent Hawaiian vacation, Jody Wickers was less concerned with making sure her hotel pool would be a great place to lounge than with locating spots to exercise on the island.

A hiker, biker and rock climber, the Boulder, Colo., resident says she needs to keep moving.

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Walter Bieri / AP

More travelers are seeking vacations that allow them to hike, bike and be active. Wellness retreats and getaways seek to meet that need.

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“I love to sit and relax, but I can’t really relax unless I do something active,” Wickers says.

And if she isn’t active, she gets cranky.

To help meet the needs of people like Wickers, wellness retreats and getaways are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to the traditional vacation. People want to spend their days exploring, doing yoga and eating healthful food, not vegging out.

Natural Fitness Guided Adventures of Boulder is among those catering to the fitness-conscious traveler.

The company, founded last year, offers customized trips on which people can spend an hour or a weekend hiking, biking, rock climbing, doing yoga or whatever else comes to mind. The trips are also adjusted to that person’s general level of fitness and experience.

“They enjoy your traditional vacation, but they want to be a little more active,” director Ryan Mazer says of his clientele.

The company is also organizing six-day adventures that include two days each of biking, hiking and rock climbing with optional yoga classes. Participants have to be at least 16 and able to bike 15 miles. Meals are prepared using organic, natural and local ingredients.

The benefits of the adventure can be life-changing, Mazer says. “It feels like you jumped to a new level of health, fitness and awareness.”

Snowmass Village near Aspen, Colo., has hosted a weekend wellness retreat for the past four summers, and this year it emphasized organic gardening and food preparation, says Josh Behrman, events director.

Activities at the retreat earlier this month included organic cooking demonstrations, food and wine tasting, and workshops that discussed how to produce, eat and live an organic lifestyle. Yoga, outdoor spas and hikes also were part of the weekend.

Not only did people enjoy themselves, Behrman says, they left with the knowledge that giving the refrigerator an organic makeover is not difficult.

“There is just no reason to be skeptical,” Behrman says. “There are only upsides. You become a healthy person, and so does your environment.”

Spending a few days immersed in an activity such as yoga can help your body and mind feel more rested than any other vacation can, says Brian Spielmann of Shambhala Mountain Center in northern Colorado.

“People are pretty blown away by the experience,” says Spielmann, marketing director of the Buddhist retreat. “People feel really refreshed.”

The center offers yoga and meditation programs and also has hiking, canoeing and rock-climbing programs, holding more than 100 events a year.

With today’s shaky economy and sky-high oil and gas prices, Spielmann says, spending a weekend enjoying yourself by doing yoga or mediation is good for your well-being. “It’s even more important to take time to rejuvenate.”

Shambhala Mountain Center, shambhalamountain.org

Sacred Tree, sacredtree.com

Natural Fitness Guided Adventures, naturalfitnessguidedadventures.com

Snowmass Village Wellness Experience, snowmassvillage.com