Think life will be better after a week spent lying on a tropical beach? Think again.
Scott Rice can’t say for sure, but it’s possible he invented the word “swimcation”. This is how he describes Ocean Swim Fiji, an annual event he puts on which brings 200 tourists from around the world for a holiday centred on ocean swimming. Or is it ocean swimming centred on a vacation?
The swimcation – which Rice describes as “five days, three swims, zero worries” – is just another offering in a fast-growing tourism sector. Such holidays cater to people who don’t want their breaks to revolve around lolling about, eating, drinking and reading – or not just those things – but to be challenged.
Call it “the holiday of discomfort”. Or, more accurately, the judicious application of discomfort for the enhancement of comfort.
“It gives your holiday purpose,” Rice says. “You’ll get a lot of time to lie in a lounger and drink beer, but you’ll feel better doing it because you’ve just swum around an island.”
Participants spend their first three mornings travelling to a new location, where they swim either a one-kilometre or 3km course. The rest of each day is given over to having a good time in Fiji. The final day is entirely given over to having a good time in Fiji.
Former triathlete Craig Gregory has been to all four Ocean Swim Fiji events since they began in 2018. He even got engaged to his now-wife at one.
“There’s something about events where you exercise that just reinvigorates the body and the mind.
“You come back to New Zealand and, on the mental health side of things... I could take on the world. It’s that type of feeling you get. It’s almost a euphoric-type feeling.”
Through the careful construction of Ocean Swim Fiji and related clever wordplay, Rice has identified and exploited something important about what it is to be human: we’re not very good at predicting what will make us feel good. The corollary is that the things we expect will give us the most pleasure often don’t.
The science appears to support this. In a 2019 study, University of Otago Associate Professor Susan Houge Mackenzie and Professor Ken Hodge cite research showing an enormous list of the positive benefits of outdoor adventure activities, including increased self-confidence, self-esteem, resilience, intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, competence, relatedness and autonomy, as well as personal transformation, wellbeing and the development of eco-centric perspectives.
Ocean Swim Fiji is part of what Houge Mackenzie describes as a trend towards more “meaningful, transformational” adventure travel experiences.
“People are, increasingly, no longer only seeking immediate pleasure, such as an adrenaline ‘hit’, or even the pleasures of passive relaxation,” she says. “Rather, they want there to be layers of meaning and engagement in their tourism activities.”
Phil Wyndham is general manager of Adventure South, which offers a trip called the Coast to Coast NZ Bike Hike and Raft. (Wyndham is at pains to point out it is in no way connected to the iconic multi-sport event, The Kathmandu Coast to Coast.) This is a serious challenge – a rugged and sometimes exhausting event that requires participants to traverse the South Island almost entirely under their own steam.
It’s counter-intuitive to think such an ordeal might be a good way for a stressed, burned-out city slicker to recharge while on their limited annual leave. But Wyndham says – and Houge Mackenzie’s research reinforces – his customers return to everyday life with greater wellbeing outcomes than what someone might get from a “fly and flop” trip full of lolling and fine dining.
“I think those memories – as special as they might be at the time – start to erode over time, and diminish. Whereas if you’ve been riding or hiking through some pretty magic countryside and maybe experiencing a little bit of discomfort – maybe you’re cycling into a headwind or you’ve done 50, 60, 80, 100km – then those emotions stay with you for many years.”
Wyndham says the social side is an important part of it. Before the trip, people often cite their reasons for taking part as a particular piece of scenery; afterwards, he says, they almost always cite the people. Part of this is due to the nature of the trip: hiking together in a challenging environment provides a completely different context for communication. You are side by side, so it’s non-confrontational, and in the wilderness, you’re free of distractions. There’s a decluttering effect, he says. “Those types of life complexities are not there.”
“Often guests will tell us when they finish a trip that they have a real sense of purpose, like: ‘Right, what’s next? I’m going to keep up my fitness, or I’m going to do more riding and I’m going to do more hiking, and I’m going to be really inspired to get out into the outdoors more regularly.’ And that is a fantastic result for everyone.”
Rice puts it another way: “People like a goal. And people set this as a goal and say, ‘It’s a goal not only to save enough money to go on holiday and enjoy myself, but I’ve now also got to get in the pool and train so I’m fit enough to do it.’ So it’s this double-pronged motivation for them – to look forward to something, while working towards something.”
So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by life and fantasising about how good it would be to have a nice, relaxing beach holiday, think how much better you’d feel after a 30km hike over the Southern Alps. If you face some resistance from yourself, keep at it – nothing worthwhile is ever easy.
The next Ocean Swim Fiji takes place from May 27-31, 2024. Adventure South’s Coast to Coast NZ Bike Hike and Raft itineraries run in January, February and November 2024.
The new free open-air saltwater pool is already proving popular.