“I left with the startling realisation that this wasn’t just a holiday – it was a revelation”: Inside the ultimate retreat for neurodivergent travellers

I also hadn’t realised how much the sensory environment would matter. For me, clutter and noise can tip quickly into overwhelm. But the rooms here are simple and elegant, never visually busy. The soundtrack is waves and birdsong, not thumping bass. Even the spa, set in breezy open-air pavilions, felt like a sanctuary. I had an Ayurvedic massage so grounding I floated for hours afterwards, and a chiropractor session that fixed an issue I’d been struggling with for months. Every day included a treatment – which, admittedly, I thought a tad unnecessary in advance – But by the end, I realised it was essential. It forced me to stop, to rest, to let my nervous system recalibrate.

Food is another minefield when I travel, but here it felt easy. Breakfast became my ritual – tropical fruit, an omelette, hot sauce, coconut water – always overlooking the bay. Lunch was casual; dinners varied from sociable to solitary. There was no pressure to detox, no panic over limited options or bland detox food. Sometimes it was Caribbean seafood cooked on the beach, sometimes it was Thai, sushi or a burger. The attitude, as well as the food itself, felt deeply nourishing.

Andreas von Einsiedel

What surprised me most was how normalised it all felt. Travel often feels like trying to squeeze myself into a neurotypical mould: be spontaneous, be endlessly adaptable, enjoy every second. Here, the mould simply wasn’t there. I didn’t have to explain why I wanted to eat alone, or why I wasn’t up for a class. The rhythm, the community, the sensory calm – it all worked together to create a space where I could just exist.

The Body Holiday promises, “Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind.” For me, it gave something even rarer: permission. Permission to rest without guilt, to socialise without pressure, to follow structure without suffocation. I left with the startling realisation that this wasn’t just a holiday. It was a revelation – a reminder that when you create the right conditions, or find the right locations – being neurodivergent isn’t a barrier to travel, but a way of experiencing it more deeply.