Unique Retreats

Painting & Wild Swimming Retreat in Loch Tay, Scotland

Photo Credit Neil & Zulma Scott

About…

Given the success of our 2021 & 2022 retreats, Travel Matters has been working tirelessly to bring you an alternative holiday experience. During 2023, we invite guests to participate in a bespoke Painting & Wild Swimming Retreat amongst the stunning setting of Loch Tay, Scotland - Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th October 2023. 2024 Dates TBC!

Your home for during the retreat is one of our favourite Edwardian Lodges in the UK. Perched upon the banks of Loch Tay, this outstanding new retreat runs for four nights and five days. It will be facilitated by Plein Air Artist, Susanna MacInnes, who is known as the Pindroppainter.

Morning swims in Loch Tay with invaluable information on safely swimming in cold water and the health benefits therein, will be followed by a painting workshop until lunchtime, then the afternoons are yours! We invite guests to immerse themselves in nature and roam throughout the spectacular countryside surrounding the lodge, ancient woodlands, cascading burns and the nearby mythical Waterfalls of Archan, all looked over by the brooding Ben Lawers mountain range. You are cordially invited to take a step into the great unknown, and emerge rejuvenated, creative and powerful.

The Painting Workshop

Over three mornings between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., this course will be led by Susanna, the Pindrop Painter. Susanna is passionate about painting from, and in nature. These workshops are therefore themed about people and their environment. Susanna will give you the skills so that you can take your new found expertise into your every day. Travel with your paints and enjoy painting in situ, as Loch Tay and the surrounding estate are bursting with inspiring subjects as well as an ever changing landscape exuding atmosphere.

On this course Susanna will explore different aspects of outdoor painting from the practicalities of painting outside, choosing a composition, capturing light, water and reflections and working in oils. An opportunity to share work and benefit from each other’s ideas will be encouraged at the end of each day. Susanna will enable you to "bring home the honest truths that she discovers, conveying real life situations, as well as taking in the scenes she has witnessed from life”.

Where does the cold water fit into all of this? Well, the invigorating exercise of cold water immersion will assist with the flow of creativity and painting. The water unblocks our lack of creativity and just being outside can break that chain of uninventiveness. This in turn unlocks us, and helps us make sense of the world. Some participants may share their work at the end if that feels beneficial and you are free to decide what you want to paint during the course of these mornings. Susanna has a BA (HONS) degree in Fine Art from Manchester Metropolitan University with an Erasmus exchange to L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Rennes, so we urge you to make the most of one-to-one like-sessions. Here you can discuss technique and the use of colours with a distinguished and renowned professional.

The Morning Dip

We will swim in Loch Tay each morning, and learn how to safely swim in cold water with breathing techniques, how to heat up your core and understand what happens to our bodies during and after immersion. You will experience the transforming benefits of cold water to the system, from improved circulation, muscle relief from pain and mental health. We will encourage you to feel the full benefits of cold water to body and mind by not wearing a wetsuit! Whether you just put a toe in, or swim for several minutes, we go at your pace.

Photo Credit, Vladimir Fedotov

Why Wild Swimming?

The British United Provident Association Limited, or BUPA, also advocate the use of cold water as a therapy and have reported that a humans body can benefit from CWI and similar type therapies, with the results being (Wild, 2022):

  • reducing muscle pain and stiffness after exercise, by reducing swelling and inflammation

  • improving risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels

  • boosting the immune system, helping to lower the risk of infection

  • improving general wellbeing, and possibly helping with depression

Why not give it a go?

The Daily Programme

Upon arrival, we will be celebrating with a drink!

We encourage you to bring a sketchbook, so you to be creative each day. We prefer you not to have your phones on you except for taking pictures at swim and walk times, and check it only when you are in your rooms. The only screens will be the landscapes that you seek inspiration from. We will be surrounded by immense natural beauty, so please feel free to roam around the grounds and the immediate area. It’s a wonderland! Your menus will have been created by a proud Kevin McGillivray, former ‘Scottish Chef of the Year’, who enjoys using seasonal and local produce (we’ll ask for your dietary requests before the departure date), so be prepared to be well fed.

The Accommodation

Within the grand Estate, guests will be able to enjoy beautifully styled bedrooms, with comfortable and plush furnishings. Each bedroom has its own unique style, ranging from more traditional chambers to contemporary fashioned bedrooms. Depending on your booking preferences, you will either be hosted in a Triple Bedroom or Double Bedroom, all of which have a private en-suite bathrooms. All bedrooms have outstanding views of rolling hills, the countryside and Loch Tay. (All rooms in the lodge are with Super King Beds, with one twin room and three rooms offer a Super King Bed and additional single bed for three people sharing.)

Within the estate there are plenty of places to make yourself comfortable (inside and outside).For instance, there is a large stone built ‘Snug’ with a significant open fire and Library, also with open fire, television, baby grand piano and media and entertainment room if required. For instance, take times around the fire pit outside and inside around the fire to chat and reflect on your day.

Your Hosts

Susanna MacInnes, aka the Pindrop Painter! Susanna specialises in oil painting outdoors in all weathers and lights, having completed her studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. Since then she has enjoyed over twenty years as working as a professional Artist and has exhibited some of her pieces at the Chelsea Art Society Exhibition 2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019 (to whom she is a member of). She was the winner of the ’Wedlake Bell Award 2021 Chelsea Art Society’ & featured as a contestant on ’Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year’ and continues working hard within the Fine Arts community.

Karen Simmonds is the Founder & CEO of Travel Matters. Karen has been providing tailor made holidays & experiences for 23 years. Her hunger for adventure has symbiotically merged with her sense of Sustainability, which inherently paved the way for the Make Travel Matter™ Campaign – aimed to ensure economic prosperity, social equality and environmental & cultural protection. Karen is an avid open-water swimmer and is well known amongst the SW swimming community.

Your Hosts - Susanna (left) and Karen (right).

What’s Included...

  • Breakfasts, Lunches & Evening Meals will be catered for by a private chef giving you time to enjoy the majestic views over Loch Tay. 

  • All Activities are included.

  • A donation to our partners Trees for Cities (who will plant some trees and help us keep tabs on our overall Carbon Footprint.) 

  • A contribution to a Bursary Fund, enabling an anonymous individual, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford such an experience.

  • Supervision from an experienced Open Water Lifeguard/OWL.

Cost 

Single Occupancy (based on private bedroom) = £1,400 pp

Two Sharing (based on sharing a bedroom) = £1,200 pp

Three Sharing (based on sharing a bedroom) = £1,100 pp

(Should you require a room to yourself, please book as soon as possible as these are selling FAST! Have you asked your employer if they can make a contribution to this experience, as part of your personal development? Check out the UK Research and Innovation’s ‘Employee Wellbeing Policy’ for some guidance).

Travel

Travel is not included, but we are happy to assist. Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports are 90 minutes drive from the estate. A train from Glasgow Station is 90 minutes. Local taxi & minibus details available on request.

Dates

Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th October 2023 2024 Dates TBC! (To be added to our priority guestlist, please enquire today)

Terms & Conditions

Based on 4 night stay: £1,400 pp for private bedroom with Super King Bed, £1,200 pp sharing a bedroom with Super King Bed & £1,100 pp based on three sharing a bedroom with Super King Bed and Single Bed. 15% non refundable deposit required at time of booking. The retreats are not able to guarantee the inclusion of any specific host due to illness or unforeseen circumstances.

Arrival Time: 4.00 p.m.
Departure Time: 10.00 a.m.

(Terms & Conditions may be amended at time of booking.)

 

Reviews…