Confessions of a runaway writer...

Confession. For the third day now, I am writing in my dressing
gown. 
OK. A fib. I am actually  writing in someone else’s dressing
gown. In the dressing gown of a rather lovely spa, to be precise. One of those  white, plump dressing gowns – more
hug than clothing.
 
I have daydreamed,  if not hallucinated about this for as long as I can  remember. Running away to  write, I mean.
 
It is a tad hard to  justify for most of us and especially me as I work from home and so technically  have plenty of windows to write - often choose writing over the laundry and the  chores. But there has always been this longing at the back of my mind to spend
some time completely on my own to write. Not just a few hours. Not just a whole day. But a  few consecutive days. No chores. No conversation. Nothing but the  page.
 
But where on earth  could I run away to? Cottage by the sea?   A garret in Paris? Both perfect, of course, but …never going to  happen.
  And then by  serendipity the offer came for me to run away to a place that I already know and  love. The Ragdale Hall spa near Melton  Mowbray.
 
Here we need to  digress a moment for me to explain that I am not some spoiled creature who is in the habit of trotting off to a spa when a nail cracks.   The truth is I came very late in  life to the concept of the Spa -  persuaded by a friend to try it while  our children were on a school trip yomping around  Dartmoor.

 The truth? I wasn't  sure at first . A bit shy about the idea.  Wear dressing gowns  all day? Let people see my wobbly bits? I didn't think I was that sort of  gal.

 Well. It took about  five minutes flat in the extraordinary surroundings of Ragdale Hall , Leicestershire,  to convert me.  Turns out every girl is that sort of gal....and especially me.
 
That was a few years ago and I have returned a few times since – always as a paying guest and  always in company. A gals’ getaway.   Lots of rest. And lots of  chat.
 
And then Ragdale  made me a very generous  offer I  could not refuse. Would I like to try the spa as a writer’s retreat? As their  guest?
 
Would I  heck…

 Ragdale very  generously booked me in for a complimentary night and I got out the piggy bank  to add on a second night to give me three… whole… days…  away…to…write.
 
*sighs* 
 
So the next  challenge for me  – how to make this break truly work both as a writer and as a spa enthusiast  who
didn’t want to waste such wonderful surroundings or the extra pennies from my  piggy bank.

 Ragdale, let me warn  you, is not a place you want to hole up in your room the whole time. It is  positively dripping with awards for the most  divine facilities. As a thank you for  their complimentary night, I’m adding  a link below to their website and video  so you can see for yourself. Do look. And prepare to be tempted to start
saving!!!
 But back to the  writing.
 
I decided that for  this trip to work as a retreat, I would need to set myself a daily wordcount  goal around which I would plan plenty of exercise and some delicious treatments. 
  
Regular readers will  know that I am currently following the Stephen King discipline of writing ie   2,000 words daily. I upped this  target at Ragdale and kept to it, using additional time swimming, walking  and in the gorgeous spa area to think  and plot and plan. Ragdale has several areas in which absolute quiet is the rule  – a beautiful candle pool and a “thought zone”  which is a very comfortable dry heat spa  room with gentle music and soothing images projected on the ceiling. 
I used these areas a lot between writing to experience real calm and to  work out new scenes and ideas.
 
I had wondered, to  be honest,  how it would feel  overall to visit on my own. Would I stand out?  Feel awkward? Feel  lonely? 
As a journalist who  has often travelled alone for work – not a bit of it.  
 
The most delicious  part about Ragdale for me is that everyone stays in their dressing gowns pretty  much all day.  This is not a  country house hotel …with a spa add on. This is a spa with bells  on.
 
I did get dressed  for dinner in the evening but not dressed up. And I didn’t feel lonely or self  conscious or out of place for one  moment.
 
I hit my writing  target, I managed to sort a lot of plotting and planning challenges, I had a  full body massage and facial. Oh - and I also learned to salsa!   What’s not to love?
 
So if you have  daydreamed about  running away to  write, then give it some serious  thought. 
Here’s the link to  the Ragdale website.  
There are lots of regular discounts and offers, especially if you are able to  book at short notice. 
 
For myself? I’m  already saving to run away again…

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