Me and My Travels: Ruby Wax on Jamaica, Cape Town and 'perfect' Costa Rica
Ruby Wax on Costa Rica: "They’ve never had a war and there’s this peacefulness here. The ocean is perfect — so smooth, and the surfing is incredible."
Comedian, author, and mental health advocate Ruby Wax has spent a lifetime making people laugh and think — and now helps them de-stress and reset their minds.
From her time with the Royal Shakespeare Company to writing bestsellers and teaching mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Ruby brings her expertise to her ‘Keeping it Real in a Frantic World’ retreat at Broughton Sanctuary, Yorkshire, alongside monk Gelong Thubten and Rahla Xenopoulos, who help run it.
The five-night retreat, from February 19 to 24, offers a unique opportunity to learn practical tools for mental resilience in a beautiful wellbeing destination.
Here, Ruby shares her most unforgettable travel experiences...
Going to Jamaica.
My parents took me there when I was a war kid, over and over again. I remember limbo contests. I also got a lizard that I took back to Chicago. I thought he would survive in my luggage, and he didn’t. Opened it up, and there was a dead lizard. So that was very memorable.
Also, doing pranks. We would watch people from our balcony into their rooms. I was a little kid, so I learned a lot. My parents travelled a lot — they were Europeans and immigrants, so they were used to moving. They thought they could use their legs and go.
I’m on a pretty memorable trip now. I’m [talking to you from Costa Rica right now] in a retreat called Blue Spirit, which is kind of in the jungle.
It has the greatest speakers in the world on neuroscience and psychology. Bessel van der Kolk, the author of , is here, and Dan Siegel and Jack Kornfield, who started mindfulness.
So it’s quite unbelievable that these geniuses are practically in the middle of nowhere with us. It’s like TEDTalks in the jungle.
I’m sitting here trying to take notes and understand what they’re talking about. And the people are remarkable.
Some are world-famous long-distance runners and others are just people with extraordinary life stories. I meet someone new every day.
Cape Town.
I went there because it had the pink ticket — it was a kind of gay mecca.
They always develop neighbourhoods that are totally reinvented, restaurants that you never pictured, some on the sand, some in these incredible spaces.
Even the shops have clothes you’ve never imagined because they’re reinventing the wheel. There’s more integration now — not fast enough but it’s happening.
It’s like watching a place transform before your eyes.
You always see cranes, everything’s being built, and the houses are shapes you can’t imagine. Some look like flying saucers.
Also Cape Town.
The restaurants are unreal. I stay at the Mount Nelson hotel, not paying for it, obviously [laughs] because it’s a fortune, but I go in and use their pool. Oh, it’s magnificent. It’s my dream pool.
The whole city is so interesting. It’s like what San Francisco might have been like in the ’60s — reinventing itself constantly.
There’s a street called Kloof St, and the furniture is hanging from the ceiling. And they had a Bombay-style place where you sat on swings. But it works.
And the food is great. It’s not just a gimmick — it’s genuinely exciting.
Costa Rica. They’ve never had a war and there’s this peacefulness here. The ocean is perfect — so smooth, and the surfing is incredible.
It’s also a Blue Zone, where people live to 100. Just sitting here, you feel the calm. I’m staying for a month and, every week, a new speaker comes in.
Esther Perel is arriving next week. The best minds in the world come here because, well, it’s usually freezing wherever they’re from, so they have extra incentive with the weather.
I love the outdoors.
I go kayaking in Maine, in these incredible forests. It reminds me of summer camp.
I went to one in Wisconsin as a kid and it had that pioneer look — evergreens, mountains, that classic American wilderness.
I’m a great kayaker, actually. You go down these rivers surrounded by these enormous evergreens, and it’s just the most peaceful thing.
That’s my favourite part of America.
India or Thailand, and to find a guru to work with me. I’ve been speaking to people here in Costa Rica, and they’re the original ones who invented mindfulness.
They all went to India when they were 17 and came back with these ideas that shaped the movement. I’d love to go and see where it all started.
Also, I’m going to Cunard and heading to Alaska in summer. I’ve never done a cruise before. It’s one of the few travel experiences I haven’t had yet, so I’m excited.
- To find out more information on Ruby Wax’s ‘Keeping it Real in a Frantic World’ retreat at Broughton Sanctuary, visit avalonwellbeing.com
