Why Healing Holidays Is Personal To Me By Frances Geoghegan

I have spent over 20 years helping people find the right place to heal. What shaped that work was not a career plan. It was my own life. I am Frances Geoghegan, founder of Healing Holidays, a London-based wellness travel company, and a six-time Condé Nast Global Wellness Expert. But the knowledge behind every recommendation I make did not come from a brochure. It came from loss, illness, and a long search for answers that eventually led me back to myself. Here is what that journey looked like.

Growing Up with a Natural Connection to Wellness

I was born in Ireland, and perhaps because of that, I have always had a natural curiosity about healing and healers. In Ireland, healing has always felt like something woven into the landscape. It lives in the stories we inherit, in the remedies passed down through generations, and in the belief that there is more to being well than simply treating what is wrong.

I grew up on a farm in County Meath, surrounded by open fields, animals, changing seasons and the rhythms of rural life. Being outdoors was not something I had to make time for. It was simply part of life. I learned early that movement, fresh air and being connected to nature could make you feel better, long before I understood the language of wellness.

I have always loved fitness and the feeling of being physically strong. But life has a way of teaching you that health is about so much more than the body.

How Personal Loss Began My Journey Towards Healing

My own journey towards healing began through loss.

I lost close members of my family, and those losses changed the shape of my life. Eventually, I came to London to start again. I was young, restless and drawn to the world beyond what I knew. Travel became an enormous part of my formative years. I travelled through Africa, Asia, South America and across much of the globe, discovering different cultures and, perhaps without realising it at the time, different ideas about what it means to live well.

I eventually ran and co owned Cleveland Collection and Africa Travel, both of which I have been involved with since 2000. Travel was my business, but it was also my education. Over the years, clients began asking me about something beyond the traditional holiday. They wanted to know about wellness retreats, medical spas, Mayr clinics and places where they could step away from everyday life and focus on themselves. Those questions resonated with me because I was already searching for many of the same answers.

Facing Illness and Exploring Integrative Wellness

I had become increasingly interested in alternatives to the conventional medical path I had been following. This was not because I did not value modern medicine. I have enormous respect for great doctors and specialists, and I know how important they can be. But I had begun to feel that I needed to explore a wider definition of health, one that considered not only the disease, but the whole person. My own health had become a very personal struggle.

After losing my sister, I was dealing with autoimmune related illnesses and a cyst on my thyroid. My specialist advised that surgery would be the safest option because of the potential impact on my vision. The thought terrified me.

A Turning Point at Chiva Som

I remember feeling that I needed to find another way. So I went to Chiva Som.

I spent time there focusing on myself in a way I had never really done before. I had acupuncture every day. I experienced Reiki and meditation. I rested. I listened. Most importantly, I began to understand that healing could not simply be about fixing one physical problem. I needed to look at the person carrying it.

When I returned home, I had another scan. My specialist was astonished by the results. The situation had changed significantly, and surgery was no longer considered necessary. I was no longer thought to be facing the threat that had frightened me so deeply. I knew that I had experienced something profound.

The Hidden Toll: Steroids, Weight Gain and the Meaning of Wellbeing

But there was another part of my illness that was much harder to talk about.

I had spent years on steroids, and the effect they had on my body was enormous. I had always been a skinny thing. I had never really worried about my weight, and certainly never imagined that my body could change so dramatically. But gradually, my weight ballooned. I gained around twenty kilos. And despite everything I did, I could not seem to lose it. For someone who had always been naturally slim, suddenly carrying that much extra weight was incredibly difficult. It affected how I felt about myself, how I dressed, how I moved and, at times, how I wanted to be seen. There was also an uncomfortable irony that I found difficult to escape.

I was working in wellness. I was talking to clients about health, fitness and wellbeing, while privately feeling as though I no longer looked the part.

I could almost feel people looking at me and wondering, Why is she talking to me about wellness when she is clearly overweight herself?

Perhaps they were not thinking that at all. Perhaps it was simply my own insecurity speaking. But when you no longer recognise yourself in the mirror, it is very easy to imagine that everyone else sees what you see.

The weight was not simply a matter of appearance. It became a constant reminder that something in my body was not right.

The steroids had helped me through serious illness, and I will always understand that there is a place for conventional medicine. But they had also changed my body profoundly, and I felt that they had taken a toll on my mind and my sense of self as well. That experience changed the way I thought about wellness. I began to understand that wellbeing is not about looking a certain way. It is not about being thin, having the perfect body or appearing to have everything under control.

It is about feeling at home in your own body. That distinction has stayed with me ever since.

Continuing the Search: Vana, Kamalaya and a Liver Crisis

I began to look more deeply at what else might support my health. I travelled to Vana in India. I went to Kamalaya in Thailand. I explored different approaches, different practitioners and different philosophies. Each experience taught me something.

A Second Battle: Liver Disease and the Road to Remission

Then life tested me again. Further trauma brought another autoimmune flare, and this time my liver was affected. It was serious. The possibility of a liver transplant was being discussed, and I was devastated.

I felt as though I had fought so hard to regain my health, only to find myself facing another enormous battle. Once again, I went looking for another path.

This time I went to Park Igls, the Mayr clinic in Austria, where I undertook a medically supervised programme of detoxification and received daily treatments focused on my liver. I fought hard. I made changes. I listened to my body in ways I had never done before. Eventually, with careful medical oversight and against the wishes of some of my doctors, I was able to come off steroids. And slowly, my body began to change again. Today, I have been in remission for four years.

And thankfully, I feel well.

What My Journey Taught Me About Helping Others

There are so many people and so many places that have helped me along the way that I could never possibly list them all. My list is endless. And perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts my own journey has given me.

It has taught me that there is no single place, no single treatment and no single answer that works for everyone. That is why, when someone comes to Healing Holidays, the first thing I want to understand is their story.

Not just what they think they need. Their story. What has brought them to this point? How are they feeling? What have they tried? What are they struggling with? What do they want to change? What do they need physically, emotionally and mentally? What kind of person are they, and what kind of environment will allow them to feel comfortable enough to begin the process of healing? For me, understanding that story before suggesting a place is non negotiable. It is something I have instilled in my team from the very beginning. We do not simply look at a list of treatments and match someone to a resort. We listen first. Then we think.

A Global Network Built on Trust and Direct Experience

I work incredibly closely with the people who do the real magic in these places. Over the years, I have built relationships with doctors, practitioners, therapists, nutritionists and wellness experts around the world. I know the people behind the programmes. I know their philosophies, their strengths and, importantly, the kind of person they are best placed to help.

I believe I have developed a rather unusual knowledge of this world. I know which doctor might understand one person's particular needs. I know which practitioner has the patience to work with someone who is frightened. I know which clinic is highly structured and which will give someone more space. I know where someone might flourish and where they might feel completely out of place.

That is where I believe our value lies. We are the filter. An informed, independent and non biased filter between a person who needs help and an enormous world of wellness retreats, medical clinics, practitioners and programmes.

I do not recommend somewhere because it is fashionable. I do not recommend somewhere because it is beautiful. And I certainly do not recommend somewhere simply because it is one of the places we work with. I recommend the places I genuinely believe could make a difference to that particular person. That matters enormously to me. Perhaps it is also why we have such a high level of repeat business, with more than 70 percent of our clients returning to us. People trust us because they know we are not simply selling them a holiday. We are listening to them and trying to find the right answer for them.

And I think I finally understand why my own journey has been so important. For years, I wondered why I had been given so many difficult lessons. The loss. The illness. The fear. The uncertainty. The endless searching for answers. Now, perhaps, I see another side to it. Maybe all those experiences gave me the knowledge I needed to help other people.

I know what it is like to sit across from a doctor and be frightened by what you hear.
I know what it is like not to recognise your own body.
I know what it is like to desperately want someone to listen.
I know what it is like to travel somewhere hoping that you might find an answer.
 And I know the extraordinary feeling of finding your way back to yourself.

Why Healing Holidays Is Personal to Me

That is why Healing Holidays is so personal to me. It was never simply a business idea. It came from my own life.

The places I work with are not just beautiful resorts or luxurious clinics that I have discovered from a brochure. Many of them have been part of my own journey. I have experienced their treatments. I have met their practitioners. I have sat in their consultation rooms. I have eaten their food. I have rested in their surroundings. And, in different ways, they have helped me along my own road back to health.

When people come to Healing Holidays, I want them to find more than a beautiful place to escape to. I want them to find somewhere that might give them what they need at that particular moment in their lives.

Perhaps they need to recover from burnout.
Perhaps they need to regain their strength.
Perhaps they are struggling with stress, grief or exhaustion.
Perhaps they simply know that something is not right and need the space to understand what that something might be.

Sometimes you need a doctor. Sometimes you need a nutritionist. Sometimes you need a brilliant physiotherapist, a practitioner who understands the body, a therapist who will listen, or simply a quiet place where you can sleep, walk, breathe and begin again. And sometimes, you need all of those things together.

I believe deeply in the idea of a holiday that can change something within you. Not because it promises miracles, but because taking yourself away from the noise of everyday life can create the space to make different choices. To eat differently. To move differently. To sleep. To think. To listen to your body. To ask better questions. To discover that perhaps you are stronger than you thought.

For me, healing has never been one thing. It has been movement and stillness. Science and tradition. Doctors and practitioners. Nutrition and fitness. Travel and home. Grief and resilience. The body, the mind and the spirit.

Most of all, it has been a journey. And perhaps that is the greatest lesson of all. Sometimes the hardest roads take us to places we could never have imagined.

My road led me here. To Healing Holidays. And perhaps everything I have lived through has given me exactly the knowledge I need to help someone else find their way forward.

The Expertise Behind the Advice

Over the years, my personal experience has been matched by decades spent immersed in the global wellness industry. I have travelled extensively, visited and experienced countless clinics and spas, built relationships with some of the world's leading doctors and practitioners, and watched the wellness industry evolve from a niche interest into the global force it is today.

I am immensely proud to have been recognised for that work.

Since 2019, I have been named a Condé Nast Global Wellness Expert, an honour that I value enormously because it reflects not simply a knowledge of wellness, but an understanding of the people, places and practitioners shaping the industry around the world.

Healing Holidays has also been recognised by Condé Nast for twelve consecutive years as Best Spa Specialist, an achievement that I am particularly proud of because it belongs not only to me, but to the extraordinary team behind Healing Holidays and to the relationships we have built over many years.

Our work with the industry goes far beyond awards.

Since 2014, Healing Holidays has worked with Condé Nast Traveller on its World's Top Spas, and we have also worked on the Sunday Times Top 50 Global Spas. I have been fortunate enough to serve as a judge on a number of industry panels, including the Global Spa Awards by The Luxury Spa Edit and I regularly contribute to leading magazines and publications on spa, wellness and emerging industry trends, including Conde Nast Traveller, Tatler, the Sunday Times and the Telegraph.

If any part of my story has resonated with you, my team and I are here to help. Whether you are dealing with a health condition and wondering if a retreat could support your recovery, feeling burnt out and not knowing where to start, or simply sensing that something needs to change, we will listen first and think carefully before suggesting anything.

Frequently Asked Questions About Frances Geoghegan and Healing Holidays

Who is Frances Geoghegan?

Frances Geoghegan is the founder of Healing Holidays, a London-based wellness travel company specialising in retreats, medical spas and Mayr clinics. With over 20 years of experience in the wellness travel industry, she is a six-time Condé Nast Global Wellness Expert and has guided thousands of clients towards the right retreat for their individual needs.

What does Frances Geoghegan specialise in?

Frances Geoghegan specialises in guiding individuals towards wellness retreats and medical programmes that are genuinely suited to where they are in their health journey. Her expertise spans integrative medicine, autoimmune conditions, post-illness recovery, burnout, grief and weight management, as well as the kind of deep reset that goes beyond a standard luxury break.

What sets her apart is the combination of three things: a personal experience of serious illness that gives her a rare level of understanding, decades of direct relationships with the world's leading doctors, practitioners and medical clinics, and an uncompromising commitment to bespoke advice. Every recommendation is built around one person's specific situation, not a catalogue of beautiful properties.

The retreats and clinics Frances works with represent the highest standard in wellness travel. But luxury, for Frances, has never been about aesthetics alone. It is about being in the right place, with the right people, at the right moment in your life.

How does Frances Geoghegan choose which retreats to recommend?

Frances has personally visited and experienced the majority of the retreats and clinics she recommends. She has built direct relationships with the doctors, practitioners and therapists behind the programmes over many years. Her selection is based on knowledge of the people, not just the places.

What is Healing Holidays?

Healing Holidays is an independent wellness travel company based in London, founded by Frances Geoghegan in 2008. For almost 20 years, it has established itself as one of the most trusted names in luxury wellness travel, recognised by Condé Nast for twelve consecutive years as Best Spa Specialist and a long-standing contributor to the Condé Nast Traveller World's Top Spas and the Sunday Times Top 50 Global Spas.

Healing Holidays works with the world's leading retreats, medical spas and Mayr clinics, from destination spas in Thailand and India to medically supervised programmes in Austria and beyond. But what makes it different is not the portfolio. It is the approach.

Every enquiry begins with a conversation. The team acts as an informed, independent filter between the client and an enormous global wellness industry, cutting through the noise to identify the places and the people that could genuinely make a difference, for that specific person, at that specific moment in their life.

Is the service at Healing Holidays personalised?

Entirely. There is no standard package, no list of destinations pushed ahead of others, and no recommendation made before a conversation has taken place. Every person who comes to Healing Holidays is different, with a different health history, different goals, different personality and different budget, and the advice given reflects that.

The process always begins with understanding your story:

• What has brought you to this point
• What you have already tried
• What you are struggling with physically, emotionally and mentally
• What kind of environment will allow you to feel comfortable enough to begin
• What a meaningful outcome looks like for you personally

From there, Frances and her team draw on decades of direct experience and relationships with doctors, practitioners and retreat leaders around the world to identify the places and the people they genuinely believe could make a difference, for you, specifically, at this moment in your life.

It is not about finding a beautiful destination. It is about finding the right one.

Why should I contact Frances Geoghegan or the Healing Holidays team?

Because no two people arrive at the same point for the same reason. Frances and her team have spent almost 20 years listening to people before recommending anywhere. Every member of the Healing Holidays team is trained to the same standard: listen first, then think. When you reach out, you are not speaking with a booking agent. You are speaking with specialists who understand, from experience, what it means to need the right kind of help at the right moment.

Frances can draw on her own personal journey to guide people who are navigating:

• Autoimmune conditions and the search for integrative approaches alongside conventional medicine
• Post-illness recovery and the need to rebuild strength, gradually and safely
• Steroid treatment and its physical and emotional impact on the body
• Significant weight changes linked to health conditions
• Grief and the toll it takes on the body and the mind
• Burnout, exhaustion and the feeling that something is not right but is hard to name
• The fear of a serious diagnosis and the desire to explore every possible path
• The need for a deeper reset, physically, emotionally and mentally