New Year’s resolutions learn something new on holiday in 2011

GoLearnTo in the press / Travel advice

New Year’s resolutions learn something new on holiday in 2011

Yoga PilatesGoLearnTo.com features in the Telegraph today with their pick of the best learning holidays for 2011.

Acquiring a new skill brings an extra dimension to going on holiday. It can be fun, too. Helen Pickles suggests ways in which you can stretch yourself this year.

So, 2011 is here. And this is the one: the year you’re going to get to grips with that skill, sport, language, makeover, or whatever it is that you’ve been promising yourself for ages. No more excuses. This is the year. The trick is to treat it as a holiday.

I approached a weekend course on orienteering, which involved staying in a youth hostel, with reluctance. How wrong I was. Learning to use a compass, with pubs as destination points, gave a whole new perspective to map-reading. I’ve spent weekends variously learning picture-framing and needlepoint, and discovered a practical side I never thought I had. I have also befriended strangers who quickly became warm, hilariously self-deprecating companions.

Here is a pick of learning holidays – from weekends to a week – which offer the chance to learn something new and come back refreshed, proud – and wondering why it took so long to get around to it.

1. Surfing, yoga and Pilates
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

Want to dip your toe in the water, but not sure about full-body, surf-dude immersion? This is for you. Surfing sessions are interspersed with yoga and Pilates, giving you the chance to recover and improved balance, which might help you stay upright in the first place. Days kick off and end with yoga or Pilates (all levels catered for) with surfing lessons on three days; enough for beginners to be riding waves by the end. The setting is the wide, sandy Corralejo beach in the north of the island, facing Atlantic surf breakers. Bungalows are simple in style and self-catering but most people “pal up” to eat in one of the numerous surfing joints in Corralejo.

GoLearnTo: +44 (0)208 144 5990; GoLearnTo.com
From £524, seven nights’ b & b, tuition, surfboard and wetsuit hire (£98 single supplement). Airlines to Fuerteventura include easyJet, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Airport transfer £21-£25 one way

4. Painting holidays
Andalucia, Spain

Wide landscapes, drenching colours and big skies; what more do you need to leap for a paintbrush? Add perennial sunshine, no distractions and a modern eco-lodge and you’ll be hanging loose and cutting creative. Artist Simon Beckmann and his wife, Donna, converted five farmhouses in Andalusia’s remote Parque Natural Sierra María-Los Vélez into a light-filled home and studio; chic, slick and “green”: solar power, harvested rainwater, wood-burning stoves. Tuition is tailored, with short lessons followed by days exploring the countryside: shepherds’ paths, dry river beds, rustic ruins or, if spring, almond blossom. Return to drinks, discussions and Donna’s cooking.

GoLearnTo: +44 (0)208 144 5990; GoLearnTo.com
From £788, seven nights, full board and tuition. Fly to Granada, Almeria, Alicante or Murcia with airlines including bmibaby, British Airways, easyJet, Flybe, jet2, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomson Airways. Bus to Vélez Rubio (£8) takes two hours; Simon will collect
To view all of Simon’s courses, click here

GoLearnTo.com are dedicated to providing the best selection of  learning holidays in over 30 countries worldwide. From surfing, photography, painting, yoga and jewellery making to perfume courses, scuba diving and French courses, we have over 1000 courses on offer.  So whatever you want to learn in 2011 – make your first stop GoLearnTo.com to be inspired…

Happy New Year!

To read the full article, visit the Telegraph site here

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