Some of you may have read in my newsletter or on Instagram that I had yet to figure out what my June BOLD act would be as of Friday. Originally I’d been considering going to Austin for the Inner Child Theatre Camp, but worried that it would interfere with getting my kids to their camp on Monday. So I never signed up and I never came up with an alternative.
Over the weekend I debated on a couple of possibilities, but time was a factor. I wanted to either go to a World Springs (mineral pools) or King Spa (Korean spa and sauna), but if I was driving the kids to camp on Monday, that meant I’d only have Tuesday to go and I’d already promised to take a friend to a medical procedure.
That led me to consider a piercing, which wouldn’t take up nearly as much time. I’ve been wanting a nose ring for some time, but realized that my nose runs way too often for that to be a good idea. I thought maybe I could do an eyebrow piercing instead, but wasn’t completely sure it was something I want.
Then we found out that my kids could drive themselves to camp, which opened up my Monday after all. Granted, I felt incredibly torn about letting them drive the two hours to camp by themselves, but I did like the idea of having the whole day to myself, so I sucked it up and let them go. I might have tracked them the majority of the way there, but at least I let go a little?
With my day opened up, I chose to go to King Spa & Sauna. I knew this was going to be intimidating for a number of reasons. One, I’d be there by myself. And two, there are areas that are completely nude. Now, those areas are segregated into men/women, but still.
This was definitely a case of showing up scared. I thought I’d done enough research beforehand to know what I was getting into, but I was completely wrong. I knew there would be lockers and that they would give a uniform for wearing in the co-ed areas, but I had no clue where anything was located.
When I arrived, I was given a wristband that served as a locker key and charge account, then instructed to go inside. If I was told anything else, my anxious brain completely missed it.
I walked in and found the women’s changing area, located my locker, and undressed. Then I looked around and had no clue what I was supposed to do next. I didn’t see any uniforms. So I approached an attendant and admitted that it was my first time and I didn’t know what to do. She looked at my naked self and said “Well, you already got undressed. Shower before you go into any of the pools.”
Well, that wasn’t completely helpful, but I walked into the hot tub area, located a shower in a far corner, and washed myself off before getting into the first hot tub I came to. I sat. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Yes, I knew it was supposed to be an opportunity to relax, but I didn’t know how. I looked around for a towel, but didn’t see any, except behind a partition behind which there were tables for treatments of some kind (I never found out what).
Unsure if we could take those towels, I tried going into the sauna. There were two other women in there, also alone, so I tried to do what they were doing. Which consisted of sitting and occasionally stretching a limb. I waited until at least one of them had left before getting up because I didn’t want to look like I didn’t know what I was doing, even though that was exactly the case.
Once one of them left, I waited a little bit before leaving as well. I then snuck over to the spot where I’d seen towels and snagged one.
It was the size of a hand towel. I did my best to dry off with the minuscule piece of fabric and returned to the locker room (where I found a stack of the tiny towels right by the door). I looked everywhere and still could not figure out where the uniforms were located, so I asked the attendant where to get one.
She looked at me strangely and said “You didn’t get one on the way in?”
“No one told me anything as I came in and I didn’t see any.”
Thankfully, she handed me a roll of pink fabric, which turned out to be a shirt and shorts. I dressed and went out to explore more of the facility.
There were so many saunas to choose from, but I had no clue what any of them were for. I decided to grab my iPad from the locker and sit in one of the many recliners in a dark, quiet area that faced a large screen silently playing sports. I ignored the screen and spent the next hour or so reading and taking notes for Draft Two.
I started getting hungry, so I got up to get food. Unfortunately, that was when a whole bunch of people that hadn’t been there when I’d sat down had chosen to get food at the same time. I felt pressured to choose what to eat before I’d really had much time to actually peruse the menu.
While eating it was much too noisy to focus on reading, so I played random iPad games while waiting for my food to cool. After eating, I went back to a recliner to read.
I realize this probably wasn’t the best use of a day at a sauna, so I decided to go sign up for a massage. They had an opening ten minutes from then, so I went straight to the massage area.
Most of the time, massages leave me more tense than before. Probably because of my anxiety. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do while I am just laying there. I did feel that some this time, but also managed to almost fall asleep at one point.
Once the massage was over, I went back to my chair to finish reading and taking notes. And I’m happy to say I finished!! Now I can get down to the business of revisions.
Having finished my work, I thought I’d try some of the saunas. I returned the iPad to my locker and tried out the Pyramid Sauna. I was the only person in there, which was a relief. I sat on the floor looking at the empty room with its slanted golden walls and wondered, once again, what I was supposed to do. I lasted maybe five minutes before I decided to move on to the next room. The Salt Sauna was next door, so I ducked into the dome-like structure and discovered two women lying on their backs, legs against the wall, having a conversation in another language. I awkwardly laid down on the other side of the dome. They continued to talk, but seemed like they were trying to be quieter. Between having no idea what to do with myself and their continuous chatter that I couldn’t understand and therefore couldn’t eavesdrop on, I chose to leave despite feeling awkward about doing so after such a short time.
At this point I decided that the saunas just weren’t for me. I went to the cafe and ordered an iced chai latte, then decided it was time to leave. I returned to the locker room, undressed to go shower off the oils from the massage, and changed into my own clothes.
Overall, I spent six hours at the spa. It was incredibly productive, slightly awkward, and overall a decent experience. It’s one that I’d be willing to repeat IF I had someone to go with. Had I not been using the time to get work done on my book, I probably wouldn’t have lasted even an hour.
I’m glad I went. I even asked a friend if she would want to go with me sometime. But I’m certain I won’t be going alone again. Other BOLD months’ activities have ended up being things I would be willing to repeat. This one would need a companion. Someone willing to ask questions and keep me company.
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