Press Release
Condé Nast Traveler | How a Longevity Clinic in Costa Rica Helped Me Overcome My Grief After a Year of Loss
As I listened to the pitter-patter of afternoon jungle rain and admired the lush, expansive greenery that extended far past the horizon, I was struck by the realization that I hadn’t felt this calm in a very long time. I’m not much of a nature person—I’ve called New York City home for a decade and primarily opt for metropolitan vacations—but I was holed up at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Collection, a wellness resort in the foothills of Costa Rica, in the hopes that it might reset my nervous system and help me redefine the grief that had been weighing on me for months. And it was working.
Mortality isn’t something the average 20-something should be thinking much about. However, 2025 changed that for me. It was a difficult year to say the least: I lost my aunt after a fierce battle with cancer, my grandmother deteriorated shortly after, and my family’s beloved cat passed unexpectedly right before the holidays. These back-to-back deaths left an indelible mark on me, and forced me to reckon with my own impermanence. While still young and healthy, being faced with the reality that we all have an expiration date made me subconsciously retreat into myself, and I had been feeling myself lose my lease on life. So when I was given the opportunity in late December to visit Hacienda AltaGracia and its world-renowned Casa de Agua, Wellbeing by Auberge spa, home of the first Estée Lauder Skin Longevity Institute in the Americas, I jumped at it, hoping to reemerge from my rut—and look the concept of aging straight in the face.
