Fancy cycling in Mallorcan villages, doing yoga in Koh Samui or jogging among the clouds in the Alps? If wanderlust is about escaping from the reality of life, then this go-getter from Bengaluru is taking it a notch higher with Oomph Escapes, tailor-made healthy vacations. Pizzazz and oomph come naturally to Laiqa Shah who is on a roller coaster ride and loves every bit of it. The fitness freak and savvy traveller has come up with an innovation on how one looks at travel with fitness holidays. She talks on how she was bitten by the travel bug as she brings in so much more to a holiday than mere sight-seeing — exhilarating, exhausting and inspiring might be just what she offers.
Laiqa claims to be one of the first fitness and lifestyle consultants in Bengaluru in 2009 and that’s why she decided to fuse her love of travel, good food, fitness, cultural activities and luxury holidays into one concept. “These are all things I personally did on my holidays across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, all over India, UAE, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Scandinavia, Germany, Eastern Europe and all over North America to name a few. That’s why I thought of sharing my vast experience with fitness travel enthusiasts.”
Recalling one of her experiences, she states, “There were seven people on our escape to the island of Mallorca, off the coast of Spain and we hiked through the UNESCO World Heritage Tramontana mountain range, cycled through the wine country and picturesque Mallorcan villages, spent an afternoon aboard a private sailing yacht, where we jumped into the warm glittering Mediterranean and went snorkelling and exploring the rock formations, followed by dinners at Michelin starred restaurants. We were active through the day in beautiful natural surroundings. We’re going to Tuscany, Mykonos, the Far East and South America this year.”
Explaining how these aren’t boot camps or fat camps as they say in the US, and not solely focussed on weight loss or intense fitness activities, she adds, “These combine all aspects one would want from a vacation – spectacular natural settings, organically grown and locally sourced food, cultural activities like an art walk, or privately curated wine tasting and most importantly fun group fitness activity every day either morning or evening. This way you have not only worked up an appetite for the delicious food but you have probably burned more calories and had fun doing it, so at the end of the holiday one actually feels fitter.”
The Mallya Aditi International School student moved out of Bengaluru after completing her schooling and studied all over - Toronto, Spain, Australia, and London. “After my fashion merchandising course in Toronto, I realised my passion was fitness and health and that’s what took me to Australia, Spain and London where I did various degrees in fitness and sport science. Fitness has been a part of my life since I was 15. It started with me being overweight as a teenager and hailing from the family that I did where everyone is uber fit, I put myself on a healthy diet and got into exercising and in three months I lost all the baby fat. Today, exercising and eating healthy are the most important part of my life and that’s where my concept stems from; purely out of my permanent passion with travel, good food and exploring non-touristic and off the beaten path boutique hotels,” shares Laiqa on the birth of her venture.
When she’s not exercising or jet setting across the world, Laiqa likes to play the piano. “Also, I shuttle between Bengaluru and London where I live most of the year and enjoy theatre. I’ve been to some of the best productions from the world over.”
