Sauna Days 2022 review: when a Saunacation becomes Saunatopia

Let’s consider for a moment what “Saunatopia” may look like

To start, we would be in nature, and ideally by the shores of a big, cold, freshwater lake. And we’d want to be pampered a bit, say, and locate ourselves at a really nice Northern climate resort.

And we’d want to enjoy the experience not so much on our own, but accompanied by a collection of fun, cool, like minded sauna enthusiasts. We’d want to be free to experience a few different saunas, sprinkled around the resort.

Oh, and music? Yes, live music! with acoustic guitars and stings, providing a folk vibe that creates a soundscape fitting of the natural landscape. Some beers? Yes, that too, thank you. And we’d like a wide range sampling of locally crafted craft brews, and some local kombucha too, thank you! At our Saunatopia, We’d like to be able to walk around the campus before, during, and after our sauna rounds with a towel wrapped around our waist, and nobody will take a second notice.

And only good saunas, please, with really good heat. We’ve suffered enough here in North America with marginalizations and abominations of shitty saunas. No thank you. At our sauna utopia, we want kick ass good heat. We want our hot room sessions to heat our entire bodies, right to the bone. When we toss water on the rocks, we will feel “ahhhhh”, that universal spiritual good löyly. We can sit in silence or enjoy the quiet positive conversations of others on the bench. After a decent amount of time in the hot room, we exit and emerge into the fresh cool Northern air, and make our way down to the shoreline and immerse ourselves into the ice cold lake.

We can cold plunge in our backyard plunge pools or outdoor showers, but these experiences are minor league compared to our big time cold plunges between rounds in sauna utopia. As we emerge from the cold lake, we may share a knowing smile with a few other sauna enthusiasts, who are also re-centering themselves by the shoreline, in the middle of their own endorphin rush of Saunatopia euphoria.

Lest we forget, in Saunatopia, we are liberated from our phones, so we don’t know what time it is or who the heck may be texting or calling us. It doesn’t matter in Saunatopia.

We’d like some food please. And we want it to be easy. No reservations or formal sit downs. But we’d like super quality food in Sauntopia, Nordic cuisine such as thinly sliced salmon, local mushroom quesadillas, walleye cakes, and mouthwatering deserts, perhaps.

Oh, and back to the sauna action, can we have some venek treatments? How about these being administered by spiritually minded passionate steam masters, brought in from Belarus and Latvia? While sprawled out on the bench, feeling the wack and massage of the oak and cedar venek wisks, we are comforted to hear their voices “half a cup” indicating exactly how much water to toss on the rocks to provide the perfect amount of steam for our professionally administered treatment.

Our lodging will be top notch in Saunatopia. So, we can relax in comfort and joy, after we return to our private lodge after lots of sauna action. Spacious lakeside cottages, with conscious decor, each window offering an instagram worthy view out to birches and pines, and long vistas out over the lake, boasting with color spectrums of blue, whispering “i’m here when you’re ready.”

We meet up with some friends, neighbors, and collaborators in Saunatopia, but how about some new friends? Let’s get to know a couple who have flown up from Arizona, or Texas, or maybe New York? The authentic sauna revolution is being televised and the Northland is indeed Saunatopia.

Let’s have a couple of yoga sessions on site, and some visits to waterfalls and big nature hiking and bicycling for off site excursion action. We’d like a few sauna seminars in Saunatopia. We’d like to learn more about the authentic sauna revolution that is being televised.

After a couple of years hunkering down during Covid, we were all ready for a Saunacation

Sauna Days happens at Larsmont Cottages, Two Harbors, MN.

Sauna Days 2019, we had 25 people attend. And fun was had by all.

Sauna Days 2022, we had 100 people attend. And fun was had by all.

Sauna Days 2023 is scheduled for May 5-7, 2023, offering a Saunatopia for all attending this special event.