Travel: Learn a New Skill

For your next vacation, think about taking a trip that will provide you with a lasting souvenir--knowledge and expertise.

IT TAKES TWO...

There was a time when Dr. Ronald Raspa and his wife Dr. Maryann Genovese felt like hiding on the dance floor. They loved to tango and had taken a few lessons over the years, but they hadn't mastered all the moves. Then the Goshen, N.Y., couple signed on for a 10-day dance tour of Buenos Aires, birthplace of the tango. Now there's no need to hide. Says Raspa: "To the untrained eye, we're pretty good." For as little as $2,600, which includes airfare, Tango Tours with a Twist leads travelers on a whirlwind dance through afternoon workshops with tango masters, evening dinners and tango shows, nights at the hottest milongas (tango dance halls). "It was an immersion experience, in the same way you would learn a foreign language," says Raspa. "But we also got an authentic look at Argentina." It takes two to tango, but singles--and beginners--need not worry. Tour organizers Carlos Scott and Gayatri Martin fill in as partners and recruit locals when extras are needed to complete a pair.

BLISSED OUT

Fifteen years ago, New York City psychotherapist Natalie H. Rogers reluctantly allowed herself to be persuaded to accompany a friend on a yoga retreat in the Bahamas. The experience turned out to be so wonderful that the following year, Rogers went again--with 16 of her patients. And she's been going ever since. "The minute I get there, something inside of me relaxes," she says. "And after I get back, I continue to feel blissed out for a long time." The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island, open year-round, is not for everyone. The accommodations are spartan, the meals simple, and the schedule--well, meditation begins at 6 a.m., followed by yoga at 8 and a vegetarian brunch at 10. But for those who want to experience the healthful pleasures of this gentle exercise for mind and body--no experience necessary, all ages welcome--in spectacular tropical surroundings for a laid-back $50 to $85 a day, this may be the beginning of a vacation tradition. Between brunch and 4 p.m., when a second round of yoga, meditation and vegetarian fare begins, guests can roam the island, snorkel, scuba dive and, if all the wholesomeness gets to be too much, drop in for a drink at the nearby Atlantis casino.+ RECIPE FOR FUN