As two of my besties and I embarked on a girls’ trip to the Maldives, the question on my mind wasn’t if we were cosplaying as the toxic friend trio from this season of The White Lotus, but how.
When the The Ritz-Carlton extended an invitation to their Maldives, Fari Islands property, I eagerly texted my group chat to invite my friends along. But as the trip approached — and our text thread was renamed “MALDIVES 2025!!” in anticipation — my White Lotus jokes began to transform into real anxieties. If I was late to breakfast, would Sydney and Briar spend the meal sh*t-talking me like Kate and Laurie had? Would we all have different appetites for late night shenanigans, leading to a blowout like they’d had?
We even discussed the possibility among ourselves, speculating on which of the White Lotus women each of us related to most. Sydney, an esthetician and beauty influencer, was clearly the closest to Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan’s actress and ring leader). Briar and I both conceded that we were most similar to Laurie — Carrie Coon’s wine-guzzling, divorced lawyer — and that we’d just have to split the difference. (Sadly, none of us felt a kinship with Leslie Bibb’s Texas housewife, Kate — either in terms of political leanings, or her perfect bob.)
Luckily for me and my paranoia, the hotel had prepared a full itinerary of activities for us, which meant, 1) plenty of togetherness! 2) a welcomed distraction from the fears Mike White had imprinted upon me. We went snorkeling around the property; we took a traditional Maldivian cooking class; we rose early for beachfront yoga.
Another bonus? Our trip coincided with sound healer and reiki master Susy Markoe Schieffelin’s residency at the hotel. For the second summer in a row, the Los Angeles-based practitioner decamped to the Fari Islands to instruct guests in her “Essence of Balance” program. During our stay, Schieffelin led us in many of the highlights, from her spiritual awakening and connection cocoon sound bath (yes, we laid in cocoons hanging from the ceiling) to a sound healing session (conducted on rafts in the pool).
The more time I spent participating in these wellness rituals, the more my friend trio anxiety began to dissolve. Not just because I was preoccupied — but because I was actually, finally allowing myself to relax.
“The experiences I share, from sound baths, to breathwork, to Reiki, are like a deep reset for the mind, body, and spirit. The frequencies of the crystal singing bowls create a process called entrainment, where brainwaves and the nervous system synchronize with calming vibrations, dissolving anxiety and opening the heart,” Schieffelin tells me. “When we feel grounded and at ease within ourselves, it’s easier to connect deeply with those we’re traveling with.”
By the third day, I found myself peeling off from the group, confident to explore the property all on my own. I visited the spa for a massage — which rests on stilts in the middle of the Indian Ocean, offering 360 degree views of the water — then later spent time at the EAU bar, which houses the hotel’s infinity pool.
When Sydney, Briar, and I met back up for dinner at Arabesque — an Indian restaurant a boat ride from the hotel — the evening was calm, the conversation easy, with none of the nightmare scenarios I’d been bracing for.
Later that night, as we rode the boat back to the hotel after a few glasses of rosé, I realized that it isn’t the number of people you travel with that matters, but how comfortable you feel around them. The White Lotus be damned.
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