Tereasa Surratt and David Hernandez have long been in touch with their pioneer spirit. “When we got married, I registered for a chainsaw, and it’s my favorite gift,” says Surratt, 52, who grew up on a farm in southern Illinois. At one point, the couple both worked for the ad agency giant Ogilvy. Hernandez, a 57-year-old Chicago native, left in 2019 to become chief creative officer for Allstate; Surratt resigned two years ago to focus on their joint passion: Camp Wandawega, the nostalgic getaway outside Elkhorn, Wisconsin, that they purchased in 2003. “Stepping out of the corporate world to run our own business is the single biggest thing I’ve done for my own wellness,” she says. Parents to a teenager and an energetic sheepdog, they split their time between their Ukrainian Village home on weekdays and Wandawega on weekends.

A cell phone and a pile of small chopped logs
Photography: (phone) Viktor Gl/istock; (wood) chengyuzheng/istock

Woodsy workout

DH: “Wandawega is where I leave screens behind and pick up a shovel or ax. It’s gratifying to do work that makes me sweat and gets me dirty — and I can see the tangible fruit of my labor.”
TS: “We’re on 25 rocky and hilly acres. We just finished doing a rock patio, which meant days of hauling, loading, digging, stacking. Keeping up with a century-old place is an organically driven workout. It’s not going to give you the same results as a personal trainer at Equinox, but I feel better about it.”

Morning routines

TS: “I get up at 3:30 every morning thanks to my natural alarm clock — but of course, I go to bed at 8:30 p.m. I just want to get a solid three hours to myself before everybody else wakes up.”
DH: “Our 7 a.m. ritual is walking — or, if I’m being honest, chasing — our 2-year-old camp mascot, Scout. It’s time for fresh air, catching up with each other, and strategizing how we’re gonna keep the balls in the air.”

Forward motion

TS: “Being busy is wellness. The goal isn’t to be a fitness model. It’s to take care of yourself enough so that as you hit your 50s, your body doesn’t limit you from what you want in life. So, 15 years from now you can still go hiking, or visit the Great Wall, if you want to. Things in motion stay in motion.”
DH: “The importance of taking care of myself is a precursor to taking care of others. Wellness is the only good form of selfishness.”