A wellness retreat was exactly what I never knew I needed. One night in early April, I was scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon a nutritionist promoting an upcoming wellness retreat she was hosting. All I knew was the retreat was 8 days long in Portugal, at a huge house with a rooftop pool, there would be lots of yoga and meditation, and all meals (healthy, yummy meals!) were paid for. Literally. That’s all I knew. The more I got to thinking about it the more I felt like I had to go. I had been itching for a European trip but didn’t know who to go with, where to go, or when to book. This seemed like the perfect trip because I didn’t have to plan a thing. All I had to do was book my room in this beautiful house and purchase my flights.
If you know me at all, you know what a planner I am. I book vacations months in advance, and usually book brunch and dinner reservations weeks before we actually get to the destination. So honestly, this type of vacation was really hard for me to understand and commit to. But it was exactly what I needed.
Minor detail. This European voyage was in 16 days. I asked everyone I knew if they wanted to go but no one could swing it in such a short amount of time. Plus, no one really knew what it was and who was going. For all we knew it could’ve been a scam. (Update – it wasn’t!) And honestly, I had no business booking this trip. I just started a new job in December, had no PTO, and make a decent salary. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this trip. I HAD to go. Something about traveling alone and meeting a group of ladies on the other side of the world, all with different intentions and knowledge, sounded so intriguing to me. So after 48 hours of being convinced by my friends and family, I booked my airfare and room for my first (+solo) wellness retreat to a fishermen’s town in Ohlao, Portugal.
Still so proud that you did this for yourself! Yes, I’m biased it was Portugal 🙃 but still proud that you went.