Short and Sweet Retreats Vs. Long Smooth Adventures
By Tannis Kobrinsky of Health Habitravels

If you’ve read Part One of this series, you’ve got the basics in place, and maybe you’re ready for your first venture. A good way to ease into retreat planning is to try a week-long program at a venue that will host you and handle the logistics. If you decide to organize a trip yourself, I recommend starting with a short program near home before tackling longer adventures. Short retreats de-stress and offer participants opportunities to learn life-enhancing skills, make new friends, deepen existing relationships, explore unfamiliar destinations and hopefully trigger deeper self-awareness.

If you opt to organize a trip yourself, you’ll need to select the location, set tone or theme for the trip, lay out a tentative schedule, conduct classes and moderate group gatherings. Because participants bring expectations, personalities and issues to the mix, both short and long group programs take on their own life.

Tips for All Types of Programs
BE CLEAR about what you’re offering. A potential once traveler asked me if fabulous yogis and yoginis were coming to my yoga retreat. I replied that my programs aren’t hard-core yoga retreats and beginners are welcome. Relieved, she and a friend came with me to Italy.

BE PREPARED. Plan a schedule. Send it in advance, but know nothing is set in stone.

BE ADAPTABLE. Things beyond your control will happen. Intangibles like personality conflicts or bad weather will require compromise and patience on your part.

Where Should I Have It?
For short programs, find a location within a few hours drive for most participants, and for longer trips, isolated venues or multi-venue trips, remember to factor in all transportation costs and transfers. For all types of programs, long to short and budget to luxury, some essential components must be in place.
• A designated teaching space or common area suitable for class.
• Group dining area.
• Bed and bath arrangements to match client budgets and aesthetic expectations.
• Roommate assignments. If people are traveling solo, match them as best you can with a roommate. If it turns out to be a bad combo, have a backup plan in place.
• Sanitary accommodations with attentive and organized management.

The Budget Getaway: $70 or less nightly per person
If participants don’t balk at shared bathrooms and sleeping quarters, consider retreat centers, ashrams and campgrounds. Look into spiritual, church and school/college organizations’ properties and National and State parks, or these resources:
Expand Retreats
Pacific Yurts
Retreats Online
Budget Travel

The Mid-Range Retreat: $70 - $150 a night per person
Most people prefer double or single rooms with in-suite baths. I’ve found gems for short and long stays at B&Bs, boutique hotels and private vacation rentals. Check these sites for ideas (some include luxury accommodations as well):
Concierge
Epoque Hotels
Vacation rentals
Pamela Lanier Worldwide B&B
Unique Inns
I-Escape
Find Rentals
Daily Candy Travel – Check here for lodgings and excursion ideas
Journey Woman – lodging and more

The Luxury Adventure: $150 a night plus per person.
If your client base demands and can afford 5-star treatment let your imagination soar. How about your own private island!
Luxury Link
Spa Finder
Unusual Villa & Island Rentals
FindRentals.com’s Luxury Rentals

Other Resources: All price levels
Find where tour companies like Back Roads, Lindblad Expeditions stay. Check other instructors programs in Pilates and yoga publications and on these sites:
yogafinder.com
yogamates.com
yogavoice.com

How Do I Feed All of These People?
Include most meals in your programs. Plan on a minimum of $50 to $100 per day, per person. Inquire in advance about participants’ special dietary needs, and try to accommodate them. You may want to schedule for at least one meal to be on their own, even in short programs. This allows time for participants to explore or opt for some solitude. Here are some meal options:

• Caterers: Bring them with you. Discount or cover their costs or pay for their services. Get recommendations from lodging management, locals or other retreat organizers. Check with the Chamber of Commerce.
Include cooking classes that result in meals: Bring the chef/teacher or hire locally. Include a visit to a farmer’s market.
• Reserve ahead at restaurants: Consider fixed-price menus. Be firm that alcoholic beverages are not included. I’ve had problems with this in past trips.
• DIY: Bring groceries and share prep and cleanup. People actually enjoy this.

How Do I Foster Good Group Dynamics?
Travel anxieties, personality conflicts and power struggles may occur. Attempt to steer the group in positive directions. Create a bond. Consider hiring an assistant to handle petty grievances and be a liaison between you and the group so you can focus on teaching and nurturing and have private time to recharge. Here are some ideas for group activities:

• Meet and Greet: Get acquainted as a group on arrival. Answer questions and pass out updated schedules. Give room assignments and small tokens. Printed handouts about the program as well as small gifts (express yourself) given as the event starts are wonderful keepsakes. Keep the memory of the good times alive with goodbye gifts and thank-you cards.

• Mixer/Class: After everyone’s settled in, gather again. Try a stretch class and offer some refreshments. Find out why people came. Dig deeper. Have them share a life dream or goal.

• Music: Music resonates with most. You may be a purist only interested in teaching Pilates, but integrating other mind-body practices always enhances my programs. Drum circles release tension, work as medicine on heart conditions and create community. Visit Remo Drums for facts and resources. Sound meditations using singing bowls, chimes or gongs melt barriers. Chanting, singing and breathing practices do the same. Search the Web for sound healers and yoga sound practitioners in your vicinity.

• Laughter Yoga: A laughter yoga instructor treated one of my groups to an intro to laughter yoga. At first we were dubious, but it was a huge hit! We wished we’d done it our first day together. For me, laughter is a core exercise for body and soul.

• Extracurricular Activities: How about art therapy, photo workshops, journal writing, attending local festivals, hiking, kayaking, learning about wine making. There are endless ways to make your program your own.

What About Pilates?
Most participants choose mind-body travel programs because they want to practice their discipline or learn more about it. Most, but not all, show up for classes, but if someone opts out that’s fine. Here are some guidelines:
• On short retreats, schedule 1-2 classes daily.
• My longer journeys include 1-2 classes most days, but your schedule may require some class-free days. Announce this in advance. Explain that after an excursion departs at 7 a.m., includes hours of walking tours and returns after dark, they’ll probably want to call it day.
• Bring as much of you and your special expertise to the program as you can.
• Pace the schedule and adjust it if participants seem burned-out or request time off. Emphasize that classes, excursions, group meals and gatherings are always optional.

Tips About Communication
• When possible write down and hand out changes, but be aware that many people simply do not read handouts.
• Post schedules and schedule changes in a common area
• Allow 15 minutes extra lead time for any kind of departures. Most people are not punctual, especially during vacations.
• Warn people about the possibility of theft.
• Remind them to check that they have all personal belongings when departing from busses, excursions and lodgings.

Advice for Longer Programs
Complexities and responsibilities rise with longer programs. Take it easy for the first couple of days to accommodate for jet lag, travel anxieties and getting acquainted. Try to set boundaries so you are not on call 24/7. If possible, have your own room where you can take care of logistics and also of yourself. Establish rules up front. Impress on everyone that this is a group endeavor and they need to respect each other. Ask them to be punctual and watch out for one another (i.e. everyone counts heads when you get back on the bus, etc). Disagreements may occur, especially toward the end of a journey, when familiarity and fatigue fuse. When I first launched Health Habitravels, an experienced tour operator advised me to keep programs under 17 days. Stay any longer and polite veneers dissolve, and what was a wonderful vacation can turn ugly and undo all the healing de-stressing you’ve accomplished.

Pre-Trip Packages
Here are some basics to send out several months prior to departure. These pre-trip packages are confidence builders, and help your group get to know you in advance. They will appreciate your efforts, and you’ll have laid a foundation that frees you to embrace the twists and turns of the journey ahead.

• Information on inoculations and medications required and/or recommended for your destinations.
• Recommendations on travel insurance in the advent of trip cancellation and medical coverage abroad.
• Suggestions for alternative remedies for jet lag, altitude sickness and insect-related infectious diseases.
• Document requirements.
• Itinerary and contact sheet of names/places included in the program.
• Packing advice: Recommend that participants pack light and bring layers, workout clothes, outdoor wear, broken-in hiking boots, personal meds and toiletries, earplugs, sun block, sunhat, insect repellent, copies of IDs, medical prescriptions, emergency contact information, camera, flashlight, batteries, basic first-aid, money belt, ATM cards. Ease their worries by letting them know they can probably purchase many items while they’re traveling.
• Recommended books and movies about your destination that travelers may want to enjoy before or after the trip.
• Release forms: If anyone has physical limitations, ask them to check with their health-care provider to be sure they’re fit enough to participate in classes and active excursions.

More Travel Resources
For long foreign adventures find answers to frequently asked questions about documentation, airline restrictions and medical travel issues.
• Health Habitravels links page
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
• U.S. Department of State for advice on documents and security precautions

Pilates-, GYROTONIC®- and AFAA-certified Tannis Kobrinsky lives in Los Angeles and has taught movement and fitness for 30 years.  Also a freelance writer with a love of travel, she leads international Pilates/yoga travel programs via Health Habitravels. She’s zip-lined through Costa Rica’s cloud forest, hiked the Andes, snorkeled in Mexican coves, participated in Bolivian sacred ceremonies and made pasta in Italy. Contact Tannis at tannis@healthabitravels.com.