This past week, we hosted our tenth retreat. It’s been six years of running trips. Countless memories made, relationships formed, and breakthrough moments experienced. To be honest, it’s the most fun and rewarding work we get to do.

The best part of it all is we get to do it as friends. We feel most fortunate to be able to create these retreats for our community, but also enjoy them as we host them. They’re just as life changing for us as they are for participants; selfishly, the sunshine and surf never hurts.

There are many takeaways we could share about wellness travel.

From staying on routine while on the road, hosting team events, adapting to challenges on the fly, how to create moments that “stick”, coaching tips, and logistical pointers, but there are a few “macro” ideas that stand out above all that we’ve learned from hosting trips.

1. Your relationships are the most important part of life, especially the relationship you have with yourself. Learn to spend time alone, and enjoy it.
2. Be confident in who you are. You have so much to share with the world, but you have to believe it in order to be confident enough to be yourself.
3. Be vulnerable. The worst that could happen is someone judges you for who you are. If you take this personally, see #2.
4. Listen first. Like nature, we must settle into a place before we realize how much is going on around us. Learn to take in new ideas and ways of living. Then put yours up for review; practicing humility and curiosity are the easiest ways to get along with people.
5. Seek out “fun.” Life is way too short to take everything seriously. If you’re always reviewing your past, you’ll miss out on your present and future. If you’re always looking towards the future, you’ll miss out on what’s happening right now. Fun happens in the “right now.”

Jim Valvano famously said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” After a week full of belly aches from laughter, hours spent in thought discussing strategies and ideas, and tears spared sharing emotional stories, it was a heck of a week.

So much love to our Live Better family for an amazing week on Retreat #10. You are forever in our hearts and welcome to the family.

It is not too late to join us for our 11th retreat! Book your spot here for the best weekend ever.