First Stop, Hawaii

As soon as you step off the plane and exit the airport, the warm gentle breeze graces your face as the bright sun lightly kisses your cheeks. Take a breath, you are here. You are in paradise, you are in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Walking with your toes in the warm, squishy sand, you are made quickly aware there is something truly magical about the beaches of Hawaii. It is a place to let your guard down and to let the calming waves pull you toward your inner peace.

The first stop on my journey through America was the beautiful state of Hawaii. Surprisingly, it was not my first choice and I believe, somehow, Hawaii found me. I had just sold my house and knew I was in need of a tropical vacation. I had been searching and searching and found myself struggling to make a decision. As I searched for my perfect tropical vacation, I started to wonder what exactly it is I was looking for in this trip. I was looking for more than just a vacation, I was looking for guidance, for peace, for a way to heal some deep emotional wounds; I had been in a very vulneralbe state for two years after experiencing loss in many ways.

ReTREAT Yourself

The search for peace in paradise ultimately led me here, this gorgeous property graciously hosted by Ange Arbuckle. I found Ange's amazing retreat through a website, bookretreats.com, and prior to Ange's retreat, I had no idea these kind of things even existed. When I stumbled upon her page, I was blown away with the pictures of the property. The itinerary for the week sounded truly magical and it seemed like the perfect place for me.

The retreat offered multiple sleeping arrangements, some solo rooms, other doubles, and even a separate apartment from the retreat within walking distance. I chose to go out of my comort zone and book a double room, it was also easier on my wallet. Booking a room with a stranger was scary I will admit, but, Kelley turned out to be the best roomate and we got along so well. The retreat was for women only, so there was no worry of having to share a room with a male.

Y'ALL, this was the view from my bedroom window! Talk about a dream! I could not believe my eyes when looking out this window early in the morning. Some of the greenest greens you will ever see!

For me, a retreat was the perfect way to travel to Hawaii. It can be overwhelming trying to find a hotel and then decide what to do, how to get there, what and where to eat. The thing that I loved about the retreat is that I felt as if I had the opportunity to turn off my brain. As a mother, a woman, a planner, every vacation was strategically planned by me. Every stop, every meal, every outing, I was in charge of getting us there. The nice thing about the retreat is that I felt somewhat spoiled, this feeling was a bit unfamiliar to me.

Prior to traveling to the retreat we filled out a questionnaire about what we ate for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner. The retreat offered only vegan and gluten free meals, this was something i was a little wary of, even though i am myself gluten free and have been vegan for a short time in my life, it was just a little nervewracking thinking I could survive a whole week without a piece of chicken. To my suprise, and everyone else's, the meals were absolutely amazing, delicious, and fresh. We had our own personal chef who prepared our lunch and dinner everyday. They used our questionaires to stock the fridge and pantry with all of our requested breakfast items, as we were on our own for breakfast. We did go out to dinner one night while in Hawaii, and that is where I had some of the freshest mahi-mahi I have ever consumed in my life.

Walking out of my bedroom door I was greeted with this incedible view. Each window providing it's own aesthetic pleasure; the ocean, the mountains, the palm trees. There was no greater way to wake up in Hawaii.

Each day in Hawaii generally started the same, most of us were up extremely early due to the time zone change. I was a heavy six hours ahead of Hawaii time, so trying to adjust proved to be somewhat difficult. The first day I was wide awake by 4am, YIKES, but to my surprise so was about half of the retreat. Most morings I would wake up, go down and grab a cup of coffee and sit in the living room that was surrounded by the natural beauty of Hawaii, the mountains, the tropics, the breeze, the sounds of the birds. I just sat with my coffee, myself or others, sometimes in silence, some reading, some walking. It was quiet, it was peaceful, it was serene.

Some days we would start with group yoga, other days it was group circle. Group circle was one of the best things for me spiritually, as a person and as a woman. I was not sure what to expect from the first circle, was not even sure if I would share or wanted to share anything. It did make me very anxious to even think of sharing some of my emotional wounds with these women who were strangers at the time. But here's the thing, once other women started opening up and sharing their stories, I started to hear myself and see myself in each of them, this made me more comfortable in sharing my own story. Ange offered great insight to each of us, and a lot of what she said still carries with me today.

Hawaii Highlights

Vibrant tropical flowers

Ok, how cute is my Bitmoji in Hawaii?

The way the clouds dance on top of the mountains in Honolulu can be quite captivating.

Surrounded by the mountains of the island, you will feel cradled by the magic that surrounds you in O'ahu.

Such a beauty! A truly magical moment on the beaches of Hawaii!

This gorgeous Mother was getting ready to lay her eggs!

From one Mother to another.

Yes! I tried surfing in Honolulu! I did not succeed, but I did try!

I matched the angel wings; coincidence? I think not.

We were supposed to swim under this waterfall, however, Mother Nature had other plans.

They looked like twizzlers hanging from the trees.

You would not be-leaf the size of this leaf!

A Tropical Vacation? With Nine Strangers?

I know what you are thinking. Are you insane? Taking a trip with nine total strangers to an island? The answer is yes, I am insane. And I hope one day you can be just as insane. I learned a lot about myself through others and bonded with women from all over the world. I pushed myself to do something out of my norm, forced myself out of my comfort zone and into a new time zone.