Retreat With Me in 2024
Writing workshops in Kenya, Morocco, Greece, and Italy.
Hello newsletter readers! Excuse the self-promotion, but I wanted to let you know about a few upcoming writing retreats that I’m hosting in various corners of the world in 2024. I typically advertise these in my other newsletter, so if you want to hear about retreats as soon as they’re announced, sign up (I only send out a few emails a year). But I also thought readers of this newsletter may be interested in opportunities for dedicated writing workshops in pretty awesome places, especially given how many of you have signed up for our annual Writing Practice.
The idea behind the retreats is this: A small group (12-16 people) meets up somewhere beautiful, and we immerse ourselves in a creative process and a physical practice. You don’t have to make any major decisions or think about much: We have delicious meals set up, a few fun activities, and gorgeous places to stay. You just show up.
I teach daily writing workshops, and each day focuses on a concept applicable to a variety of written forms — people who have come on these retreats have been working on everything from novels to plays to law review articles to short stories to op/eds to personal essays. Most people who come aren’t working on anything at all, but want to write more and need a place to start. I also offer daily readings that we’ll discuss in the workshop the next day, as well as daily writing prompts to get you started. It’s kind of like a college seminar-style class with lots of discussion about our craft, and then plenty of time post-workshop for you to find a cozy spot to read and write.
I co-host these retreats with my friend and yoga teacher Emily Shapiro. She teachers an hour of all-levels yoga each day, and her classes are hard to describe, but think vinyasa flow to music that fills your whole body, with movements that feel so fluid and intuitive and pleasurable that when the hour is up you realize you’ve wholly disappeared into your body. You do not have to be an experienced yogi or an experienced writer to participate — it’s totally fine if you’ve never been on a yoga mat or if you’ve never taken a writing workshop. You are also welcome to come on these retreats and skip the yoga, the writing workshops, or both and instead just relax or read or chill in the sunshine or work on your own personal projects — it really is a choose-your-own adventure.
The last thing I’ll say about these retreats is that Emily and I have been co-hosting them for several years now, and on every single one after the first we’ve had multiple people come back to re-retreat. Many people have now come on four or five or more. And honestly it feels so good to know that we’re creating spaces where people feel comfortable, inspired, and excited to return.
So that’s the end of my pitch! You’ll have fun! Here’s a little about each one:
KENYA: March 14-23, 2024
Good Lord I love Kenya. I lived there for a few years, and left before I was ready. Luckily, I’ve been returning every year to host storytelling + yoga retreats, and this year is really special: Emily will be teaching the yoga, and my friend / collaborator / National Geographic photographer Nichole Sobecki, who has lived in Kenya for more than a decade, will be teaching photography workshops. Safari with a Nat Geo photographer? A dream! This retreat is the longest and most far-reaching: We start in Nairobi for a day of city exploration, then fly to a very not-touristy but spectacularly beautiful and wildlife-rich conservancy for safari, where we stay at a private safari camp, go on twice-daily game drives, and you can see the last two northern white rhinos in the world (the conservancy is working on an IVF program to repopulate these nearly-extinct creatures, which we will also learn more about). After three nights and four days of safari, we fly and then boat to my favorite place on the planet: Shela village in Lamu, a little fishing village off the Kenyan coast. There, we’ll go on a sunset dhow ride, eat all the fish, and explore a magical, trapped-in-time absolute gem of a place with no cars, just donkeys and some beach cats. Daily yoga, daily writing workshops, and daily photography workshops will be on offer, and Nichole and I will also be available throughout the retreat for one-on-one guidance — so if you want some pointers on safari photography, just hop in the car with her and you’ll get a dedicated photo lesson. Pretty cool! Nichole and I have been co-hosting this retreat for three years now, and we take retreaters to our favorite below-the-radar spots in this fascinating country (literally, we take people to the same places we frequented together and that I took my sister to when she came for my wedding, these really are our off-the-tourist-track faves).
The Kenya retreat is almost full but we have a few spots left. And because of some life transition stuff, we may not do this retreat in 2025, so if you’re on the fence, 2024 is your year! Full info is here.
MOROCCO: June 9-15, 2024
Does a chilled-out beach with languid yoga and daily surfing sound like more your vibe? Then the Morocco retreat is for you. We’ll spend 6 nights / 7 days in the fishing town of Taghazout, where there will be daily writing workshops, daily yoga, the option for a surf lesson, a visit to the dunes, and a visit to gorgeous Essaouira. It’ll be warm and relaxing and lovely, the kind of place where you’ll want to get up early to catch the best waves and end each day sipping a beer and watching the sun set (and I don’t even drink beer). This retreat will offer tons of down time for you to write, get some sun, and breathe out. Full info is here.
GREECE: August 24-30, 2024
Do I need to sell you on the Greek islands? Probably not. I will say that the island we retreat on is my favorite I have ever been to in Greece. It’s sublime — that Cycladic whitewash / blue door situation you picture when you think Greek islands — but far less crowded than the more popular spots. And it’s a bit wild: There are wind-swept hills, hidden emerald beach coves you can only get to by boat or a hike down a donkey trail, and a gray-cobblestoned main town that comes alive at night. The Greece retreat is for you sun-and-water babies: It’s salty air and salty skin and sun-baked beauty. Full info is here.
TUSCANY: September 9-15, 2024
I probably don’t need to sell you on Tuscany either, but I will say that this is not the over-crowded selfie-stick Tuscany of tourist nightmares. We hold the retreat in a really cool area called Maremma, which is on the coast and is quite distinct from the rest of the region, with tall pines, a wild coastline, and lots of natural beauty. The retreat is held on an organic farm owned by a one of the coolest women you’ll ever meet, and I always struggle to characterize this place because it’s just so unique and magical it defies description. The farm is not fancy; it is a proper working farm, and the yoga and writing classes are held in an old farmhouse. In the early autumn, the whole place is bathed in that golden Tuscan sunlight, and you feel like you’ve traveled back in time. We mostly eat on the farm, with food and ingredients (including wine) nearly all sourced from a few miles away, and phenomenal chefs giving us a taste of local cuisine. We also go off-farm for a few meals, including to a spectacular seaside medieval town where you wind your way through sepia cobblestone streets and can look across the water to Elba. There’s wine tasting on a stunning estate; there are bikes you can take to the beach; there is so much pasta. The Tuscany retreat feels like a big, soft-belly exhale. Full info is here.
Ok that’s it! Thank you for indulging the self-promotion. Hopefully this is of interest to at least some of you, and I promise I won’t spam you with retreat ads too often — just wanted to get ‘em on your radar, because they really are a great way to travel, meet excellent people, and hone your writing skills.
Hit reply to this email if you’re interested. Hope to see some of you in Kenya, Morocco, Greece or Tuscany in 2024!
xx Jill