Yoga is a passion and regular practice of mine for many reasons (I love it so much I sat for my 200-hour yoga certification) but, primarily, I feel it helps me stay centered through a wild and crazy daily life. I believe God has a presence in my minutes and seconds, but it is hard to slow down and realize that when things are fast and furious. Yoga invites me to be in my body, in Her presence, and to really connect with the greater good around me. Yoga has some physical fitness to it, but it really comes down to mental fitness.
(Visit The Ultimate Guide to Yoga Practice for everything you want to know (and more!) about yoga.)
Before COVID hit, I was gifted a yoga retreat certificate. But, of course, the catch to that was that COVID hit. I still managed to sneak away for one night to be alone and go through my new PowerSheets before 2021 began, and it was divine, yet the yoga retreat was no longer an option.Â
But I was really craving an opportunity to reconnect with myself, to try to sort out the crazy year. I wanted to see what had changed for me and assess what I had left. Like most, I felt like a burnt out shell where enthusiasm and adventure used to reign. What was the path to return to me?
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I was not paid nor was my stay compensated for visiting. This was a fully-paid experience I elected to do, and am sharing with you!
My strategic yet simultaneously random Internet searches lead me to discoveries that surprise even me, like this one. I wanted to find a place I could have a retreat that would a) be somewhat safe in an era overshadowed by COVID, Delta surge, and the inconsistencies in populations, cities and countries; b) be somewhere I wouldn’t feel like Mr. Family Trip was really missing out on or I wanted to share with him; and c) had the ability to be comfortable and lovely yet also affordable.
Heading to Prince Edward Island has been an daydream for decades. I grew up a huge Anne of Green Gables fan. L.M. Montgomery shaped my imaginations and daydreams. Emily of New Moon made me desire black hair and violet eyes during the 80s, where frizz, hair treated with Sun-In and Miami tan were all the rage.
I’ll talk more the seeds sown that made PEI so attractive to me in a coming post, but I knew that my tween/teen love with the purest romances ever, which all happened on a rugged Canadian island, was not going to be something Mr. Family Trip shared.
So I stumbled on a brand new yurt/yoga retreat space on Prince Edward Island: Nature Space Resort. In fact, at the time of my research, they were still building out a website and some of the yurts were still being constructed. It actually seemed a tad risky to book, but I was drawn to it with a power pretty fierce. So I trusted that instinct, took a leap and booked.
My mom, when hearing about the adventure, became very excited herself and within moments became my travel companion.
When my mom joined me, it changed this trip. What was going to be a trip of solitude and reflection became, instead, a trip of bonding and group memory. And I needed that, it turns out. After a year of COVID, I needed connection more than I needed more isolation and more time to think. Sometimes trips evolve, and they look different than planned, but if you let that process happen, you find exactly what you need. Don’t hold too tightly to a trip’s expectations, and you get what you are looking for. The purpose of the adventure finds you.
Also, note that PEI is not the place to go if you are an L.M. Montgomery fan but want to escape the urge to move around and be a tourist. PEI is scattered with gems from Montgomery’s world. But, more on that in a coming post, too.
Having a travel companion was a blessing during a COVID travel life in a tangible way, as well. We were (not intentionally planned) some of the first U.S. tourists back in Canada after they re-opened the border.
International travel during COVID is not for those who don’t like to plan or like to wing it. Having been on two international trips now since COVID has come into the world, it requires some significant navigation and research. It’s doable, and always worth it, but it is a layer of stress added on to travel that isn’t for everyone.
I am happy to share our experiences and tips in a different post if you are interested (just drop me a note).
But knowing that if I got bounced from the connecting flight due to COVID paperwork (which at one point during this trip looked highly likely) I’d have a friend with me to figure it out was a huge comfort.
When we arrived on Prince Edward Island, it was blustery and brisk yet verdant and alive. We had a bit of a drive from Charlottetown to the resort, but given the flora that adorned the side of the highway (no deer on the island!), it was easy.
We found Jarrod and, after a quick introduction to the property, checked into the yurt.Â
I have wanted to stay in a yurt for YEARS. Not quite as long as the hot air balloon daydream, but a long time nonetheless. And I was not disappointed.
The yurt we snuggled into was a true Mongolian yurt, imported and hand crafted with care. It smelled amazing – earthy and wooden and safe. The beds and the linens were soft yet natural. We had all the comforts we needed in our yurt – except a bathroom! We also had all the comforts we didn’t need – like a hot tub. I had found the yurt of my dreams behind an intricately painted bright red door and I was in love.
The bathroom was a shared house, called The Hive. It had two full kitchen areas, assigned by yurt. The showers were also assigned and shared by yurt, and everything felt so clean and fresh.
This resort beautifully balanced luxury with connection to the outdoors. I suppose that, ultimately, that is what glamping is. It is an opportunity to be more connected to nature and self, without any of the stress that comes without having comfort addressed.
We also spent time taking advantage of the views, the property, the comfortable fire pits, and the coziness of our yurt. Jarrod also runs kayaking tours in the waters behind the property, which we took time to do and was one of the highlights of the trip.
But, in reflection, I wouldn’t say that I made this into the quiet yoga retreat of rest and relaxation I wanted. I took advantage of the yoga yurt to do my own self-practice, and Heather was gracious and lead us through a private Hatha yoga class. But the soul-challenging stillness I went into the yurt to seek simply didn’t materialize. There were places to visit, restaurants to try, and COVID tests to figure out how to take. And given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on this gorgeous island, I wouldn’t go back and do it any differently at its core. Perhaps I could have set aside more quiet time for journaling and meditating, but just in the time confetti moments.
I also am so glad I did this with my mom. Finding a travel companion is hard yet important, and I am lucky to have my mom as a friend and sunbeam of happiness in my life. It had been years (decades?) since she and I had traveled together, just us. And that was where the magic was in this retreat. I reconnected with her in powerful ways. Through that, I also reconnected with myself.
I still believe in the power of self-retreats, for reflection and an opportunity to consider the direction of life. I also felt grateful to discover the mixture of solitude and activity Nature Space Resort offered me at just the right time. We didn’t treat this as a detox or a strict righting of the ship. I have plans to do that in a few weeks (follow along on Instagram for more on that when it comes), and I am curious to see how it goes. But in the meantime, this was what I needed. The Island restored.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful blog post. We loved having you and your mom as some of our very first guests at the resort! We hope you can come back again some day.