Back home I have met a lot of people, in particular in the corporate world who wanted to take some time off but were too scared, did not know where to start and most of all did not know what to do with themselves for a whole year or even one entire month on their own, with all that time at their disposal, without the usual routine and the nine to five in the office.
For all those of you who feel the same, here are a few places around the world and few ideas about what you could do to feel your time, at the beginning. For once you start, you may find out that one year is way too little to explore everything that the world has to offer.
Pisac, Sacred Valley – Peru
This is top on my list also because I have recently lived in this small town. Located in the Sacred Valley, Pisac hosts some of the most spectacular Inca archaeological sites, thus a perfect location to start exploring and dive into the mysteries of previous advanced civilizations.
Easy to reach by plane, this small town attracts a vibrant international community and offers adequate accommodation, with good restaurants, including vegan and vegetarian. You may easily find affordable rooms with access to common spaces: kitchen, yoga and meditation space, ceremony temple etc.
Many of the western travelers are seeking physical or emotional healing, with many shamanic practices on offer. Many of the practitioner are westerners but one may also be able to find local shamans. Watchuma or San Pedro is the main psychedelic as the cactus grows in the mountains around the area; however Ayahuasca ceremonies are largely practiced as well. Other shamanic practices on offer here: rape (tabaco sniffing), kambo (frog cleansing) or cacao and gong ceremonies.
In Pisac I stayed at Tantraya. This is an ayahuasca retreat with excellent reviews. However, while I was there,it functioned as a long term hostel. The place is very quiet, just fifteen minutes walk from the city and close to nature.
In addition to the local shamanism, one could join Eastern or other well-being practices: yoga, ecstatic dance, breath work to akashic reading, human design, trauma work, tarot reading, to lectures on Bagavad Gita and Christian Shamanism.
Ayampe, beach village in Ecuador
Small village on the beach in South Ecuador offers affordable short to long term accommodation, with common shared spaces; many are on the quiet beach that is still preserved, without large hotels or other large buildings.
It is actually a surfers' place with a spiritual vibe. The village kept its wild nature, with no large permanent constructions on the beach while parties with very loud music are forbidden. Most buildings in the village are small, following the local architectural style. Almost every hotel offers yoga classes for a small fee. One may also find many practitioners of Kambo. Art lessons, such as music and painting are offered in a few places.
Otherwise, Ayampe is an excellent place for resting and sinking into being, especially after longer traveling or in-depth work done in other places, as it was my case. I arrived in Ayampe few weeks after the end of my diet with master plants in Peru, as I felt a deep urge to slow down and process the teachings for my meeting with the plant medicine.
I have stayed at La Casa, directly on the beach, a small hostel with few rooms and family like atmosphere.
Koh Pagnan, Thailand
Koh Pagnan is a small Thai island, not far from the very famous Ko Samui and it has been a place for spiritual seekers and alternative leaving for a very long time. It is relatively easy to find long term accommodation practically in the jungle while also being very close to breath taking white sand beaches. The small island hosts a few yoga schools that offer retreats or on spot classes, together with other many Eastern practices: breath-work, dance, ecstatic dance, human design, women / men circles, meditation, qi-gong, hypnotherapy, kirtan etc.
The place is vegetarian friendly with many vegan and vegetarian restaurants, many of them managed by westerners. The super-markets although small, offer a large variety of western groceries.
In Koh Pagnan, I stayed with Sama Karuna, where I bought a three weeks package that included accommodation, food, yoga and other wellness courses.
Rishikesh, Rajastan, Northern India
Located at the feet of Himalaya, Rishikesh became famous after to Beatles' trip to this North-India town back in the sixties where they studies Transcendental Meditation. I have visited this city about ten years ago, after a couple of weeks stay in an ashram in Haridwar. Haridwar is very popular with Indians while Rishikesh attracts most westerners in search of spiritual vibes.
Yoga classes and cheap accommodation offers are abundant. One may also find a variety of Ayourvedic treatments although everything became a bit commercial and not always trusted services. For more authenticity one may try Haridwar, which about one hour distance by train.
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