Disclaimer: This blog was written in bits and pieces while I was still in Crete and in the few weeks after I returned with the full intent to post it months ago. Then, well, life happened, and good intentions went to the wayside as months passed by. Therefore, the time references in this blog are a bit outdated but to keep with what I was thinking and feeling at the time, I left them the same. After the start of the new year and having time to reflect on the last few months and get caught up on things at home, now seemed like the perfect time to post this story.
Why does it all go by so fast? When you’re in the moment, you want to savor it, to take in every second, every breath before it becomes a memory. Life is fleeting, and if there is anything the last 18 months has taught me, it’s to savor every experience to the fullest. To cherish the people who cross your path. And to live. REALLY live. Because as those moments become memories, moments you'll never experience in the exact same way ever again, you can smile because they happened.
Over the past several months, I’ve had conversations with friends as to how our relationships have changed over the last 18 months. Both relationships we’ve had with people for years, relationships with people we did not know as well, and new relationships with the people with whom our paths cross. There have been some I've become closer to and others that have drifted away with lesser contact as we moved through social isolation and at times living in our individual bubbles.
Looking back at my travels during this pandemic one of the things of the things I’ve realized is that we are all craving connection. The months of isolation, quarantining, restrictions, and shifting in and out of all of it has made us crave those meaningful connections. The connections that were abruptly changed when the world shifted so dramatically 18 months ago. The connections that invigorated us, and the connections that made us feel whole. As a new friend said, “we want the genuine and deep connections; anything but can feel so unfulfilling and a waste of time.”
Human beings are social creatures. We’re meant to interact. We’re meant to learn about each other. And we’re meant to learn FROM each other.
October 1st-9th, 2021 Just two weeks ago, I set off on my third international “pandemic” trip to attend two yoga retreats, the first in Crete, followed by a return to Sicily. While what led me back to Sicily is a separate experience that I was very much looking forward to; I arrived in Crete thinking it’d be the appetizer for what was to come in Sicily. What I did not realize was that my week in Crete would become one of my most memorable weeks of 2021.
But, before I get too far ahead of myself, my journey to Crete followed two shorter domestic trips that included bittersweet reunions with friends I hadn’t seen in years. I was enjoying the euphoric high of seeing people I hold dear after much too long and at the same time the exhaustion of what felt like my former “pre-pandemic” life of juggling multiple trips in a short period of time all while cramming in as much work as I could on the days that I worked in between to make those travels all worthwhile. My life as I knew it was back to its pre-pandemic, nonstop pace and things felt well, normal.
Well, almost. It took me 18 hours of travel time to get to Chania, a town along the northwestern coast of the Greek island of Crete. My first flight from Washington Dulles to Brussels was glaringly empty with only about 50 travelers on a plane that seated well over 400. This was pandemic international travel as I'd come to know it with often nearly empty planes flying over the Atlantic. Two layovers and two flights later, I arrived at the Atlantica Kalliston Resort just after dark, tired, starving, and very much in need of a shower! After my warm welcome and introduction to the resort, I found my second, (or probably third or fourth) wind, grabbed a late dinner and took a walk around the beautifully lit property. Given my flight options, I had opted to arrive the night before most of my fellow yogi's, so it was nice having the night to rest before our week started. I had arrived exhausted not only from the journey, but also a very busy few weeks leading up to this trip. But, it was worth it when I woke up and took in these views the next day.
Since this was my fifth retreat with Yoga Escapes, I knew the drill, but like my experience last year in Croatia things had shifted even more. Like my previous retreat experiences, I anticipated enjoying much needed daily yoga and quite simply the connection with like-minded strangers from around the world that I craved. At our first evening dinner it became abundantly clear that I wasn’t the only one. Our conversations that first night at dinner felt like they were ones we’d have days into the retreat. Gone were the days of polite conversations and basic questions of “what’s your name” and “where are you from?” Instead, laughter was heard all around and chatter was constant as we quickly got to know each other at what felt like an extremely rapid pace. Nearly all of us had traveled solo to attend this retreat; like so many others, so we were able to be who we were, no reminders of the lives we left behind back home.
Like all retreats with Yoga Escapes, we practiced yoga twice daily; a more vigorous, energizing vinyasa practice in the morning overlooking the sea and followed by a quieter, more reflective Yin practice in the late afternoon, often on the rooftop terrace of the hotel. Our instructor for the week, the lovely Alice Trow, brought a calming, energy that not only invigorated me to challenge myself to a practice I had sorely missed, but she demonstrated an ease and comfort in teaching that provided the balance needed during our week. Each practice was different than the other, which kept me focused, but grounded at the same time. It was Alice's first retreat with Yoga Escapes, which was not evident in how well she meshed with us both on and off the mat.
Each evening we set out either by foot or through shared taxis to head to restaurants hand-picked by Laura, Yoga Escapes owner in nearby Chania. As I'd come to expect through previous retreat experiences, I knew we could be assured that we'd have wonderful meals with amazing service and typically a view of the sunset, which almost seems to be Laura's signature. Our time in Crete was no different. From our dinner the second night at Strata in the pedestrian section of Chania town, to the beautiful seaside sunset we experienced during our lovely meal at Corrina Star, within walking distance of our hotel, to the lovely rooftop ambiance at Pallas; like each retreat I'd attended before, each meal was better than the one before. Laura has great relationships with the owners and staff of each place we visit guaranteeing us superb service. And I might have gotten to know a waiter or two as I requested local wine recommendations! Shout outs to Alex and Alexandra at Pallas and to our Sommelier (whose name I neglected to write down) at Salis for our dinner our last night for their expertise.
While each restaurant and it's ambiance, the food we ate, and the wine we drank were remarkable, each meal was memorable for a different reason. It was because of the people sitting around the table as we ate. After 18 months of the roller coaster of a pandemic that at that point just felt like a fact of life (I refuse to use the words "new normal"), the act of communing over a meal with like-minded people became priceless. Like few other yoga groups on the retreats I'd been on, we all meshed easily and dove into those deeper, meaningful conversations with no pretense or judgement. There was a level of comfort and camaraderie that could not be matched.
Often on the evenings we went into town for dinner, we had time to wander and explore before our meal. While I personally did not find Chania to be as charming as Rovinj (sorry, Chania, Croatia is my solid #2 and Rovinj is a large reason for that), the town does have some beautiful spots. Not quite the photographers dream I'd hoped it would be, there were a few spots that showed its' character.
Each retreat we have a day off from our morning practice to give our bodies a break. The location of the retreat depends on what Laura has either organized or suggested for us. For our day off in Crete, several of us piled into two small rental cars and headed about 45 minutes from the hotel to Falassarna Beach, one of Crete's prettiest beaches. Armed with several bottles of wine and a plan to just relax in the sun or shade, we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon taking in the early October sun and continuing conversations that had grown throughout the week thus far. After several hours on the beach, we walked over to a small, secluded alcove as Alice led us through a very meditative yin practice followed by an opportunity to sit on the nearby rocks and watch the sun set into the sea. Yes, sunsets are a theme and this one was remarkable! Completely relaxed and full of sand (it was very windy), we grabbed a late dinner before making the trek back to our hotel.
As the week progressed, those bonds between the small group of us tightened. We easily intermingled with each other, spent afternoons lounging on the beach sharing personal stories and thoughts, enjoying amazing dinners with a view, and laughed, and laughed some more thanks to our resident comedian, who shall remain nameless, she knows who she is ;). What struck me the most is the depth of the conversations with strangers. We came from various corners of the world and different walks of life but all came together in the same place. While food, wine, and being in a beautiful place might have helped, it's the people I'll remember the most about my time in Crete.
What I didn't expect was for it to honestly be one of my favorite weeks so far. We all seemed to take time to get to know each other having one-on-one conversations. Those conversations were priceless, intense, personal, and open, and it felt easy. After the insanity of the last 20 months, I needed that. More than I realized, though I had already experienced a bit of that in my two shorter trips before I even got to Crete. As one of my fellow yogis said that I quoted at the beginning of this story, "anything other than genuine and deep connections after the last year can feel so unfulfilling and a waste of time." There were no conversations that felt like a waste of time in Crete. Perhaps it was because there were so many similar personalities, or perhaps just because of who was there at that time in that place. Or perhaps because we all pretty much dove in headfirst on night one at dinner. It makes me smile thinking about those conversations amongst strangers; the bar was set high right at the start. And the laughs. Because there were a LOT of laughs.
To say this need for connection was fulfilled during my time a few weeks ago in Crete is an understatement. For the fifth time, I was thrown together into a group of like-minded yogis from different corners of the world in a beautiful place. While all my retreats with Yoga Escapes have been beyond memorable; this one and the people I spent it with will occupy a small part of my heart for a long time.
Alice, Caroline, Tori, Safira, Heena, Eva, Maren, Julia, Catherine, Alice and of course, Laura, hopefully I've captured into words how wonderful it was spending our week in Crete together. Until we meet again.
If you want to have a similar experience on a yoga retreat in Crete, Yoga Escapes will be hosting a retreat there in early October and many other beautiful destinations throughout the year. The full calendar can be found here.
And to Laura, thank you again for creating something so special that has brought so many wonderful people together in beautiful places and for keeping it alive during the tumultuous past two years. Here's to many more retreats in the coming months and years.
“By our not being willing to go alone, we miss out on opportunities - experiences that can be pleasurable, intellectually stimulating, and lead to new, possibly meaningful connections with strangers.” - Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities and the Pleasures of Solitude