THERE’S BEEN A POST-PANDEMIC BOOM IN TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAVEL, BUT CAN A BREAK FROM THE NORM ACTUALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE? JENNY SOUTHAN GOES IN SEARCH OF A NEW DIRECTION
ONE NIGHT LAST SUMMER, I FOUND myself paddling out to sea on a transparent kayak that glowed in the dark with underwater lights. The black Caribbean water was warm and the sky glittered with stars. Looking back at the shore, I could see flaming torches on the beach, and the party I’d just left still in progress, with people milling around in animal fancy-dress costumes. I’d discarded my own rubber llama mask on the sand, and, as I breathed in the fresh air, the questions How did I get here? and, more importantly, What next? drifted through my mind.
I’d spent the past five days among a group of 20-plus strangers, all of whom had very different backstories (there was a millionaire nomad who was living in a luxury Winnebago, a commodities trader from Australia, and a professional poker player and Seventh Day Adventist who had both travelled over from middle America). But all of us had one thing in common: we’d been inspired to sign up to a life-changing holiday at the Aerial BVI, a private island in the British Virgin Islands. Run by American entrepreneur Britnie Turner, the retreat is a utopian hideaway in the Caribbean Sea, engineered to help people achieve mental, physical and financial transformations.
Searching for direction after turning 40, I was determined to rewire my understanding of money and turn my fledgling travel-trend-forecasting company into a profitable success story. With this in mind, I’d signed up for Turner’s annual ‘Abundance’ summit (other retreats include ‘Dream’, ‘Love’ and ‘Strength’), which teaches you how to generate wealth and use it as a force for good in the world through a combination of practical wisdom on real-estate investing and stock trading, as well as ‘manifestation’ and ‘visioneering’ techniques. The days on the island had been emotional and intense (there were tears at nightly dinners where we each had to stand up and share our realisations), but also exhilarating and euphoric. By the end, it felt like I’d been on the island for a month. My mindset had undergone a huge shift.
Since the pandemic, there has been a rise in people taking holidays with the express purpose of reassessing or improving their lives – these transformative short stints are called ‘radical sabbaticals’. Whether we’re suffering from milestone anxiety, considering leaving a partner, starting or stopping fertility treatment or dreaming of launching a business, there are times in our lives when we feel we are at a crossroads, and need to make a big decision or take a leap of faith. Time away from the dayto-day, focusing on what really matters, can help you figure out the next step and, nowadays, many c
