urban retreat

I’ve been leading a virtual book club this month for Martha Beck‘s newest book, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World. One of the benefits of holding this virtually is that participants come from varied places, from Canada, Austria, and multiple states in the U.S., including Alaska! I love how technology can be such a great convener.

This week’s topic focused on the Imagination section of the book, where Martha explains how humans can leverage our amazing minds to solve problems and puzzles. I particularly enjoy how she defines adventures as “actively inviting into your life a problem or puzzle you could just as easily avoid.” Adventures can be big or small, from trying out a new restaurant or finding a new route home, to moving across country or travelling to a different country.

I can relate to this, inviting new adventures into my life. And I realize I do it quite often! A part of me enjoys the challenge, whether it’s testing my physical limitations through a triathlon, learning a new skill like editing a podcast (working on this now – FUN!), or exploring new parts of this amazing world we’re on. My love for adventures is what sparked the idea to lead an urban retreat to New York City. And while I strive to do my best in any endeavor, I’ve experienced my share of setbacks, failures and face-plants. It’s not always easy, but the journey provides so much value.

As Martha remarks, “Willingly encountering unfamiliar situations, you maximize the experiences that, though often inconvenient and uncomfortable, trigger huge leaps of Imagination.”

It’s difficult to picture my life without the adventures I’ve had. Through the “good” and the “bad” (in quotations because those are really just labels), I’ve learned so much and each experience has shaped who I’ve become. Learning about different cultures, ideas or customs gives me opportunities to include new ways into my beliefs or strengthens my existing beliefs as right for me. Travelling to other countries and living in different parts of the U.S. has opened my world view and given me a greater appreciation for what I have, our beautiful planet, and the remarkable similarities among people everywhere. And whether I travelled alone or with others, I learned more about myself along the way.

If you’re feeling like you’re stuck, in a rut, or stymied by a particular problem, I encourage you to invite a little adventure into your life. Whether you choose to go somewhere you’ve never been (locally or globally), learn a new skill, or plan a big event, you will get a new perspective, and that just might be the shift you need to provide a solution for your problem.

Southern view of Manhattan from the Empire State Building

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

My father came to the United States when he was just 17, looking for job opportunities that weren’t available to him back home in Runcorn in the United Kingdom. He found and worked at several different jobs before finding a place to make a career in the airline industry. His roots in the UK, his love of travel, and the benefits of working for an airline opened a door of opportunity for me. He passed on his love of travel to me, and I was always grateful that I grew up knowing of a world beyond my borders.

When I first began training as a life coach and started exploring what my niche might be, I knew I wanted it to include destination coaching. I want to take people out of their normal environments to amazing places all over the world, where they can learn more about themselves through coaching and their experiences. I knew I wanted it to be experiential — not just sitting in a classroom setting listening to me speak. My idea was to go to places that had a lot to offer, and allow the participants to “choose their own adventure” from an array of physical, cultural and historical activities. I think besides our interactions with others, travel is one of the most educational experiences we can have.

I’m thrilled to announce my first adventure in destination coaching, to New York City. The place of my birth, where I also lived for three years as an adult (2007-2010). New York City has an incomparable number and variety of things to do, and as a city where I learned so much about myself, I think it’s an ideal place to hold such an adventure for others. I’m calling it the Big Apple Adventure. For three days in mid-July, Wednesday through Friday, we will have group workshops in the mornings, with the afternoons and evenings open for the “choose your adventure” portion. Sharing the adventures with the group the next day will provide additional opportunities for personal exploration.

If you’re interested in joining me, I invite you to sign up to be notified when registration opens in March. I’ll also be holding a Q&A call later this month to answer any questions and give additional information about the trip. There will be a limited number of seats for this urban retreat, so I invite you to register for more information if you’d like to join me. It’s going to be an amazing trip!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Emily Downward

Open to Adventures

For Love of Travel