3 weeks in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico!
Hello darling!
One of my absolute favorite things to do is travel. How about you? And as much as I love my Sweet Spot Home in Vermont, I really love to leave the winter behind and spend time in my home away from home, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
This is my 5th trip to Mexico and my 3rd trip to San Miguel. I try to stay as long as I can because I truly adore it. If you want to create a life full of international travel, doing work you love… let me reassure you, it’s possible. Even with kids! It’s possible!
When I started my business nearly three years ago, one of my goals was to be location independent. On this trip I truly felt like this is my new reality and I LOVE IT!
Yet, running your business away from home, managing family responsibilities, and paying the bills in two places for nearly a month requires some planning. Here is a little taste of how I’ve managed to do it Sweet Spot Style.
Week 1: Retreat
During the first week, I led a small, beautiful retreat in a private mansion that exudes expansion and possibility. This retreat is designed for creative, entrepreneurial women who are already successful, but want to expand into their bigger vision of their business and life. I’m not one for loading up a big bus full of peeps, so I stick to really small retreats with my ideal clients. This was my first LUX retreat and I am a big fan of this model. It was amazing for my clients and for ME!
I like to surprise my guests with some of my favorite things.
I like to pamper my guests, so upon arrival, I surprised them with goody bags filled with some of my absolute favorite products. This year, we had custom designed journals from May Designs. Aren’t these cute? You can design your own journals, calendars and more here.
Because it’s dry in San Miguel, each client received a a sample set of Beauty Counter Essentials and Citrus Mimosa Hand Cream from Beautycounter. I can’t tell you how wonderful this cream feels, you really just have to try it for yourself. My friend Emily Voss introduced me to this company, and I’m very impressed with their ethics and safe ingredients.
I’m also a notecard junkie, so I included my favorite handmade designs from Crumpet and Crabsticks all the way from the Isle of Mann.
Inside the goody bags: Beautycounter Products, Custom Journals from May Designs and beautifully designed mini cactus cards.
During retreat, we had a lovely mix of informal networking, design-focused sight seeing, and time to really go deep with our bigger visions we have for our business and lives.
This is my 2nd time leading this retreat in San Miguel de Allende and I’m hooked. It’s definetly one of my favorite parts of my business. The retreat generates enough income for all my expenses to be covered for my entire three weeks in Mexico. Equally important, I truly love it. Learn more about our day to day activities and get on the early bird mailing list for the next retreat HERE.
Week 2: Personal Retreat
During the group retreat, I give my all. When it’s over, it’s me time. This year I took a full 8-day personal retreat outside of town in the Mexican campo. I basically had two things on my agenda.
- Begin to write book #2.
- Do whatever the F. I want.
After the first day, I decided to do away with #1 and really concentrate on #2. It’s not often in life that you have the opportunity to really do whatever you want. There is usually someone or thing that needs your attention, right?
For my personal retreat, I completely let go of all expectations and just allowed myself complete FREEDOM to do whatever I wanted. If I wanted to stay up all night, I did. If I wanted to sleep half the day away, I did. If I wanted to waste hours watching Gossip Girl, I did. I explored places I’d never been. I walked down dusty roads accompanied by a pack of dogs and let them follow me into tiny markets. I walked a lot. I thought a lot. And then lo and behold, I felt inspired to work, write and create. That’s the EASE I’ve been looking for. That’s the EASE of life, work and creation I seek. No pressure. Just freedom and inspiration.
Week 3: Play
I know lots of women who wouldn’t dare take an 8 day personal retreat. They’d be overcome with guilt. I don’t do guilt. It’s a waste of time. Instead, I choose to fully enjoy myself, realizing there is a time and space for everything. The first week was about giving to others. The second week was all about me and my personal freedom. The third week was dedicated to sharing fun times with those I love.
It takes a good friend to escort your daughter into a foreign country. Luckily, I have good friends. My old pal from grad school brought her daughter, and mine, to meet me for a week of girl time.
We stayed at my friend Kris’s B&B not far from town and spent the days exploring the cobblestone streets, eating ice cream and soaking up the sun.
One of our favorite days was at the XOTE Water Park. This park is different from any I’ve ever seen. The water comes from natural hot springs so it comes out nice and warm. The place was very well manicured and there were only a handful of families there, so it felt like our own private park.
The only part that is hard about spending three weeks in Mexico, is coming home. It’s a grey dreary day here in Vermont and I can’t help but wish I was still in San Miguel, but soon enough the magic of spring will come to New England and all will be right again.
Until then, I’m already planning winter 2017 in San Miguel. Retreat fills up fast every year. Get on the wait list HERE, and maybe I’ll see you there?
xo Desha
*First seven and last photo taken by the talented Lesley Woodward.