To start 2025 strong, I decided to do something BIG! I booked my first international trip since my adventure in Thailand in 2018 to attend the Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat in the gorgeous Dominican Republic. This trip was so magical, beautiful, and will always have a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Let’s start with my travel day to the DR aka “Day 0” (as I like to call my travel days here at The Chic Life).
Going Big with This Yoga Retreat
As I evaluated my 2024 year-in-review, I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed with myself. I let work take over way too much of my life, and my stress levels were feeling it. But mostly, I felt like so much time passed and I didn’t have many experiences or memories from that time that made me happy.
And that’s no way to live!
As you know, I’m all about NOT living life on auto-pilot. I believe it’s important to intentionally create and live the life of your dreams NOW. Not when you retire in however many decades. I’m a big believer in finding ways to live your dream life as soon as possible while you continue creating and evolving your dream life goals and plans.
But I wasn’t actually doing that in 2024.
So yea…something BIG was needed. And one of my favorite Charlotte yoga instructors, Lauren Nixon, had shared that she was co-hosting a yoga retreat in the Dominican Republic with her friend Liz Williams.
I have always wanted to do a yoga retreat somewhere international. And while it would have been easy to keep putting it off, I had a feeling that the time was finally here to go for it!
Plus…
Over the years, my interest in wellness travel has continued to grow. I’m not a big drinker or partier, so I love the idea of travel with the purpose of nourishing myself mind, body, and soul. And this retreat looked like it was the perfect fit for not just that but to help me start the year strong tackling my 2025 goals.
Pre-Travel Jitters
If I’m being honest, I was feeling somewhat nervous leading up to the retreat. I’m already a bit of an anxious traveler, but with the recent flight-related accidents (and some other personal things), I was having extra pre-travel jitters.
A couple weeks before the trip, Lauren kindly invited me to her Gentle Yoga and Nidra in-person classes, which really helped calm my nerves.
As the trip approached, I did my best to use my calming tools that I’ve gathered over the years to help further: meditation, moving my body, yoga nidra, positive affirmations, walking, journaling, etc.
Luckily, I knew Bolt would be in good hands. I drove to Greenville to drop him off with my parents. They love to spoil him!
Travel Day Begins!
My sister gave me this Up mug for Christmas since it’s one of my favorite Disney movies. I ended up using it for the first time the morning of my flight, and it was the perfect theme!
Here’s to having more adventure in life!
Since I’m a nervous traveler, it’s important for me to have healthy food that settles well on my stomach. So I made my current go-to breakfast: overnight oats with strawberries.
This always tastes delicious, keeps me full til lunch, and gives me lots of energy from the nutrient-dense ingredients.
Airport Adventures
My first post-2020 airport experience was surprisingly smooth. I zipped right through security and got to the gate super fast.
I opted to do carry on for this trip, but I couldn’t quite fit shampoo and conditioner. So I bought a couple travel sized options at Kiehl’s. It’s so convenient they have that at Charlotte Douglas now.
I also got a new lip gloss at Mac before meeting some of the other retreat attendees at the gate.
I treated myself to another coffee before boarding. My current go-to Starbucks order is a grande cinnamon dolce latte with oat milk and only 3 pumps of syrup instead of 4 (no whipped cream).
Luckily this Starbucks at the CLT airport did order ahead, so I didn’t have to stand in the HUGE line to order. And I got my drink faster by using the Mobile app to order. Woop woop!
I scored a FREE business class ticket thanks to using some points I’ve been accruing for awhile now. This meant I got a free meal, too, which was pretty clutch since the flight boarded at 10:50am and landed at 3:30pm local DR time.
This also helped my stress levels since I didn’t have to figure out how to make a lunch work with this mid-day flight.
As someone who eats intuitively and always aims to honor her hunger cues, I don’t skip meals. So I’m not sure what I would have done for food. And the meal on the plane really saved my stomach that day.
I spent longer than I care to admit researching options so I could pre-order. You get more options when you do pre-order, so always do that if you have the meal option with your ticket.
The general consensus was that the short rib is the best option. So I went for that. It came with mac and cheese, a side salad, and cheesecake. I also got a glass of prosecco.
The flight started out with some turbulence, but nothing too wild. The weather forecast showed high winds, so I wasn’t surprised. And the bumps were pretty mild even though the seatbelt light was on for most of the flight.
Overall, the flight was quite smooth and we landed right on time! Not sure if it helped, but I did do some scripting (the manifestation technique). I’ve used this before to manifest timely travel (among other wins).
Traveling Through the Dominican Republic
Another thing that helped me stay calm was traveling with a few other retreat gals who are also from the Charlotte area. It was so cool how we all instantly connected at the gate. And it’s always better to travel with friends.
Our retreat had a shuttle ready to take us straight from the airport to our villa.
Whilst Punta Cana is a popular destination in the DR, we visited a less touristy area called Cabrera. It was about 1.5-ish hours away from the airport.
We drove through several towns and past lots of farmland on the way to the villa.
Welcome Party!
And once we arrived, our hosts were ready to greet us with big smiles and bigger hugs.
Also the villa pup, Babe, was there to greet us with some cheerful barks and a wagging tail.
We also got to enjoy a delicious, fruity welcome mocktail, which was just lovely after a long-ish day of travel.
And then Lauren showed me to my room at the Villa, and I got to meet my roommate, Pamela, who was just amazing straightaway!
I was already feeling spoiled before I even saw the gorgeous welcome gifts. We got a beautiful flower, chocolate, and a pretty mandela beach towel.
There was also a handwritten note and a printed itinerary, which was so exciting to look over!
Travel Day Dinner at the Villa
Dinner at the villa was buffet style, and there were so many wonderful, dietary-friendly options.
And everything looked so fresh!
Since my lunch was so meat and cheese heavy, I loaded up on the veggies and went a little lighter on the protein. I don’t eat a lot of fish but with being so close to the water, I was excited to try what was surely local and super fresh fish!
Everything was delicious!
Liz and Lauren shared a little bit more about the retreat and what to expect over dinner, which was fun to hear.
Dessert was lovely and light – fresh fruit with hot tea. Lauren shared some tea from her personal collection, and it was the perfect way to settle in for the night.
Our hosts were so thoughtful and didn’t have any activities planned so we could get our rooms situated and spend some QT with our fellow retreat sisters.
My Intentional Habit Shifts (Night Owl to Morning Person?!)
One of the things I was worried about as a major night owl who tends to wake up late was being able to wake up early enough to participate in the morning activities.
So I took the advice I used on my last international trip and got onto the new time zone as soon as possible.
Not to mention one of my MAJOR goals for the retreat was to take a break from work, social media, devices, etc. And to help with this, I didn’t even bring my laptop or iPad. I literally can’t remember the last time I traveled without either of those. Not sure what that says about me. Lol!
So without the pull of devices and with me holding my boundaries to not create content or scroll on social, I was able to spend some QT in the hot tub, chat with the gals, and let my system calm down for the night.
And guess who went to bed around 11:30pm?! Meeeeee!
(This may not seem like a big deal, but I had been going to bed at 12:30 or 1am. And the DR is one hour ahead. so 11:30pm was like going to bed at 10:30pm for me – a 2 hour difference!)
And just like that, I was off to a wonderful start with my Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat experience! Check the links below to read about my other days. And take a look at my social media (thechiclife on most platforms) for mini vlogs and more!
Read More about the Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat
Click here for my other Travel blog posts and videos
***
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog post all about Traveling to the Dominican Republic (Harmony with the Elements Yoga Retreat Day 0)!