Before we can get to the point of allowing travel to heal us one must develop travel maturity. I’m sure you are wondering WTF is travel maturity. Well allow me to enlighten you. In our beginning stages of travel we are traveling to explore, and we try to fit as much as possible into one trip. I call this BUSY travel. Basically, by the end of the trip you’ve done so much, you need a vacation from the vacay. There’s nothing healing about this … but unfortunately with limited time & funds for some the goal is to get the most out of the situation. 

Now, some have graduated to an elevated level of travel where they walk into the trip with the goal of achieving complete calm & relaxation.  I call this QUIET travel. You don’t plan or attempt to achieve everything there is to do in the destination. You go with the flow of how your body leads you, if that means a full day of sight seeing and excursions so be it, but if that means two or three days of sleep, Beach, eat, repeat than even GREATER. SOME may even be intentional about journaling, yoga, meditation, and spa treatments to completely decompress and take care of the mind, body, and spirit. Most importantly the #1 goal is to decompress so: no computers, email, social media, but complete disconnection from the outside world. 

The latter is where you arrive back at your home reset and ready for what the world has for you. If even for those few great moments before stepping back into civilization/the real world you feel FREE and healed. I’m not saying the feeling lasts forever, but you now realize the importance of 1) taking full advantage of these moments 2) planning more of these trips 3) hopefully reprioritizing life to eliminate the noise and create more work/life balance and the ultimate goal 4) Arriving at your purpose (through spending those moments of quiet).

Mental Health is real. It’s unfortunate when it leads to a loss of life. It was one of the original reasons we started Get Lost VIP.  I was in a situation in my career and current role at the time where I was a functioning depressed person. I would literally almost cry daily at work and I’m not a crying person. I felt crazy as most viewed me & my circumstances as a blessed individual; which I was but I was extremely unhappy. I also observed many peers and higher ups around me feeling the same way. I often felt guilty for my state of mind as I knew there were others wishing they could be in my shoes yet I was wanting to run as far away as I could get. This is why I always preach money can never be the motivator. 

We were deep in the rat race and for me chasing something that gave me zero passion. After some deep prayer, reflection, and meditation I realized why I was traveling so much not just cause I enjoyed it, but because it as a healing mechanism. It was the only time I felt completely at peace as through travel I was able to completely disconnect if even just for one moment. I used to think if I can just bottle this feeling up to drink on one of those rough days. 

That’s why I wanted to share the gift of travel with others, but more importantly build a retreat where we can address the overall health mind, body, and spirit and create a safe space where people can share with others there deep dark secrets and get to both a path of healing and discovery.

Gone Astray is  Women’s Wellness & Empowerment Retreat. It is a valuable experience for every woman at any stage in life. Imagine a transformational event that will break you down and build you back up. Women from different walks of life come together for the common goal of improving overall health & wellbeing, celebrating life, and promoting sisterhood. The first event took place in Slash (Perla), from Guns & Roses Estate in the famed Muholland Estates in Beverly Hills in 2017. Future retreats are being planned.”

Your favorite CEO,

Ty Dawkins