It seems that since the pandemic, travellers are more demanding than they used to be. In several Facebook groups, owners of self-catering and bed-and-breakfast accommodation here in France have reported that guests are much more difficult and demanding than in previous years.
“I’ve been feeling down lately, questioning if I should open the gîte next year. My guests from hell really brought my morale down. I just no longer have any desire to continue doing this. I’ll just have to suck it up until the end of September and forget all about it afterwards like it was a bad dream. Even my loveliest current guests didn’t seem to help me feel any better.”
I have had the exact opposite experience during my retreats: all my guests, except one couple, have been as lovely as always, in fact, even more so than in the past. My guests now are even more patient, tolerant, generous, understanding and kind than ever before. This inspired me to write my ebook “Make the Most of Your next Retreat,” about how to make your next retreat your best retreat ever. It’s free when you subscribe to my Retreat to RecConnect mailing list. Or you can buy it on Amazon.
Another change that I have noticed, is that where in the past, I mostly had solo women guests and the odd couple, ever since I introduced my Detox Your Body and Detox Your Mind with Intermittent Fasting Retreat, my distribution has now changed to 60% women, 30% men and 10% couples. Even so, I am still committed to providing women-only retreats, my business remains a woman-owned and -hosted concern.
My speciality is transformational retreats, and retreats for solo travellers, which is a good thing, as nearly all my guests are envisioning some or other change in their not-so-distant future.
Carolyn Ray, in the August issue of Journeywoman, sums it up perfectly when she says, “Never before have I believed so passionately in the transformative power of solo travel as I do now…I will never take travel for granted. The joy of discovering a new culture, the magic of connecting deeply with women, or learning something life-changing about myself is simply irreplaceable. Without travel, we risk losing our spirit of adventure, our curiosity and our sense of wonder. We risk abandoning the opportunity to discover our true selves and learn the truth about our world. I feel most alive when I am in an unknown place — one that stimulates all my senses and reminds me how fortunate I am to be in this place, at this very moment. Travel should not be defined by age or ability, but rather in celebration of women who have the courage to create life-affirming and life-defining opportunities through travel.”
So what exactly is a transformational retreat? A transformational retreat helps to strengthen the connection to your own internal guidance system, with the part of yourself that exists within you that is intuitive, authentic and insightful, while discovering life-enhancing tools that facilitate change. It removes you from the demands, pressures, expectations, habits and responsibilities of your daily life and immerse you in a new (often challenging) environment where you can develop a better understanding of yourself and transform into the person you want to be, to the person you are.
Post-pandemic, my guests are looking for more than just change, many have been forced to reinvent themselfs, to cope with the demands of the new now. Health is more important than ever, many of my guests are losing weight to increase health, adopting more effective stress management strategies, envisioning better futures, setting themselves more challenges, and now aim to achieve their objectives in the near instead of the distant future.
I have had to reinevent myself more than once, and I am in the process of doing so again now. How about you? Are you ready to reinvent yourself too? If so, join me on a Transformational Retreat here in this gorgeous part of France or contact me if you are interested in Life Transistion and Transformational Coaching.
Dr Margaretha Montagu 