What seems like an eternity ago, I went on a weekend of silence. At a convent. The only sounds were birds outside, the quiet flip-flop of sensible shoes as people walked, and the too-loud chomp-chomp of hungry retreaters salivating. That’s how retreats were, in those days.
The earliest known use of the noun “retreat” in the English language is sometime around 1330. Retreats at that time were definitely religious affairs. Now, no longer. Think hiking and chattering as you climb the latest hill as a retreat activity, or cycling along the Chao Phraya riverbank.
Lien Galle, based near Ghent, Belgium, runs a highly successful nine-night retreat formula in Thailand. Three nights are spent as orientation, sightseeing, and, indeed, pedalling round Bangkok, then the group flies to Phuket and checks in at Amanpuri. Now comes the serious mental work, coupled with yoga and breathwork. Galle designs bespoke retreats for one up to 15 participants. The ideal number, she says, is five to seven; anything more can be unwieldy. She uses private houses and top-class resorts and aims her programmes at a 35 to 60 age group, predominantly female.
Some retreat regulars, who know they need a break from their usual lives, just make up their own programmes. Follow the stars, particularly football big names. Increasingly, they are eschewing Courchevel and other chi-chi ski-and-summer-sun haunts for individual luxury villas in the Dolomites. Ingeborg Castlinger, owner of one such idyllic place, has, with her colleague Rachele Belladelli, formed Dolomites Retreats. There’s a whole range of mountain-set properties and if you want a yoga master, just say.
Frankly, the best guide to what is available worldwide is The Global Retreat Company, owned and co-run by top publicist Victoria Fuller. Among the curated enticements currently on her site are yoga and hiking in Bhutan, which runs from 4 to 14 May 2025, and a yoga adventure in Mongolia, 24 July to 3 August 2025—yes, yogaphiles, you could sign up for both!
At any time, Fuller says, think of The Place in Seminyak, Bali. It’s run by Belgian psychotherapist Jean-Claude Chalmet, and highly admired in the realm of retreats. Serious psychotherapy and healing are on the cards for burnt-out, exhausted, and unhappy individuals, and couples and families in need of holistic and psychological healing. If you want a hand-held, transformative retreat, this is perfect—some become so enamoured of Chalmet’s care that The Place becomes a temporary home for as long as three months.
Separately from The Global Retreat Company, The Farm at San Benito, a 90-minute drive south from Manila International Airport, has a following far beyond the Philippines. It’s owned by the leading Nepalese conglomerate CG Corp—in other words, the Chaudhary family—and it is highly likely that Binod Chaudhary or one of his sons will be on-site. The Farm has specialist retreats for, say, detox, pre-wedding, and postpartum—and frequent flying.
Yes, all you busy executives, The Farm has just your ticket. A six-night stay includes vegan meals and nutritional juices, holistic health consultation, and assessments on fitness and nutrition, cellular health screening, and psycho-emotional clearing—plus brain biofeedback, Dolphin Neurostim, OligoScan, sensory deprivation floatation, and physiotherapy. If you don’t know what all those must-haves are, go and find out.
Retreats today are, indeed, what you want, from simple walking in a forest (as in, forest bathing) through to tomorrow’s technology. The main essential is a change from the everyday grind, to refresh and—if you feel like it—talk about the experience. No need for silence.
