After almost a year of planning this…the day has come. Today I fly Vancouver-Hong Kong-Bangkok; overnight in Bangkok; Bangkok-Surat Thani. Then it’s an hour’s drive up the mountain to a lake, and an hour on a boat to get to where I will spend the next 8 days. Officially I get there somewhere around 1:30-2:00pm on December 28th – local time. So in other words, it is one heck of  a long trek to get there. But definitely worth it. Have a look, this is where I’ll be staying…   Jungle Yoga.

I think I might actually time how long it takes from door to door. One thing’s for sure, I’m going to have to keep reminding myself that the journey is part of the vacation. Enjoy the 13 1/2 hour flight to Hong Kong. Forget that I’m in a confined environment, some 35,000+ feet above the ground. Seriously, who decided that it was necessary to announce how many feet about the ground we’re going to fly? I do not need to know this. I like my feet firmly planted on the ground and have no desire to know how far away from that I am. Anyhow, I’m prepared. Laptop – check. Movies – check. Ipod – check. Book – check. Journal – check.

Once I get to Thailand, it’s an 8-day silent retreat in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. It’s my first time going to Thailand and I’m really looking forward to it. Why an 8-day silent retreat? Good question. I’m not sure I really have an answer, other than why not? For years I’ve told people I practice yoga not so much for the physical side of things (although my body does love how yoga makes me feel), but to quiet the voices in my head. Admittedly I like to see the look on people’s faces when I say that. I’ve even had a few people say “you hear voices?”. Oh yes, it’s my voice, and it’s constant. I once did two 90-minute hot yoga classes back to back. In that 2nd class – there was no voice. It was awesome.

Recently I’ve heard that human beings have on average 10 conversations going on in their heads at any one time. We’re just not conscious of them all.  So why an 8-day silent retreat? To quiet the voice in my head. And we’ll see what happens then….

For obvious reasons, I can’t blog while in retreat. But journal I will. And as a number of you have asked, I’ll blog about it when I’m out.

Ciao for now. I hope the Holiday Season is wonderful to you and that 2012 brings you much love, joy, prosperity and good health.