Marrakesh, Morocco is one of our favorite locations we visit on retreat every year. No matter what the season, one thing we always make sure we pack are comfortable, stylish pieces that we can use no matter how the weather changes. We thought we would share with you the top 5 things that are in our travel bag and some places we love to shop for these versatile pieces!
OUR MOST LOVED VINTAGE TRAVEL INSPIRATION
We are continually inspired by vintage travel posters, postcards and photographs. When we were rebranding last year, these tokens were our main inspiration. Not only for the color and type, but for the memory they provoke. We wanted to share with you a collection of a few from some of the locations we are visiting this year. Hope you enjoy and tha it inspires you to travel somewhere with us in the future!
OUR TOP FIVE FAVORITE FINDS AT THE SOUKS IN MARRAKESH
ANIMALS WE SEE ON EPM WELLNESS RETREATS
PROJECT SOAR / AN UPDATE AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
COLLABORATOR INTRODUCTION / AASIA LEWIS
We are so excited to introduce the newest guide to our team, who will be leading the MOROCCO Align and Awaken retreat in 2024, AASIA LEWIS! Aasia is a yoga educator, certified somatic coach + bodyworker, and clinical speech-language pathologist (SLP), who is now based in Morocco.
TRAVELER TESTIMONIES / MARRAKESH TRAVEL GUIDE WITH KRISTEN SHOATES
We're so happy to share this post from our past guest Kristen Shoates. Kristens specialty is helping businesses, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, influencers, makers, artists and organizations of all kinds grow their brands through strategic storytelling. She has a background in journalism and over a decade of experience working as a copywriter and strategist at marketing agencies.
GETTING TO KNOW / JULIAN HYZLER
We are so excited to get to know a bit more about Julian Hyzler, one of our wonderful collaborators on retreats throughout the year. We have had the privilege of working with Julian through his company Easel and Lens for years now and he is not only a truly talented painter, but also as anyone that has been on retreat with him knows, and absolute fount of knowledge! He graciously sat down with us and allowed a peak into his history, inspirations and things he looks forward to in the upcoming year…
RETREAT RECAP / ICELAND + MARRAKESH BY SARAH SCARBOROUGH
Sarah Scarborough of Tea Huntress led retreats in both Morocco and Iceland this spring, and she did it through the lens of her work, which is tea ceremony.
GIVE BACK UPDATE / PROJECT SOAR / MARRAKESH
The recently shared a recap video of what 2021 looked like for them here, and as you can see, they are giving these young women the space and tools they need to further their education and become future leaders.
GIVE BACK UPDATE / PROJECT SOAR / MARRAKESH
RETREAT RECAP / MINDY, RETREAT LEADER - MARRAKESH, MOROCCO
SOULFUL SNAPSHOTS / MARY - INDIANA, USA
“I do want to thank you again for planning and offering this lovely trip. It was so enjoyable on many levels and everyone here was so easy to be with. It was a fabulous vacation, one of my best! Our host Julian was most knowledgable, kind and engaging. His knowledge of history, art and culture was quite enlightening. I recommend the trip to anyone... ”
GIVE BACK / PROJECT SOAR UPDATE
As many of you know, a portion of the profits from the retreats we run go to charitable organizations in the areas we visit, and our Give Back partner for our Marrakesh, Morocco retreats is Project Soar. A non-profit with a mission to empower teenage girls in the developing world, Project Soar is “based off the 5 Pillars of Empowerment, which embody our beliefs that every girl should have the opportunity to know her Value, Voice, Body, Rights and Path.”
GUEST POST / TEA HUNTRESS - ON LEADING IN MARRAKESH
When I was 19, I fell in love with an Indie Kate Winslet film called Hideous Kinky. It was about a young English woman who moves with her two small daughters to Morocco and gets lost in the soul of the place. I watched it over and over, taking in the colorful souks, the music, the sufi poetry, the vast desert and mountain landscapes, pink city walls shaded with orange blossoms and roses and silver pots of sweet mint tea.
SOULFUL SNAPSHOTS / PRECIOUS - GEORGIA, USA
KARMA CONNECTIONS / OUR FIRST HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE!
Hello everyone! We hope your winter is off to a lovely start and your holidays have been full of love. We decided this year would be a great time to start our first ever gift guide for the holiday season! While retreats are great, our ultimate goal is to provide tools that might bring mindfulness and presence to your everyday lives. So we have compiled a list of things that really continue the theme of finding focus and calm in the chaos of life, whether it's using yoga, rituals, meditation, art or manifesting your goals. There are even some ways to bring the smells and textures of world travels into your home. Now is a great time to start looking toward the new year and cultivating habits that help you ground yourself and bring possibility. We hope you enjoy it!
TRAVELER TESTIMONY / DEBORAH - CALIFORNIA, USA
We are back with our Traveler Testimony series, where we talk to past guests about their experiences on retreat! This time, we talked to Deborah, who is based in Southern California. She is a PR professional who has worked in entertainment, book publishing and tech. Deborah has not only joined us on three retreats (Marrakesh, Bali and Spain), but she has lived all over the US, including New York and Seattle. We wanted to know more about what led her to join us for her travels.
GIVE BACK / PROJECT SOAR IN THE NY TIMES!
We are so happy to share this article from The New York Times profiling Maryam Montague, owner of Peacock Pavilions and founder of Project Soar, a non-profit that offers girls academic support, empowerment coaching, health education, sports and arts classes. Project Soar has been our Give Back partner for Marrakesh for years now, and we are so happy to see it getting this coverage.
GIVE BACK UPDATE / MARRAKESH - PROJECT SOAR
We were so excited to get to revisit our beloved Project Soar while we were in Marrakesh and catch up on the amazing things they are doing. Plus we were able to work on some projects!
We have been working with Project Soar for years now, and it's an incredibly powerful organization, working to empower Moroccan girls, giving them an open space to study and be, as well as educational tools, health resources, empowering affirmations, the chance to play sports and take art classes, and so much more. They strive to give these young women a voice and a chance to complete their education.