By Marcia Appel — Last Updated: October 11, 2024

The best gift you can give yourself when traveling with a group is time on your own. It is when you take yourself on a stroll – wandering, chatting, daring to get lost – that insight and momentary friendships sometimes appear. Zing goes your heart when you do.

In September when MB and I traveled to Greece with 19 explorers, we spent a night in Athens. The next morning while most of the others headed to the Acropolis, I walked into the Old City, pausing to take in the proverbial sites, smells, and sounds of this metropolis I love in this country I love.

On this day, a cat sat at my feet for a while as she warmed her fur and I rested my ankles and toes. Ambling on, I suddenly found myself on a tiny, twisting street in the Plaka, the ancient neighborhood perched at the base of the Acropolis. I stood underneath a rooftop restaurant that my friend Kathleen and I frequented 34 years ago and where we ended up dancing to traditional Greek music with the locals until the wee hours of the morning. How kind and generous they were to pull us into the whirling circle, two Americans lucky to be there and be included.

As I made a left turn to walk back down to my hotel on its peaceful and leafy street, I peered into a shop filled with rugs, bags, dresses, and pants, each one hand-loomed in the ancient Greek art form that nearly disappeared in the late 20th century. Chrysa Georgiou, the founder and artist who threw over a vibrant career to pursue her heart’s deepest longing eight years ago, welcomed me into this jewel box of a store for the second time in just a few hours. We sat and talked about how fulfilled she feels to be carrying on the traditional weaving method taught to her by her mother and reinterpreted for modern life.

A young woman just entering her forties joined us. In training with Chrysa, she shared her heart’s deepest longing: to open a similar shop in a small village in central Greece that attracts tourists and locals wanting the bracing air in the forested higher elevations to accommodate their passion for hiking, biking, kayaking, and camping. The younger woman, recently divorced, decided to reconstitute with this decision, daring to dream of a life that had seemed beyond her reach.

I bought a handmade woven cotton dress so exquisitely handmade that I couldn’t find the zipper. The fine cotton sheath with its decorative built-in belt of Greek symbols spun in blue and gold will be a staple in my wardrobe for years to come. Every time I slip it on, the spirit of these two women will be with me, and I surely will leave it to my daughter, who loves Greece nearly as much as I.

Two days later, ensconced in an eco-tourism village on Crete created by a female architect out of ancient materials reclaimed over decades, I chopped vegetables, wrapped grape leaves into dolma, and stuffed zucchini flowers with a filling so fragrant that I wished I could bottle it, I watched our nineteen retreatants laugh, share, experiment, and shift. Buoyed by morning yoga under the shady sails of the yoga shala, we mingled our breath with the sublime fresh air of Crete, each of us taking an internal journey for an hour.

“When we drop our defenses, life becomes sweeter.”

When we drop our defenses, momentarily (at least) suspend deeply binding beliefs, and actively listen to each other, life becomes sweeter, and we change whether we realize it or not. And still, the desire for quiet alone time beckons amidst the fun and gentle cacophony of travel. As I sat on my balcony and wrote, I remember talking to two Danish hikers, a Dutchman who has been studying around the world, most recently in Ethiopia, and the son of that brave architect who followed her heart.

You don’t have to venture far from home to take yourself on a walk and encounter a rich journey. Visting the next town over can provide an equally rich opportunity, though I do value getting to see other countries, experience other cultures, and listen to other stories.

Even now as we plan trips for 2025 – Mexico in March and a return to Greece in September – and look further ahead to 2026, I know this much will be the case: We always will build free time into our retreats so that we all can take ourselves for a walk to see what happens. Zing, our hearts will respond.

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Marcia Appel

In 2006, Marcia, a former journalist and corporate executive, wrote the plan that launched Green Lotus. In 2007, Green Lotus opened, and Marcia and business partner Merry Beth Hovey, who joined in 2009, planted the seeds of service that are the foundation of the Green Lotus philosophy. "As teachers and healers," Marcia says, "we meet students and clients where they are. We learn and grow from each other -- and have fun doing it."

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