PANGEA DREAMS: THE ULTIMATE GIRL POWER RETREAT
Picture this in your mind… You just flew half way across the world to embark on an all-women empowering retreat. On the agenda? Frolicking with twirling skirts along the vast greenery of the Tegalalang Rice Terraces. Delighting your taste buds by eating fruit that spells out, “BALI VIBES”. Adorning your head with a delicately designed flower crown, all while embracing with women from around the world. Educating your soul, heart, and mind with knowledge-based classes that will teach you how to be the best version of yourself ever!! Sounds too good to be true, right?? WRONG. This is the beauty that is Pangea Dreams.
WHAT IS PANGEA DREAMS?
Pangea Dreams is the ultimate girl power retreat. It was founded by Tracy Komlos, and she now has so many magnificent women working with her! The all-women led team of Pangea brings unique and fabulous ladies, from all over the world, together in an all-empowering space. Every retreat is located in some of the most breathtaking destinations within the entire globe. Some of the past retreat locations have been: Bali, Mexico, Peru, Cambodia, and so many more sought after destinations! Some of their future retreat locations? Morocco and India! Let’s just say… if you attend a Pangea Dreams retreat, you're going somewhere really worth while.
But is it all about going to a pretty location? Absolutely not! You’re traveling to such a stellar place to learn even more stellar skills and lessons valuable to your growth as an amazing woman! All Pangea retreats are composed of various educational workshops. These workshops (which I’ll talk more about later) are designed and delivered by the various retreat leaders. All retreat leaders are skilled and developed in the content they teach. They come with years of experience and eager hearts to teach all the women their knowledge and skills! At Pangea, it’s all about community over competition. So, we’re all there to learn together and learn from each other!
Anything else that’s important about Pangea Dreams? The MOST important. While on your retreat, you will be meeting, getting to know, and falling in love with all the women around you. This is the one aspect about a Pangea retreat that most alumni (or sisters!!) say they value the most… coming away with friends and family you never thought you’d have! And when the retreat ends, the friendships most definitely do not end! Pangea Dreams is very intentional about keeping all the women from the retreats together and in communication with one another! We’re each other’s eternal support system! As Pangea says, “Pangea Dreams is more than a retreat, it’ a collective of women who rise together.”
So, what does that exactly mean? More than a retreat? Pangea Dreams places a holistic viewpoint on wellness, travel, community, and education… which creates a super powered retreat! Hehehe! This retreat is absolutely perfect for females who are interested in content creation, bloggers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs. It’s the cumulative skills taught and activities offered on these retreats that makes the retreats so worth the investment. Plus, when you’re in such beautiful places of the world and around such positive, inspiring, and motivated women… you have the ability to soar with all the creative potential you never knew you even had!
WHAT DO YOU DO ON A PANGEA DREAMS RETREAT?
I think the better question is, what DON’T you do on a Pangea Dreams retreat! Hehehe! Every day is so jam packed with goodness, that it’s almost too difficult for me to put into words everything that is done. But I think the best way for me to give you all the clearest picture I can on how amazing the retreats are… I’m going to break down my Pangea Dreams retreat in Canggu, Bali by each individual day.
DAY 1
The very first day is welcome day!! This day is targeted towards all the ladies arriving, getting settled, and meeting everyone for the first time! Everyone arrives at various intervals throughout the day, and you pretty much have free reign to do as you please this day. If you won’t be exploring the country you’re visiting before or after your retreat (aka: you’re just staying around for the retreat), for a little extra charge, Pangea will arrange for a driver to pick you up and drop you off at the airport. I did this and it was so easy and convenient!
I arrived to The Chillhouse (our home for the week!) for my retreat around mid-afternoon. After checking into my room, I was greeted with fabulous goodies and all my Pangea supplies beautifully arranged on my bed! For many of the retreats, Pangea partners with local and world-wide known brands. Some of the brands have certain deliverables that need to be achieved from the Pangea ladies, while other brands simply gift all the girls some treats! We were blessed with partnering with TOMS sunglasses and bracelets from Wunsch Kristall Armband.
And even though being greeted with lovely little surprises on my bed was nice, having the retreat hosts greet me was even better!! All of the lovely retreat leaders came to my room to personally welcome my roommate (we actually arrived at the same time) and myself. It was all smiles, hugs, and laughter from the very first encounter. Listed below are all the retreat leaders that were on this trip…
Carly from @light.travels
Lauren from @wanderlulu
Dana from @wanderingdonut
Sam from @samkat
Sidney from @blacktraveljourney
I could write a whole blog post on just the different retreat leaders and their amazingness… but each Pangea woman truly cared about every single lady that invested into themselves to come out on this retreat. I can 110% testify that I call these ladies my true friends now, and not just my retreat hosts for the week.
But after all the fabulous greetings and goodies, I unpacked and freshened up a little bit. And before I knew it, it was time for our first community dinner! For every single meal, we would all sit family style. This type of table arrangement made it so inclusive and tight-knit. Meal time was truly a moment of community with all the women. And for every dinner, we always had a delectable buffet overflowing with yummy goodness!
After dinner, it was time for welcome circle!! We all went to the rooftop porch, sat in a circle, and got to know each other! After hearing a little bit about everyone, we got a brief breakdown of the week, and then went off to bed. Because FOR REALS, everyone was so tired from traveling!! Hehehe!
DAY 2
Now, for our first “real” day on the retreat! We started with yoga at 8:00 in the morning, and then ended yoga with a gratitude circle. Gratitude circle quickly became one of my favorite aspects of the entire retreat! Every morning, we would write down three aspects of life we were grateful for, what our intention was for that day, and what was one goal we wanted to accomplish. This practice genuinely helped ground my mental health, and set me on a positive path for the day!
Then it was time for breakfast and our one-on-one sessions with the retreat hosts. This was a time geared towards every individual woman and their goals for the entire retreat. My main goal? I truly wanted to hone in on my photography skills and editing!! The reason the retreat hosts incorporate this portion into the retreat, is because they want to know any possible way they can help us during this week and our journey. I’ll say it now, and I’ll say it again, I loved the retreat hosts so much!! They sincerely wanted to see all of us succeed!
Then the rest of the day was honestly all about the workshops and eating (lunch and dinner). Hehehe! I will say this… the workshops are intense!! They are about two hours long each, and you are busy applying yourself and learning. But hey! That’s what you’re here for, right?! There were three workshops this day, and they were, “building your personal brand and finding your niche”… “photography 101”… “dedicated community on IG”.
If there was ever any downtime between workshops (which there sometimes was!!), you were free to shop the little boutique at The Chillhouse, lounge in the pool, take a nap, get a massage, and essentially do anything you wanted to invest in yourself. Now, I must say something about the massages offered at The Chillhouse. I got one… and I should have gotten one million more. Hehehe! They are awesome and so cost effective! I’m talking about $10 for a full body hour-long massage. I wholeheartedly miss my massage from The Chillhouse!
DAY 3
Today was our first exploration day!! We started out the day with breakfast, and then drove to the fun and festive town of Seminyak! WARNING. If you are prone to car sickness, ask the trip leaders to sit in the front of the van and take some Dramamine. The roads in Bali are anything less than ideal, and I got really car sick the first day. And I typically don’t get car sick at all! I’m telling you this, so you don’t feel crappy like I did! Luckily, by time we got to Seminyak, I was able to get some fresh air and started feeling a little better!
The first task on everyone’s agenda… LUNCH. Most everyone went to Cafe Organic, which is a precious cafe serving very delightful plant-based food. Me, being the carnivore that I am, needed some meat in my life. So, a few of the girls accompanied me to the tropical paradise of Shelter Cafe. And let me just say, I have never been so happy to eat a burger in my life! As you continue to read, you will learn that all the food provided to us was vegetarian. And let’s just say, I am NOT a vegetarian. Hehehe!
After lunch, we all played around in Seminyak and visited all the must-see attractions on our list! For me, I wanted to see a lot of the cute cafes. Seminyak is quite well-known for their Instagrammable cafe aesthetic. And the places I visited did not disappoint!
My first stop was Balibola. I didn’t know about this particular spot before I visited Bali, but I’m so glad Pangea made me aware of it!! Pangea gave all the ladies a list of recommended “hot spots” before we ventured out on the town. It made it much easier with planning our day! It was seriously pastel perfection, and had the most adorable (and delicious) ice cream cones!!
The next cafe on the list? None other than the famous KYND COMMUNITY. This is one of those places that you have literally seen all over Instagram, but it makes perfect sense as to why. The people there are so sweet, the atmosphere is ridiculously awesome, and the food is super-duper delicious. I split a smoothie bowl with the girls I was with and we honestly spent a large chunk of our time just taking it all in. There needs to be more cafes like this around the world!!
We were getting closer to winding down our time in Seminyak, but some of the best was still to come… sunset on La Plancha! La Plancha is a rainbow colored sea of beanbags and umbrellas right on the beach. And it is the perfect way to end a perfect day with fabulous ladies. We spent the evening running in the water, laughing until our bellies hurt, and clinking our beer bottles in cheers! After the sun-kissed sky had eventually blackened, we made our way back to The Chillhouse, ate dinner, and fell fast asleep.
DAY 4
After a really fun-filled day in Seminyak, it was another workshop day! And let me just clarify, the workshop days are also really fun!! Because again, one of the main reasons to come on this retreat is to learn!! On this day’s agenda, we were set to learn about, “Lightroom 101”… “pitching and media kit creation”… “SEO 101”. These workshops were so beneficial to me, especially the SEO class! Let’s just say… WOAH. I feel so better equipped with writing my blogs! This single class made the whole retreat so worth it!!
Pangea Dreams is always on the prowl to be surprising all of the wonderful ladies on the retreats! Hehehe! So, on this day… we had a special and yummy fruit tasting session! And if there’s one thing about Bali, it’s that they have such unique fruit!
Besides the fruit tasting and workshops, we had our usual yoga and gratitude circle, all our meals, and some free time! This day, I spent lounging in the pool. If there’s one thing I love… it’s a good pool day!
DAY 5
Oh boy!!! It’s our second exploration day! This day, we ventured out to Ubud. I flipping loved this day much more than I thought I would! To start off the day, we all ate a hearty breakfast, then set off for adventure! After our drive to Ubud, we stopped first at the Tegallalang Rice Terraces. I have never seen any type of rice terraces before, but they were absolutely breathtaking! It was so amazing seeing the rice terraces from different vantage points and angles. But let’s move a little past the beauty… and onto the reality. LOTS AND LOTS OF STAIRS. Hahaha. You’ll for sure be huffing and puffing a little bit from all the stairs you have to climb to get around the rice terraces. Also… it may or may not be quite muddy/dirty. Aka: I fell into one of the rice terraces and thought I was getting sucked in by a muddy monster. HA. Luckily, I was able to rinse my foot and shoe off later… but that was a trip. Hahaha!
After spending about an hour or so walking around the rice terraces and taking photos, we made our way to… THE BALI SWING!! Now, I know what you’re thinking… that the Bali swing is one of the most overrated things and tourist populated attractions because of Instagram. True… but also false. I had an absolute blast on the Bali swing! First and foremost… it is actually so much fun!! You’re strapped into a harness while sitting on this oversized swing. The locals running the swing will hip and holler while swinging you so high and fast! Not only is it exhilarating, but it gives you a vast view of the rice terraces, as well!! As part of our Bali swing package (which was only a few dollars), we also got to take photos in the well-known “bird nests”. This is solely a photo opportunity… but it’s such a classic Bali experience! My photos from the “bird nest” are some of my favorite photos from Bali!
After all the fun shenanigans from the rice terraces, we started to make our way to the Ubud market. NOTE. On the way out of the rice terraces, you MUST try one of the fruit popsicles you see being sold in the side street restaurants!! HOLY AMAZING. They are so fresh and fruity, and are the perfect quencher to a warm day in the terraces!
Once we made it to Ubud, we grabbed a bite to eat first. We made our way to a little restaurant, right across from a Balinese temple, called Milk & Madu. They served incredible pizzas, and you best believe I ate a whole pizza to myself!! I then split off from the rest of the group for a little bit, and explored around the temple across the street. I really wanted to take some time to immerse myself in true Balinese culture. While you’re on a Pangea Dreams retreat, don’t be afraid to take some time to yourself and venture off a little bit. I truly valued the time to myself and the ability to explore Bali on my own two feet for a little bit.
After finding some peace and quiet within the temple, I met up with some of the chicas shopping in the Ubud market. The Ubud market is massive and contains everything from those cute weave basket purses to beaded bracelets. And yes… don’t be afraid to bargain! Besides shopping in the market, we also took some time to peruse the local boutique shops.
And the grand finale for the day… THE MONKEY FOREST. I had honestly been looking forward to this moment for the entire trip!! Not only do I love animals, but I think monkeys are just the greatest thing! And the fact that the monkeys are running around… WILD?! SO COOL.
Just a few things about this place… besides it being awesome!! It’s very nice and quite beautiful inside!! It only costs a few dollars to get in, so it’s totally worth it! But once you get your ticket, you essentially just walk around at your leisure. And just to warn you… there are monkeys… EVERYWHERE. It kind of takes a little bit to get used to, but it’s genuinely such a riot of a good time! Here are a few of my experiences…
The second I walked into the forest, I saw a monkey sucking on a sippy cup that he stole from a baby. Hahaha! A few minutes later, I was just merrily walking along… minding my own business… when two monkeys started grabbing at my dress. As I kept walking, they kept walking with me… continuing to wrap themselves up in my dress. And finally, when I was walking along one of the forest trails, one of the local workers motioned me towards him. As I walked towards him, he signaled me to put my hand out. Then he proceeded to place some food in my hand… and before I knew it, there was a monkey ON ME. A monkey legit jumped on me, and started eating the food out of my hand! It was the coolest/most terrifying experience ever!
After spending some quality time bonding with our new monkey friends, we finally made our way back to The Chillhouse. We had our traditional family style meal together, and went to bed… while dreaming of monkeys running all around…
DAY 6
Today was our last official full day of the retreat. Per usual, we had yoga and our gratitude circle to start the morning… followed by all the eating! Hehehe! We only had two workshops today, as we had a few other things planned, along with some more free time. For the two workshops, they were, “email marketing and digital products”… “passive and active income strategies”.
As I mentioned before, we had quite a bit of free time this day, and this was the day I got my massage!! For The Chillhouse, I recommend making a reservation just a few days in advance for your massage. I also used this free time to shop in the cute on-site boutique, swim in the pool, and take photos around The Chillhouse. I actually packed up this day too. Since I was leaving earlier the next morning to head home, I didn’t want to have the stress of still needing to pack the morning of.
Another component to this day? Testimonial videos, getting photos from everyone, and our wrap-up individual assessments. The testimonial videos sound exactly like what they are. Hahaha. If we wanted to, we could give a testimony of our experience during the retreat. And let me just say, my testimonial gave two thumbs up!! Then we had our final individual sessions. This was just a private time to talk with the retreat hosts about how the week went, and if we met our goals. I was so excited to talk with all of them because I honestly had learned so much!
As the day moved along, and we ate our last family meal together… we ended the night with our closing circle. We headed up to the terrace for one final time, and we saw a beautiful flower crown for each of us, with candles lit all around. Little did I know that these next two hours were going to be two of the most therapeutic hours of my life. To be honest, I can’t even put into words what happened that night. It was as if a holy spirit came among all of us, spoke through us, and lifted a weight off our shoulders. We all shared our stories, and most deepest secrets. We all cried. We all hugged. And we all empathized with each other. This was the moment I knew these girls were more than just acquaintances. These girls were my family… my sisters. There was no judgement… there was only love and support. And for that, I will forever be thankful to Pangea Dreams.
DAY 7
Nooooooooo! It’s farewell day! It all went too fast! This day was meant for all the ladies to head their separate ways. Whether that meant traveling more throughout Bali or the world, or heading back home. For me, that meant heading back home.
I had said goodbye to all my Pangea sisters the night before, but the morning I left, all the retreat hosts came out to bid me a farewell! It was definitely emotional, as I grew to love each and every one of them so much… but I knew this was a, “see ya real soon” moment, and not just a simple goodbye.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN ON A PANGEA DREAMS RETREAT?
Short answer: EVERYTHING. But in all seriousness, I came away with so much knowledge from my retreat that my mind almost exploded! As you read in my day-by-day schedules above, there are quite a few workshops that are included in a Pangea Dreams retreat. And with each and every workshop, I learned something new. In most of the workshops, everything I learned was completely new knowledge to me!
Pangea puts together amazing workbooks for us all, so we can take all the knowledge we learned from our workshops home with us!! And sadly, I can’t share any in-depth information I learned from the workshops with you all… you’ll just have to sign up for a Pangea Dreams retreat, and learn it all for for yourself!
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN A PANGEA DREAMS RETREAT?
Short answer again: ALMOST everything. First and foremost, let’s talk about the cost of a Pangea Dreams retreat. Now, I’ve done my research on various women retreats… and I’ve run across some that are less expensive and some that are more expensive than the Pangea retreats. I would say the average Pangea Dreams retreat costs around $3,000. BUT. There are early bird savings of a couple hundred dollars for almost every single retreat. So, jump on that! One more important note to mention. Pangea Dreams offers payment plans!! It’s so glorious!! I participated in a payment plan for my Bali retreat, and it made paying for the whole experience so much more feasible.
Now, what’s included?! Your lodging is, of course, included! And when I say lodging, I mean AWESOME lodging. You are not just staying in a crammed one bedroom type of situation… you are staying in gorgeous and luxurious retreat centers and boutique hotels. On my Bali retreat, we all stayed at The Chillhouse. The Chillhouse is a cute and creative space that you may never want to leave once you step foot in this tropical oasis.
What does staying at The Chillhouse look like? Absolute perfection!! The Chillhouse is a quaint and quiet property that is nestled among delicate flowers and lush greenery. There are a handful of “villas” that will house all of the Pangea girls and the trip leaders. And yes, you will be having a bunk mate! These are assigned randomly (Pangea tries to match you up the best they can), unless you are going on the retreat with a friend… then you can request to be with them!
But with the rooms at The Chillhouse, there are two beds (surrounded by canopies), each with a nightstand, one dresser (with separate sides, so you each can have a side), and a little entrance table. And YES. There is air conditioning!! Hehehe! The bathroom is very spacious and has one sink, one toilet, and one shower. Some girls even had outdoor showers! How neat! And YES. There is hot water! All rooms also have adorable porches incorporated into their design. But everything is included in the room (sheets, pillows, towels, etc.)! The only item that isn’t included (that sometimes is with other hotels) is shampoo, and then conditioner too. And a major bonus? Every day, The Chillhouse staff comes around and cleans your room and gives you complimentary water! The staff are seriously so sweet and kind! Always smiling and asking if we needed anything. Oh yeah… one more thing for all you social media wizards… there is free wi-fi. Yay!
What else is so special about The Chillhouse. EVERYTHING ELSE. The Chillhouse has two pools (one in the back and one in the front). Everyone has full access to both of these pools! There are serenely beautiful walking trails you can take a little stroll on, along with an amazingly beautiful rooftop terrace porch to lounge on. We utilized the terrace porch quite a bit for photos and group circle time.
The Chillhouse also offers yoga classes!! But wait… it gets even better! Yoga classes are included in your Pangea Dreams retreat cost. The yoga classes contribute to the wellness factor Pangea works so hard at including within all of their retreats. Every morning, that is not an “out on the town” day, you will be engaging in restful and rejuvenating yoga.
Okay. So, you’re sleeping like royalty and feeling refreshed with yoga… but I bet you’re getting a little hungry, right? Well, good thing almost ALL the food you need on your retreat is covered in your retreat cost! While each retreat is a little bit different… typically, on the days you are out exploring and enjoying the country you’re in, you will be paying for your own food. For example, with my retreat, we visited Seminyak one day. That day I paid for my lunch, and any other treats I wanted. Other than that… breakfast, lunch, and dinner are always covered!
But let’s dive a little deeper into this food situation. All I have to say is… it is LEGIT. All of our food was provided by the ultra hip and cool Cassava. Cassava is a good vibes cafe that is attached to The Chillhouse. Their philosophy is centered completely around plant-based foods, that are globally influenced, and locally sourced. Every single item on the Cassava menu was so unique and ever more delicious.
For every breakfast and lunch, we would all put our orders in the night before. And for dinner, we would be served a mouth-drooling buffet. Something very important to mention though. All of this food was vegetarian. Aka: there was NO meat at all. This got to me a little bit throughout the retreat, because I am not a vegetarian. However, I did eat meat products on both of our exploration days!! Another little thing to mention… if you’re a snacker, there are no snacks provided for the retreat. But there are plenty of little markets within walking distance from The Chillhouse. I would recommend purchasing a few goodies to munch on, if you think you’ll need that!
But wait!! There’s still more that’s included in your Pangea Dreams trip cost! Transportation throughout the entire retreat (not to and from the airport). So, when we all drove to Seminyak and Ubud? That was included! And sometimes certain activity costs are included!! Like for this trip, in particular, our admission ticket to the rice terraces was included. But anything extra, like the Bali swing, was not included. The Pangea team will let you know of any activities that they will be covering! And before officially signing up for any Pangea Dreams retreat, there will be a list of everything that’s included and everything that is not included.
And the most important aspect of the Bali retreat? Puppy smiles and pets are ALWAYS included. Hehehe! While Bali has a significantly large stray dog problem, many locals will take in dogs to care for them properly. But with every dog I saw, I made sure they were loved a little extra that day.
IS A PANGEA DREAMS RETREAT RIGHT FOR YOU? AKA: IS IT WORTH IT?
To put it simply… YES. For me, my Pangea Dreams retreat was a dream come true. It was a week that was completely and fully dedicated to ME. I learned about educational topics that I wanted to learn about. I traveled to a place that I wanted to travel to. And essentially, I did what was healthy and right for me. All that I put into this retreat… I got back so much more. And one of the best outcomes for me? I now have an unconditionally supportive group of sisters from all over the world!! Not only are these girls here to help me grow… but they’re here as friends, travel buddies, and so much more. No matter who you are or where you come from… Pangea Dreams will welcome and embrace you with open arms. Still uncertain about whether one of these retreats is right for you? Reach out to someone from Pangea Dreams here! They would be more than happy to talk with you about any and all of your questions!
Do you think it’s time to make the jump and sign up for a Pangea Dreams retreat?! Well, I have some great news for you! With my special link, you can get $550 off of a regularly priced retreat!! That is amazing!! All you have to do is put the code, “ASHLEYW550”, in at checkout! Click here to see all the amazing retreats you could go on!
Most all photos were taken by me… and if they weren’t taken by me, they were taken by the Pangea Dream trip leaders! Check them all out below…
Carly from @light.travels
Lauren from @wanderlulu
Dana from @wanderingdonut
Sam from @samkat
Don’t forget to pin me!