Laura’s Blog

On our bus trip yesterday, late afternoon stop was just outside the town of Maras. When the bus stopped it was cold. We all put on layers and windbreakers and piled off the bus. Down below us was a vast interlocking series of white pools. It is where salt has been farmed since the time […]

When we started this retreat, I asked everyone to take a risk today and last night at dinner, I watched Michelle, who was sitting beside me take her risk. She picked up this strange-looking unfamiliar fruit, cut it open and scooped some of it out to taste it. It looked kind of like a lemon,

After writing class today, we took an afternoon field trip to Moray, the ancient archeological site built by the Incas. A local guide from Urubamba, the next province over, joined us on our excursion today. Valentin grew up high in the mountains, the son of farmers. “The soil is very fertile with the good weather,”

On almost all of my travel trips, we spend one morning of writing class doing an exercise in deep observation. Paying attention is one the most important qualities a writer can foster, so this morning I read my students a story about deep observation in a scientific setting, and then sent them out, dressed in

I’ve always loved string figure games. I grew up doing Jacob’s Ladder and playing Cat’s Cradle. String games are kind of like riding a bicycle—once you learn how to make them, you never forget. It’s muscle memory—cellular intelligence. When our kids, Eli and Lizzy were in elementary school, they went to an alternative elementary school

This morning at 7:00, before breakfast and before we take off for the airport to meet our 18 travelers, Karyn offered her first early morning yoga class to me and Brenda and any of the Sach’a Munay staff who wanted to attend. I don’t usually go to yoga class, Karyn’s or anyone else’s, but I

Brenda and Karyn and I, and the phenomenal staff at Sach’a Munay, spent the entire day on last minute preparations for our guests who arrive tomorrow. We’ve gone over room assignments, menu plans, and the arrangements needed for each day of our itinerary. We’ve tweaked here and tweaked there. I watched the writing room come

Yesterday I went on a morning walk through the neighborhood around Sach’a Munay and I shared it here with you through photos of my journey. This morning, I decided to head out in the same direction, but this time I wanted to take the walk as a writer. This is one of the first skills

It was time to get a little exercise and test my lungs and legs this afternoon at 9000 feet and so I braved a tiny drizzle in my hiking sneakers, a pair of jeans, a scarf, a sweater and a light raincoat. I focused on all the textures I saw along the way because I

This morning before breakfast, Gonzalo led me into the main yoga studio where Karyn will be teaching morning yoga and I will be holding our writing circles. The space is round like a giant yurt, but is called a molloka. I set my things in the corner and sat on the striped mat Gonzalo set