Laura Davis

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Virtual Vacation: Preparation: Four Days ‘Till Scotland

August 4, 2013 By Laura Davis 22 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

For the past few days, my mother has been calling me with a slight alarm in her voice. “Laurie, I was looking at my calendar and I see that you’re going to Scotland on August 7th and then I looked and you don’t come back until the 25th. Is that true?” “Yes, Mom, I’m going to teach a writing retreat in Scotland. And first, I’m going to Edinburgh for the theatre festival.” “I had no idea,” she replied, although of course we’ve been talking about my upcoming trip for months. “Karyn will be here,” I reassured her. “And Lizzy is home now. And Darren (my brother—her son) lives in California now. He’ll come down and visit you.” “It’s not that I don’t want you to go. It’s just a long time without you here. I’m going to miss you.” “I’m going to miss you, too.” The next day: the ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: A Last Goodbye

August 8, 2013 By Laura Davis 27 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

It’s the morning of my departure. Saying goodbye to Mom is the last thing on my list. I drive over to Sunshine Villa and let myself in her room. She’s sitting, as she usually is, on the flowered couch, newspapers scattered on the table before her. I clear off a space and sit beside her. I scootch over and take her hand. “When are you leaving?” “In an hour.” “You mean, right now? TODAY?” “Yeah, I’m leaving right after I leave here.” “How long will you be gone?” “Two-and-a-half weeks.” “Ohh…..” A wave of unhappy concern flashes across her face. “Darren is coming to see you this weekend and Karyn will come visit you. Lizzy will be around. You’ll be okay, Mom.” “It’s not that I can’t manage on my own. But I’m used to having you around. I’m used to talking to you. We ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: Stepping into Edinburgh; Stepping Into Writer’s Mind, Day 1

August 8, 2013 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Today, I decided to catalogue the world’s greatest salads. I hadn’t intended to do that, but after the salad I had today in the London Heathrow airport, I felt compelled to start a list. Today’s salad, at a large sprawling restaurant called Giraffe, was called the Super Healthy Veggie and Oregano Feta Salad. It included marinated feta, broccoli, sugar snap peas, alfalfa, borlotti beans, avocado, bulgar wheat, toasted seeds, rocket, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach in an herby salsa verde dressing. It clocked in at 676 calories (a factoid on the menu) and cost just under 10 pounds. Eating it gave me a whole new lease on life after a night of cramped international travel in cattle class, crammed up against the window. I don’t know if you can tell by looking how fantastic it was, but you ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: The Elephant House, Day 2

August 9, 2013 By Laura Davis 17 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

So far, 24 hours into my visit, Edinburgh feels like a teeming young person’s city. I don’t know if all the young people we see on the street are locals out for the evening or tourists from all over the world who have arrived for the theater festival. Last night we struck out around nine o’clock to explore and to find something to eat. We were armed only with a shitty tourist map and tried to pick our way to the local theatre district. We found ourselves a great local pub, The Fiddler’s Arm, just underneath Edinburgh Castle. It was just the kind of place I’d hoped for: wood walls, big wood tables, a young woman singing folk songs, a young female bartender topping off strong dark draft beers, and great pub food: in our case, beef cooked in stout with a pastry top, excellent French ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: On The Fringe At the Fringe Festival, Day 3

August 11, 2013 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

We had a bit of a strange night last night. We had tickets to see A Winter’s Tale at the Fringe Festival. We’d scoped out the venue, gotten our tickets and showed up ten minutes before show time. The theatre, like all of Edinburgh this month, was crammed with advertisements for theatre:

It was a small theatre and we sat in the front row. The cast was excellent and we were soon engrossed in the play, though when I looked over at Eileene, I could see that she was fading as much as I was. Jetlag had hit and it was hard to keep our eyes open even with all that brilliant ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: The Consequences of Falling In Love, Day 4

August 12, 2013 By Laura Davis 7 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

During our last full day in Edinburgh, Eileene and I headed out on foot to the cemetery we’d spotted the day before, passing, on the way, all kinds of now familiar landmarks of “our” neighborhood. I love how in less than two days, we’d claimed the mile around our place as “ours.” We delighted in these familiar places: Andrew May: Wind Instrument Repairer, Double Reed Specialist; Turkish Hot Shave Barber, the blue James Morrow building, the Indian-Nepalese restaurant, the scaffolding we always walked under, the site of the fire we’d watched burn the day before (could that have just yesterday?), the cluster of strip joints shut up at 10:30 in the morning, the Bank of Scotland, a bargain store called, "Pound Stretcher," the Kama Sutra Indian restaurant, the Bottom's Up Show Bar, my personal ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: Enchanted, Day 5

August 12, 2013 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

This writing retreat in Scotland came about when my former student, Robyn Randolph, emailed me from her new home in the Scottish Highlands and said, “Laura, if you ever want to teach a writing retreat here in Scotland, I’ll handle all the logistics on the ground.” That one email turned into a series of emails and Skype calls, and several months later, the Write, Travel, Transform Retreat in Scotland was born. It’s always incredible to me how an idea can actually come to fruition. This retreat will be starting in just a few days—and I really am in Scotland, a place I never would have come to without Robyn’s enticing ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: The Perils of Stuff, Day 6

August 13, 2013 By Laura Davis 18 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Our last night in Edinburgh, Eileene and I had met up at the Urban Angel Café with Talin Vartanian, a journalist from Toronto, who would eventually be joining us at the retreat. Over the course of a lovely meal full of great conversation, she regaled us with baggage horror stories about Ryanair, one of the small airline companies that provide cheap commuter hops throughout Europe. According to Talin, these budget airlines bring "no frills" service to a new low. They have strict rules about the size and weight of luggage—and each extra kilo is charged on a precipitously rising sliding scale. On the lowest price fares, no checked baggage is allowed; you get one small carry-on that must meet specific size and ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: Welcome to Newbold House, Day 7

August 14, 2013 By Laura Davis 16 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Some things need to be seen and experienced to be truly felt, and Newbold House is one of them. I’d been looking at pictures of Newbold House for months, but seeing it two-dimensionally in pixels didn't compare to the visceral experience of walking inside the big front doors and feeling the grounded power of the place. Newbold House, a massive Victorian mansion, was built in 1893 for a single couple: Colonel Woodcock, a retired colonel who served in India made a fortune trading tea, and his wife. The Woodcocks traveled frequently, leaving the house to be cared for by a large team of servants, including 8 full-time gardeners, who tended the 7-acre estate. After passing into the hands of another childless couple, the house ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

Virtual Vacation: On The Road To The Distillery, Day 8

August 15, 2013 By Laura Davis 2 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

On my last free afternoon before the retreat was due to begin, Eileene and I decided to hike out to the local distillery for a tour. Christopher from Newbold House gave me a long set of walking instructions that included passing over a dam without water, keeping a stream that we hardly ever saw on our right, and finding a pathway where a railroad track used to be. It was a glorious day and a wonderful walk. Here’s just some of what we saw along the way:

After we passed the dam without water, we reached a fork in the road that we had not anticipated. We debated which way to go and went right, but then we came to another fork and went left. We weren’t sure if we were headed to ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Scotland, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Scotland, travel, travel adventure, write travel transform, writing retreat, writing workshop

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More Featured Students?

For years, I’ve been showcasing the work of one of my students in my monthly newsletter and here on my site. If you’d like to see a complete list of the students I’ve published, with links to their work, you can find it in the Featured Student Archives. Just click the link below.

Featured Students

What is the The Writer’s Journey Roadmap?

I send out inspiring quotes and provocative writing prompts via email Tuesday. You can collect them for their own use—or you can post your writing online and enter into dialogue and conversation with a very supportive group of writers who have made this part of their weekly writing practice.

I invite you to become part of my brilliant, supportive, intimate, honest, inspiring free online community.

I hope to see you up on the Roadmap soon!

First time visitor? Click here to learn about our community.

Like this Virtual Vacation?

You can also read about Laura’s travels to:

Peru 2017

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Serbia 2017

In which Laura leads a workshop at the Incest Trauma Center.

Greece 2016

In which Laura explores the wonders of Crete and Santorini with a wide-eyed group of Write, Travel, Transform adventurers.

Vietnam 2015/16

In which Laura, who grew up during the Vietnam War, goes to Southeast Asia and finds out what Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are really like today.

Commonweal 2015

A journey toward healing loss and grief in a magnificent Northern California setting.

Scotland 2015

In which Laura returns to Scotland with a new group for another jaunt through the wonders of the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland 2013

In which Laura attends the Edinburgh theatre festival and leads 14 writers to a magical retreat in the highlands of Northern Scotland.

Bali 2013

In which Laura visits Australia, and spends three weeks diving, exploring, and teaching in three regions of Bali.

Florida 2014

A journey into old age in America in which Laura brings her 86-year-old mother to Florida so she can see her last surviving sister one final time.

Mexico 2014

In which Laura attends the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and explores the artistic towns around Patzcuaro.

About Laura Davis

In the course of my career as a communicator, I have also worked as a columnist, talk show host, radio reporter, radio producer, blogger, editor, and speaker. Words have always been at the core of my work and my self-expression. Read More . . .

Photo taken by Jason Ritchey

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What People Are Saying About Laura Davis:

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Retreating with Laura: Julie Sheehan

Julie Sheehan

For many years I put off my dream of writing and traveling. I told myself the kids were too little, my husband could never survive without me, that I couldn't possibly be so selfish. I couldn't imagine realistically stepping out of all of my responsibilities and roles. Then I started attending Laura’s summer retreat at Commonweal in northern California and that became an annual gift to myself for the next three years.

When the opportunity to travel with Laura internationally came up, my Land of Later mentality said I could never pull it off. But when my friend got cancer at age 39, I decided to stop taking life and it's endless opportunities to grow, live, nurture and explore myself for granted.

My children were 6 and 9 when I began allowing myself the luxurious pleasure of taking 10 days to two weeks each year to travel abroad with Laura, to spend time with like minded, soul searching people who share a passion for living and writing, to have all my meals prepared for me, to have the space and freedom to stretch out of my cage and check in with who I am, what I want, and how best to get there.

Laura is a skilled and nurturing teacher who encourages her students to take risks, to grow as human beings, and to be vulnerable. She has provided me with a forum where I can gain all my CEUs and learn techniques on how to become a more engaging writer, all while completing yearly emotional rehab.

I return home from each of Laura’s trip a little wiser, a little more open, and a lot more compassionate. I greet my family, friends and daily life with sparkly, clean energy and a renewed patience, brought about by way of re-writing old stories that I needed to let go of. I come home ready to move forward in my life.

A retreat with Laura Davis is one of the best gifts I ever received and gave myself. It took many years to realize that I was worth the time and financial investment, but now there is no looking back.

Julie Sheehan, Livermore California

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Writing Retreats

Whether you are a beginner, an established writer, a published author, or are looking for a creative vacation with your spouse…I have a retreat for you.

Read more . . .

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