Money is weird. Let's make it less weird by talking about it.

I attended my first retreat a few years ago and I initially remember being stunned at the price tag. I think it totalled a couple thousand dollars. It was a very simple 2 day retreat to see Richard Schwartz talk about Internal Family Systems therapy.

I'd been curious about IFS since I'd learned about it and hearing about it from the creator, even though there were no CEUs, minimal lodging (I shared a twin bunk style bed with a colleague), and limited food included, felt "worth it".

It was a few hours from my house and I wanted to go on an adventure.

I wanted my business to pay for me to learn something, because no previous boss would have paid for me to attend a retreat. 

I wanted to spend time with my colleagues, network a little bit, get away from the everyday and maybe take something new and exciting back with me. I definitely did. 

Since then, I've thought of retreats & conferences as a necessary & important part of my business. A built-in perc & expense of being a business owner. We unfortunately can't write off our self-care, therapy or medical care, even though we ARE the business equipment. However, we can write off professional networking meetings and educational experiences. 

Money can be used for good, even in a system designed to harm us.

I definitely had that question about the folks running the handful of retreats I've attended. I gave them my money anyway because I really wanted to go to the location and have a professional experience. Upon getting to know the retreat hosts better... I still wasn't sure if they WERE getting rich off of my dollars or not, but I knew that if they were, I wasn't mad about it. I had a great time. They delivered on the simple promises they made. And more importantly, don't I want my colleagues to be successful? If they aren't running a scam (an MLM or trying to sell me crypto or a NFT or.... affiliate marketing to the extreme), but they are offering something fun useful and valuable, wouldn't I be happy they got to move closer to financial stability? 

Then, I started planning my own retreat. And woof. I didn't realize just how much money, time and energy went into it! And I've loved every minute of it. But it definitely isn't a get-rich quick scheme. 

I've always really appreciated YouTubers & content creators who are aggressively transparent about money. Such as these folks who run a flight tracking service that I'd love to sponsor us one day. So with that as inspiration, please check out the generalized budget for this upcoming retreat below.