Every retreat packing list on the internet says the same five things: comfortable shoes, an open mind, sunscreen. True, but not useful. Here’s what actually matters for four days in Cabo San Lucas or Whitefish, Montana.
Layers, Not Outfits
Montana mornings are cold even in summer, and Cabo evenings cool off fast once the sun drops. Pack layers you can add and remove rather than a fixed outfit for each day. One thing that’s genuinely useful in both locations: a light jacket you don’t mind getting a little dusty or sandy.
One Nice Thing, Nothing Fancy
We do one group dinner that’s a little more put-together than the rest of the retreat. You don’t need cocktail attire — just one outfit that isn’t hiking clothes or pajamas. That’s the whole requirement.
What Not to Bring
Your laptop, unless you tell us ahead of time you need it for something unavoidable. A packed schedule of your own — the retreat has structure, but it’s not back-to-back, and the unstructured time is the point, not a gap to fill. And any expectation that you’ll come home with a five-year plan. Most people come home with something smaller and more useful: a clearer sense of what they actually want the next few months to look like.
The One Thing People Forget
A journal. Not because every retreat needs to be documented, but because things come up during four unstructured days that are worth writing down before they slip away on the drive home. A cheap notebook works fine.
If you’re deciding between our two locations, or just want the specifics on dates and what’s included, the retreats page has all of it.