Taking a breath

Today Julie and I are on Boracay (for the uninitiated, the middle syllable gets the accent, so it's pronounced Bo-ROCK-eye) enjoying the relaxed pace of the Pacific's premiere island paradise. We've been having a pretty laid back day, and realizing that it's been a LONG time since we had anything resembling a day of rest. For me, March 18th might be the last day I had that was remotely restful -- spent that one with my brother in Calgary, Alberta, touring a dinosaur museum. But really it probably goes back before March 11th and my trip to Canada to teach at CLBI.

I'm seriously hoping that the rest of our team (who are currently in the air headed back to the States) can have a day or two or three just to rest. Jet lag will be hard enough, but they've been working like crazy the last week and a half to prepare and present these Alpha seminars. We had a little down time at Villa Igang, but not nearly enough to begin recuperating. One of the biggest changes we'd make in this trip if we had it to do over again is that we'd include a day of rest in the middle of our seminar week. Two or three days on, one day off when you're traveling and presenting would be a good idea. That allows a little time for things like laundry, planning, and sleep, among other necessities. That would lengthen the overall trip, or demand that we not try to do as much -- but it would be totally worth it, I think. It's hard for those who have younger kids ... it gets very difficult to be gone more days.

It will be interesting to talk / think about what we might do differently on future GAT events. I have been thinking a lot about "Oh, I wish we could have ..." but there was only so much time. I don't think any of the group would wish to skip any of our three locations -- Iloilo, Bacolod, and Guimaras were each unique venues and unique experiences. But a day of rest and a little more time to experience the local culture would also be helpful.