SAN MIGUEL
Dream a New Dream: A Retreat for Curious, Adventurous, Spirited Woman 50+
With Bobbi Van and Amber Chand
March 17 - 23, 2024
Welcome to Dream A New Dream, a seven day visionary retreat for women designed to inspire, support, challenge and delight.
If you are a woman 50+ who is ready to explore the next chapter of your life with a sense of reflection, vitality and joy, who relishes the art of deep conversation and lively connection, who loves to travel to a world of cosmopolitan flair and indigenous beauty - then this is the PERFECT retreat for you.
Retreats are a time to pause from our busy lives. We arrive as travelers, ready to experience an unfamiliar world with a sense of curiosity and ease. We journey inwards, willing to meet ourselves as a new homecoming. And we connect with each other through our wisdom, ready to harvest and share the stories of our lives. Retreats revitalize and nourish us.
Guided by global visionary coach and storyteller, Amber Chand and artist and facilitator of authentic conversations, Bobbi Van, you will be guided on a reflective and creative visionary journey, one that weaves the sacred and the creative, the practical and the playful, the contemplative and exuberant, and deepens your understanding of who you are today and who you are becoming, as you step into an enlivened vision for your life.
We have designed the Dream A New Dream retreat to give you a sense of spaciousness and depth, one where the experiences you will have flow easily and include:
Wisdom teachings on the transformational power of the new story with Amber
Guided conversations, prompted by a series of thought-provoking questions with Bobbi
An inspirational evening of evocative stories and global tales as Amber reads to you from her upcoming book, The Boatwoman
An afternoon of creativity as we explore the Touchstones of Life
Curated excursions to experience the magic of San Miguel’s rich cultural and creative offerings, including live music, wonderful global cuisine, great shopping, galleries and festive artisan markets
We are inviting just six women to join us on each of these retreats. Choose the one that works best for you.
We can’t wait to welcome you to Dream A New Dream Retreat, 2024.
THE SETTING
As a backdrop to your inner quest, you will step into a world of color, pulsating rhythm and breathtaking vista, in this enchanting cosmopolitan, colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 and voted as the best city in the world by Travel Magazine in 2018.
It is a city that has the charm of Marrakesh and Madrid, a city festooned with flowers, with spacious courtyards and rooftops, narrow cobblestone lanes and bright colorful doorways, a city with Spanish colonial houses lining the streets in a palette of cinnamon, mustard and sage. Here, as church bells echo throughout the city, you will come across artisan markets, fruit and vegetable stalls, art galleries, bistros and bars, rooftop restaurants and hidden away cafes, lush gardens of bougainvilleas and jacaranda, opulent churches and a cathedral with soaring Gothic spires bathed in a glow of pink. This is an eclectic, energetic city, a city of artists and storytellers, weavers and poets, mariachi musicians and spontaneous singing in the streets. This is a city of surprises, one that we are sure you will fall in love with.
ACCOMMODATIONS
There is nothing more delightful than discovering a secret jewel of a place to stay in, tucked away down a quiet cul-de-sac in the heart of the city. We fell in love with Casa Mision de San Miguel - this private hacienda now transformed into a charming boutique hotel with its leafy gardens and terraces, a courtyard complete with fountain and fragrant red rose petals floating in it, a rooftop perfect for star gazing and views of the city. This is a perfect sanctuary to relax in after a day's adventure. Single bedrooms come with your own private bathrooms. And each morning you will be greeted by a delicious breakfast, served with warm Mexican hospitality. Private massages are also available.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
During your week stay, we have also arranged a very special itinerary for you that will include:
a private walking tour of the city
an excursion to an extraordinary artist enclave in the countryside
an evening of Cuban jazz with an internationally acclaimed trio
conversation and gallery visits with several extraordinary women artists
intimate dinners to experience the global cuisine that San Miguel is famous for
Remember, there is an art to travelling. It is to be open to surprises. And you will discover many delightful surprises, around the corner, in this magical city, nestled in the central highlands of Mexico.
COST: $3,800
Includes:
7 night accommodation, private suite
Airport pickup/drop off at Leon or Queretaro Airports
7 days of retreat with Amber and Bobbi
3 Dinners (Alcohol not included)
3 Lunches
All Breakfasts
Private Walking Tour of the City
Visit to a remarkable artist enclave in the countryside
Curated Excursions to artisan markets, artist studios, galleries, and shops
Does not include:
Airfare
Travel insurance
Independent meals or personal expenses
Local transportation e.g. taxis
Gratuities and tips at Hotel
TO REGISTER: A non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to secure your place in the retreat.
TESTIMONIALS
I left with a happy heart and a journal full of personal insight. Amber and Bobbi gifted us with a joyous path to the new story that we can create for our lives. There were well-guided tours, shopping excursions, art lectures, gallery talks, and time to create art. As well as fabulous dinners, salsa dancing, laughing, and deep conversations. I adored every minute of the week.
— Sara K.
What a wonderful week of reflection, new friends, creative dreaming and spiritual rekindling… Amber and Bobbi put together a week of wonderful events that included meeting local artists and stimulating conversation. All in a lovely setting- the accommodations were terrific and the town center enchanting. Thank you again for a wonderful experience!
— Dana O’G.
I loved this retreat. I encourage everyone to join.
— Anne C.
I had never attended a retreat like this and had some trepidation at first. It turned out to be a rich and rewarding experience I’ll never forget. The women I met were interesting and the sessions were enlightening plus Amber and Bobbi organized fabulous outings in the charming city of San Miguel de Allende.
— Irene M.
BOBBI VAN
Forty years ago, I came across one of Thomas Merton’s quotes – it changed my life. “If you want to know who I am don’t ask me what I ate for breakfast or how I part my hair – ask me what I am doing to live a fulfilled life”. This broke me open and was the beginning of a quest that would deepen my life and take me on an extraordinary journey of exploration and discovery. Over the past 7 decades, I have forged many career paths – including investigator for famed attorney, F Lee Bailey; publishing executive for specialized magazines including W; a video producer and filmmaker whose documentary film, “To Bear Witness”on the Holocaust was widely distributed to schools nationwide by the Jewish Museum in New York City; a curator of art deeply involved in licensing art in Nelson Mandela’s post apartheid movement; and a facilitator of stimulating conversations and stories over six years as one of the founders of TEDX in New York. As an international artist, my work has been featured at the contemporary Art Fair in Hong Kong and at various galleries and private collections in the United States, Europe, Asia and Mexico.
It was the light and flowers of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico that made me leave my successful life in New York City – my old story - to move permanently to this wonderful new city. Now, as I enter my 80th year, I feel blessed living a life that I could never have imagined for myself. Thomas Merton was right – we have to ask ourselves what a fulfilled life will look like, no matter what age we are and then make the courageous choice to step joyfully into it.
Learn more at http://www.bobbivanstudio.com.
AMBER CHAND
I love designing retreats and over the past decade have led global retreats for women in the foothills of the Himalayas and deserts of Rajasthan in India, the cloud forests in Nicaragua and the waterways of Venice. I am delighted to be offering these retreats in San Miguel since 2023.
Over the past decade, I have also devoted myself to my mission to support women 50+ in creating their new story from a place of courageous love, fearless imagination and enlivened authenticity, no matter how challenging and difficult the circumstances of their lives. Here, through my Dream A New Dream private coaching programs, I am able to support my clients in skillfully designing their new story.
Our stories are powerful. They anchor us to our lives. They shape our destiny. And it is as a storyteller that I now find myself navigating the journey of my life. Over the past decade, I have taken the story of my life with its backdrop of Uganda, India, Britain and the United States – and created a one woman show, Searching For The Moon, that has been performed both in the USA and internationally. The show has become the inspiration for The Boatwoman, the book I am currently writing - part memoir, part musing and part fable -which I look forward to sharing with readers soon.
As an author, my book Dear Beloved: Sacred Messages to the World, offers 12 wisdom lessons for our times accompanied by 12 original mandala drawings. The book has been described as a “light to take us through dark times” (Parker Palmer) and now more than ever, in this challenging time of deep uncertainty, these messages illuminate our way. Available on Amazon.
To learn more about me, please visit amberchand.com