Curiosity.

That’s why I am packing up my journal in my ol’ kit bag and going to Peru.

Peru. Peru, Peru, she said as the sound echoed against the canyon!!

June 29 2013 (for seven nights) to be exact, and I want you to get a passport, a pen and come along.

 

Denise Gushue,  (of Vision 2000Travel) a family friend who also attended one of my writers retreat in January,  said she thought it would be a great idea to travel and write.

Then she showed me these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See I teach students  in my writing workshops that writers need to develop “tourist eyes”

So what better place to drive that metaphor home than spending a week exploring Lima, Cuscu, Sacred Valley and Machu Piccu?

And by tourist eyes I don’t mean crazy people running from one attraction to the next, collecting memories like postage stamps. I am talking about  tourists who dive in and explore what a new land has to offer.

So Denise designed this itinerary:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRIP DETAILS FOR PERU 

 

AND then …I got really pysched.  And Gus gave his paws up!

And I thought we could do the following:


Kick off each day with warm up exercises with a special focus for the day’s travels. How we can use what we are doing as inspiration.

Then off we go with pen and paper to explore our destination du jour.

Whether its your first look at the citadel on Machu Piccu and the white water racing below,  or the museums of Lima, , or trekking through the Ancient City, by the end of the trip you will have concrete tools to keep you writing long after the trip has ended.

 

Using the five senses and the elements around us you will learn how to push past your voice of doubt, how to detail the landscape, create characters (that talk like real people) and cultivate  a point of view that will get your story on the page. With butt on chair (or sitting beside an Inca ruins) and pen moving boldly across the paper the body will be forced to channel stories steeped in this rich culture.

PRAISE FOR WRITING RETREATS THIS YEAR

Here’s the deal, We will tour a bit, eat a bit and write a bit. You will write in short increments through out the day as a group and there will be time for you to go on your own to explore and record your own version of the journey.

That at day’s end we will share what we have written in a safe communal way. ( the lama won’t be giving feedback)

You may birth a wondrous travelogue, a fiction that creates an ancient civilization or write a blog on how this adventure changed your life. Who knows  where your creativity will take you??

Writing and travel will wake you up !!  After the trip your brain look like this:

 

 

 

 So Paca sweater, a journal and some Bic Pens, and lets hit the road.

 

OR if you want to ask Denise questions, directly shoot her an email. denise.gushue@vision2000.ca or read about the trip here: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRIP DETAILS FOR PERU 

w. www.vision2000.ca/denisegushue

All pictures provided by PROM PERU  (the lady in the picture above is my mom…..not)