By giving birth to our babies, we may find that we give birth to new possibilities within ourselves.
—Myla and John Kabat-Zinn


Do you want to document your unique parenting journey?


Do you feel the need to nurture your creativity?


Do you want to explore the possibilities that motherhood has opened up for you?


Come, Mom, write away with us.

Write Away: The Mom Edition
is an all-mom creativity and writing retreat from July 27-29, 2018.

Whether you’re looking at curating a beautiful and meaningful Instagram feed or creating a unique baby book, whether you want to write about motherhood in a blog or come up with a book of poems for your child, Write Away: The Mom Edition will give you the time, space and inspiration you need to get your creative project started.


What to expect:

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    Hours of delicious and undisturbed creative time in a gorgeous setting within driving distance from Manila. It has lots of nooks, private spaces and wide-open areas so you can write
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    Writing and creativity workshops so you can learn, come up with creative ideas and make them real
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    One-on-one mentoring and life coaching sessions so you can be clear about your creative project, find inspiration and set goals 
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    Pampering for moms: delicious, home-cooked Filipino food, wine nights and even a masseuse on call
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    You will leave the retreat refreshed and inspired, with a solid idea for your creative project, with written pages or fleshed-out concepts

You can use this time to exercise your neglected creative muscles. Or you can use it as an opportunity to get away and reconnect with yourself again.

Write Away writing retreat

Here are the details:


Who is this for: Moms—between 25 to 50 years old, whether you gave birth a few months ago or are already facing an empty nest


When: July 27-29, 2018


Where: A charming retreat called Casa Luminaria in Batangas (no TVs or Wifi so you aren't distracted from your writing). The local cabins are shared—four to a cabin but you each get your own bed. They are air-conditioned and have hot water.


How much: P24,500 (We have a lovely installment plan for you where you'll be spreading payments out over the next  few months—see FAQs below for more details!). 


What's included: 

  • All meals (including afternoon merienda)
  • Three workshops
  • One life coaching session
  • One author mentoring session
  • One delicious massage 
  • Wine nights
  • Transportation to and from Casa Luminaria
  • Most importantly, the time, space and freedom to create and write!

What to bring: Just your computer, your clothes (including a bathing suit because there's a pool!) and crafting materials that you will use (if you prefer).  We will email you a more comprehensive list when it's closer to the retreat dates.

I CAN'T WAIT TO JOIN!
WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

Who's joining you during the retreat?


Write Away: The Mom Edition is open to just 12 beautiful moms (we hope one of them will be you!). You will be joined by two creativity mentors and one life coach. Get to know us a little better:

Ines Bautista-Yao


INES BAUTISTA-YAO

Though she would rather be riding a unicorn on a pink cloud, Ines writes love stories instead. She has three traditionally published books and five indie published ones. She also makes the most of this ordinary world by spending all her time with her daughters (sometimes her husband) and writing whatever she can. Oh, and she used to be the editor-in-chief of Candy and K-Zone magazines and taught high school and college English.

Mia Fausto-Cruz


MIA FAUSTO-CRUZ

Mia believes in the power of prayer, laughter and a good book.  She loves morning snuggles and ice cream dates. She was the former editor-in-chief of Smart Parenting, Seventeen Philippines and Candy magazines. Number of years it took her to become editor-in-chief from editorial assistant? Three. Total number of years in the publishing industry? Seventeen.

Aurora M. Suarez


AURORA M. SUAREZ

Aurora is a certified Courageous Living life and career coach who helps amazing women craft a life they love.  She supports them in living their dreams and doing work that matters.  She guides them to move beyond limitations, fear and doubt into a place of joy, possibility and delight. She also recently published her first book, The Sunday Night Journal.

this sounds super fun!
I'm signing up right now.

Frequently-asked questions

You talked about the installment plan.  Can you tell me more about it? 

Sure, here it is!  We're making the investment in your creativity, your passion and your self easier to pay for through this installment package:

First payment (due on May 15):  P15,500 (Please note that this 50% of the first payment is completely non-refundable.)

Second payment (due on June 15):  P5,000

Third payment (due on July 15): P4,000

TOTAL AMOUNT:  P24,500

Click here to register.  

We accept payments via Paypal (you can use your credit or debit card even if you don't have a Paypal account) or bank deposit.  If you pay via Paypal or credit card, we will have to add an additional 4.4% +P15.  An invoice indicating the total amount will be sent to you as soon as you register. Invoices for the succeeding payments will be sent two weeks before the deadline.


I only have an idea. I haven't written anything. But I've always wanted to be a writer.  Will Write Away: The Mom Edition be right for me?

We've created Write Away to be a welcoming and supportive space for ALL writers...even if you haven't started writing yet.  We’re also open to helping you with other creative ideas: a baby book, an Instagram page or a blog. As long as you want to document your parenting journey, Mia, Ines and I will be here for you.


What's the schedule?

We will leave Manila early on July 27 so we can get to Casa Luminaria before lunch where we will start the retreat with a ritual.  There will be daily workshops.  In between, you can schedule your massage, your life coaching and author mentoring sessions.  Beyond that, the schedule is yours to do as you please, so you can relax by the pool, swim, commune with nature, take long inspiring walks...and hopefully write or work on your creative project.  At night, we will chill with wine, snacks and stories.


Am I really required to write?

We promised that you will leave the retreat with a solid creative concept, with a few pages written or your concept fleshed out  But you will still need to write these. We cannot write your concept or book for you.  If you want to just get away and soak up inspiration, that's fine.  But to make this retreat worth the investment of your time and money, we invite you to take the opportunity to finally start writing or creating!


I don't just need time.  I also need silence.  How many writers will be there and will I get the silence I'm looking for?

We chose Casa Luminaria because the resort will be exclusive to our group for those four days.  Aside from you, there will be 11 other writers, two mentors and one life coach (plus the Casa staff, of course!).  No TVs, no Wifi, no karaoke, no other noisy guests and you can put your mobile phone in airplane mode. The mobile phone signal is pretty strong in case you do need to call (even video call) with your family.


Can I bring my kids?

This retreat is for you. To preserve the energy of all the moms joining and to help you reconnect with yourself, we are making this retreat exclusive to moms. No kids, no husbands, no boyfriends, no partners. This is your time!


I’m still pumping milk. Is there a place where I can store breastmilk?

There’s a refrigerator in the dining room. Please just bring the proper storage containers and label them properly and you can store them there. However, we need to know how many moms are still pumping milk as the refrigerator isn’t that big.


More questions or concerns? Email us at writeawayph@gmail.com.


Here's what others have said about Write Away:

The whole retreat simply blew my mind away. To say I enjoyed it, I have learned from it, I appreciate every single detail of it, seems insufficient to describe every single thing in the retreat that I LOVE.

Jang E.


What I loved most (I can’t think of just one):

-the flowing schedule that included group time, one-on-ones, and free time to write
-wine and cheese nights
-meditation sessions
-the incredibly nurturing environment we were in that allowed us all to be vulnerable and to share.
Justine T.

you made it to the end. 
it's time to nurture your creative dreams.

Not ready to sign up just yet? Join our mailing list.

The professor leaned forward. “But there’s nothing more profound than creating something out of nothing.” Her lovely face turned fierce. “Think about it Cath. That’s what makes a god—or a mother. There’s nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself."

Rainbow Rowell

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