"Describe your dream writing retreat. Where would you go? Who and what would you bring?"
YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday asked what my dream writer's retreat would be and and who I would want to go with. So I wrote a LONG post with pictures. Then the blogger monster ate it. So let's try this again!
Where would I go?
My dream writer's treat would take place in Adelboden, Switzerland. You've probably never heard of that town, it's a small village in the Swiss Alps. I'd never heard of it until college when I decided to volunteer at a Girl Scout World Center. The moment I heard about Our Chalet I had to go! Switzerland, with it's rugged mountains and beautiful scenery captured my imagination.
I had high expectations. Adelboden exceeded all of them. It was like living in a postcard. Outside of every window you saw beautiful views. The people were some of the kindest I've ever met (someday I will tell you the story of the Swiss family that saved our cat from a tree). There is no wireless internet at the chalet, the village is a 30 minute walk (down the mountain, then up the hill on the other side), and the scenery is simply inspiring. It's entirely different from American living, but in the most wonderful way.
What more do you need?
Oh right, then there's the chocolate. The small grocery store in the village has a whole aisle devoted to chocolate. What more do writers need?
Who would I take?
My twitter friends! I may have never met most of you but you are the most encouraging writing companions a girl could have. Plus you deserve to see the amazingness that is Adelboden. It would inspire you!
What would I bring?
Hiking boots, a camera and a laptop
Need proof that this is a dream location? PICTURES!
This is Our Chalet. This is a real picture taken by me.
It REALLY looks like that.
We could stay here at Baby Chalet. It's SOOO cute.
It's a tiny little house, sleeps about four, with a kitchen and everything.
We could eat lovely meals family style with all the other guests.
Hear stories from volunteers from around the world.
This is the view of Adelboden across the valley from Our Chalet.
We could take a break from writing to go iceskating surrounded by mountains.
Don' like snow? This is a beautiful September day in Adelboden.
12 comments:
I vote for the Baby Chalet! It looks so humble but self-contained. Our mountains look rather Alpen and I think I'd feel right at home.
Isn't Baby Chalet adorable? The other volunteers & I have always talked about having a reunion and all staying together in Baby Chalet.
I should've included some of the history of Our Chalet
Our Chalet history
Definitely beautiful! I've been to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland and it's like you say - like being in postcard. I'd love to go back some day and buy tons of chocolate, Swiss watches, those little clocks they sell everywhere (that all seem to play Eidelweiss), and all that good stuff. A wonderful place to write indeed!
I'm sitting here trying to figure out how close Lauterbrunnen is to Adelboden. They both are in the Berner Oberland about 2 hours apart (going around mountains of course).
I spent 3 months there and it still was not enough. I want to stock up on chocolate. Everywhere also sold Swiss pocket knifes as well. I didn't buy one and regretted it once I came home.
Did you go to Interlaken? We went there and to Trummelbach Falls on a day trip once.
Wow... all that snow and the cosy chalet... I'm not sure how great it would be for locking yourself away and getting on with your novel, but it would certainly inspire creativity. The pictures are awesome! :)
Oh, I want to permanently move into your pictures.
(Why is it that when I was a Girl Scout, the furthest that we went was to our local camp with its own special blend of bug juice?)
Cole: I work well with a reward systems. "You can hike up a mountain if you read _________ wordcount."
Especially during the snowy season I spent a lot of nights just hanging out at the chalet. If you went in summer you could ride a gondola to the top of a mountain and write in an outdoor cafe with the best views in the world.
Me :-): This was not something I did as a child. I didn't actually know about the world centers till near the end of college (and I worked at Girl Scout camp so I was quite Girl Scouty). Someone mentioned the one in Mexico and once I knew they existed I had to go. So I applied to volunteer, flew out there. They housed & fed me, I did work. It was happy. It's kind of sad how some of the BEST Girl Scout experiences are things you can do when you're older but people don't realize what the opportunities are.
Okay, Switzerland is added to the list. Any place that has that kind of respect for chocolate...
Baby Chalet! Chocolate! Ice-skating! I'm sold! :) Those are like three of my favorite word combinations and things!
The Swiss respect for chocolate runs deep. When my friend the woodcarver said he was going to teach me all the important words the first he taught me was "chocolate" and "hot chocolate" (next was cookie, lol).
Bailey: Iceskating outdoors always makes me happier than indoors but especially in Switzerland.
How beautiful! I'd go for the baby chalet as well. Nice and private for just you and a few friends.
Now to start making future holiday plans because everyone's posts have really made me want a holiday this year!
Switzerland is a lovely holiday destination. Something I liked about Our Chalet is that they had dinner ever night so it was one less thing to worry about.
Planning vacations (even if they are imaginary) is one of the GREATEST joys in life!
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