FAR OUT: Adventures in Returning Home

What's shifted for Alasdair and Julie-Roxane since their week-long ayahuasca retreat last month? Turns out quite a bit.

In the 3rd episode of our Exploring Ayahuasca series we explore a question we find ourselves wondering quite a lot: what is the lasting impact of working with ayahuasca?

Just like any other practice, a major aspect of working with Ayahuasca is integration. How do we bring what we're learning into the larger arena of our everyday lives?

We grapple with some of the experiences and insights that have stayed with us since our retreat and explore how they've influenced our day to day lives.

Let's get into it!

Alasdair shares what happened when he found himself lost in the woods during a thunderstorm at nightfall while trekking through a conflict zone somewhere on the Eurasian continent.

One of our favorite things about solo travel is the devil-may-care attitude of having an idea one day and changing your plans for the next month and embarking on an epic, uncertain adventure the very next day. At it's best, this kind of travel is wildly uncomfortable and intensely magical. You never know what the day might bring, who you might meet or what you might discover.

This story is one of Alasdair's favorite (and well-earned, we might add) travel stories. It began with a crazy idea while in the mountains of Georgia, and took him across an ancient desert, several international borders and into a country that technically doesn't exist. In the end it's a heartwarming story about asking for help, meeting family in the most unlikely of places and one shiny, red Swiss army pocket knife.

Let's get into it!

What's it like to work with ayahuasca on retreat? We share our recent experience working with ayahuasca over the course of a week-long retreat in Guatemala.

How do we live and work together all day without killing each other? It's not easy. But it's possible. We share some tips and lessons learned from our experience living and working together in (extremely) close quarters for over three years.

On the eve of returning to mother ayahuasca, Alasdair shares his experience drinking ayahuasca for the first time in the Andes of Peru. Why did he do it? What was it like? And how did it change him?

The current self-isolation is challenging for everyone, but we get the feeling it's been a bit harder on extraverts. We explore the major differences between extroverts and introverts, why it's useful to understand and how it helps us bridge the extrovert/introvert gap and truly connect with ourselves and others.

Anita is a force to be reckoned with. She began her business career at eight after she sold her first banana to a gringo on the streets of San Pedro and she's never looked back. In her early twenties she walked away from a life that had no place for her in it, becoming a single mother and an outcast. Anita shares her journey through adversity and how it has made her who she is today: a successful female role model who's mission is to improve the very community that once shunned her. Both uplifting and heartbreaking, her story gives a window into what it was like to grow up as a Mayan woman in a small town in Guatemala. Its a story you don't want to miss.

Hon hon hon! Do the French really talk about food all the time? Julie-Roxane shares some of her favorite French idioms and you guessed it: they all have to do with food. Can you guess what they mean? Join us as with some cheese or a glass of wine as we poke fun at the French and their obsession with food.

It seems hard to talk about anything else right now. We discuss how the Coronavirus has impacted us here in Guatemala, how we're dealing with the chaos and some ideas about change that help us gain perspective in difficult times.

This is a very special episode! We sit down on the porch in San Marcos, Guatemala with Keith Wilson, the Chocolate Shaman. Keith is known in spiritual circles as the grandfather of the cacao ceremony and all things cacao. After being called into the rain forests of Central America by the cacao spirit, Keith re-discovered the all but forgotten power of cacao for facilitating spiritual growth, healing, connection, and love.