Looking for space to disconnect from the busy world?
Reconnect with nature and create new connections with others at The Roaming Writer Creative Retreats.
Share your skills with others, open up conversations and let your imagination play – with time for yourself in a natural setting and with hearty food.
Arrive when you’re available, come and go as you please, attend workshops, create alone or together, and leave when you’re ready. No check-out times, no rush.
We host for 5 to 7 days and you can come for as little or as long as you like. Minimum 2-night stays so you can make the most of our connections.
About Our Creative Retreats
We host Creative Retreats for creative people and artists across multiple disciplines to spend time in nature working on their WIP and to attend workshops inspiring multidisciplinary art in nature. Guests can choose to spend their time alone, working on pieces they don’t have time to finish in their normal day-to-day life or attend sessions for inspiration. Spending time in nature will allow the creative mind space to finish off those loose ends, connect the dots or inspire new works.
Sessions
Each inspiration session is designed to be interpreted by any medium, there may be some sketching or writing involved in the first activity but ultimately the main crux of the session is creating in your own form. The idea is to bring forward a topic, may it be an abstract idea or nature-based myth and create based off the discussion. Guests can work together to create, or use the brief to inspire new work alone. You are not obligated to collaborate, but it is encouraged – for example spoken word and music, sculpture and painting etc.
Guest Workshops
Alongside the inspiration sessions hosted by Chelsea and Caleb, guests are also welcome to bring forward their own workshop. In the past these have included: Portraits in Nature (by Marieke Macklon), Creative Sylvotherapy (by Holly Marshgreen), Mindful Watercolour Painting (by Laura Sullivan) and Goddess Clay Sculptures (by Andri Thwaithes). Guests sharing their skills are offered a discount on their ticket. We would also like to offer paid work at future events, should you want to share again.
Booking
We host our retreats across five to seven days, to capture both weekdays and weekends. You can stay for as long or as little as you like, but all guests are invited to join for a minimum of two nights to ensure you make the most of the connections. These can be weekdays or weekends, the ticket cost is not affected. This is to allow people with different work patterns the opportunity to take part when is best for them without taking time off work. Notice: This does mean that Friday and Saturday fill up fast, so please book ASAP if this is your free time.
Locations
It wouldn’t be the Roaming Retreats if we didn’t offer our shared space at different locations. Therefore, there is a different setup per location. However, we will always have a communal quiet area and a communal chatty area for downtime between sessions. Our set up is usually workshops in the Bell Tent or under a canopy, depending on location, but there are also some indoor areas we use based on the weather.
Accommodation
Where possible we aim to offer a range of pitches at different price points. For example, retreats hosted at Howdy Glampsite offer van or tent pitches, pre-set up Bell Tent pitches, or Glamping options with a variety of price points. This is to ensure everyone has an option based on their lifestyle. Although we’re campers, we understand that not everyone is – and in fact it was great to bring non-campers out into the wild at our last retreat!
The main aim of our Creative Retreats is simply to get people creating in nature, to learn more about the natural world and to meet new people.
Our Values
We are a not-for-profit. Your ticket covers the costs involved in making it happen. This covers structure hire, accommodation prices, crafting materials, decorations and food, plus time organising and facilitating the Inspiration Sessions. If we don’t meet our quota by the month before the event, we’ll refund you in full. But don’t worry, we’ll keep you in the loop. If you’re looking to pay-it-forward or donate to help us grow, get in touch!
Being connected to nature means looking after it. We calculate the carbon output of our events, whilst keeping our imprint on the world as minimal as possible. This means we recycle, compost, use renewable energy, and count how many meals are eaten and miles are taken to get to and from. We have already dedicated funds to The Woodland Trust to plant 16 trees in the Northern Forest Project, but also endeavour to plant our own this planting season 25/26!
Nature is fluid, so is our itinerary. We don’t believe in rigid times for sessions and eating. Our itinerary is based on outdoor activities, inspiration sessions (hosted by Chelsea or Caleb) and Guest Workshops. As much as possible we’d like our sessions to take place outdoors under the canopies, however if Mother Nature says no, we have alternatives and base the itinerary on the weather and what guests feel like doing that day.
Share your skills with the group. We offer a discount to all guests who would like to host a workshop on their chosen craft. The workshop can be pitched to Chelsea, and if you need any help in developing the structure we’re here to help too. This is the perfect opportunity for working artists to try out a new offering, or for newly qualified practitioners such as yoga instructors or other wellness teachers to share their practice.
We’re a revolving door retreat. In the same vein, our creative retreats are open ended. Arrive when you like, leave when you’re ready. And come and go as you please. Don’t feel you have to be tied to the site – enjoy the local area, ask us for wild dip spots or hike recommendations. Or give yourself time to work alone in your accommodation, or our quiet zones.
Our group size is capped. We’re not here to make money by selling lots of tickets. We’re here to create art in nature and help likeminded people to connect. In that sense, we have limited slots on our retreats, based on the site accommodation this is between 10-15 people. This is also so that everyone has a chance to meet everyone on a level without being overwhelmed by a big group.
We’re pet-friendly. We have a dog of our own, Ruby – who is often the therapy dog as she will happily snooze on your lap! But also, a lot of the sites we use have animals. So if you have allergies, this is not the retreat for you. However, if you don’t want to leave your furry friend at home, you can bring them along!
Nature should be accessible. Our ticket prices are based on the direct costs of creating the event. We offer Guest Workshop discount for those looking to share their skills and 10% off for returning guests. In the future, we’d like to offer ‘hardship tickets’ for artists and creators who can’t afford to come, but would benefit from the time creating in nature. If this is something you’d like to fund, get in touch!