Peru is probably one of the most spiritual places we run tours. The beauty and majesty of Machu Picchu and the other Incan ruins we visit easily make travelers stop and reflect on their lives. Hiking on the Inca Trail itself can be life-altering.
But Peru is more than that. The Peruvian people themselves are a spiritual people, now with their inherited Catholicism but also with the Inca customs many of them still practice. It is really special to visit the local village of Cachiccata, which provides most of our tour staff, to see their simple yet happy lives. Many of us return from Peru with a new perspective on our own lives at home.
It is for this reason we chose Peru as the location of our first-ever Transformational Tour. Our Peru Transformational Journey takes place October 7 – 13, 2018.
However, this tour is about much more than what we can learn from Peru and Peruvians. We are all aware that we in the United States suffer from a variety of lifestyle diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. And we are equally aware these lifestyle diseases happen because of our lifestyle choices: overeating, too much work, lack of exercise, smoking, insufficient sleep, and stress, to name a few. We will be learning on this tour about how our lifestyles affect our health and what we can do about it now.
Our guest leader, Karen Preston, practices science-based medicine in the functional medicine clinic where she works. Functional medicine strives to head off disease by focusing on a healthy lifestyle. Here are just some of the events you will participate in on this tour:
- Yoga and meditation, the two “alternative medicine” practices most backed by scientific study as beneficial to your health
- A mindful eating breakfast, in which we practice actually paying attention to what we eat rather than our typical practice of multitasking during meals
- Creation of a gratitude journal, which helps to focus on the positives of each day
- A dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, caffeine-free, and alcohol-free dinner as a way to raise awareness of possible dietary influences on your health
- Discussions on achieving health with your mind, body, and spirit
- A “complaint free” trip in which, ideally, you will hear no complaints from our staff or your fellow travelers!
We are not leaving the fun and adventure off this vacation. We will still hike in the Sacred Valley, visit Incan ruins, learn to cook the underground “Pachamanca” traditional dish, and explore Machu Picchu.
We are well aware our typical Zephyr traveler is educated, informed, and relatively healthy. But we all get in ruts, have periods when we are less happy than we would like, or wonder what our best path in life should be. This tour is for anyone interested to learn more about current research regarding healthy living and with a desire to put that knowledge to good use, with the goals of enjoying an outstanding vacation in Peru while improving your life once home.