by Alison Heathcote - Published: May, 2026

Overview

As a creative, organizing and going on a writing retreat is an inspirational and fun thing to do.

Planning a solo writing retreat can be a wonderful way to reconnect with your creativity, focus on your projects and step away from daily distractions. In this article, Alison shares how she organized a three-night writing retreat to Whistler, British Columbia, complete with a flexible writing timetable, quiet reflection time and moments for rest and inspiration.

She explains why she chose the retreat location, how she balanced writing sessions with relaxation and the importance of creating a realistic plan before leaving home. From early morning gratitude journaling and coffee shop writing sessions to evening walks through Whistler Village, the retreat was designed to support both productivity and wellbeing.

The article also explores the challenges of writing as a creative practice and how dedicated time away can help bloggers, artists and writers deepen their focus and return home feeling refreshed and inspired.

How to Plan a Writing Retreat

Introduction

Planning a Writing Retreat

I have been working as a creative person, writer, blogger and artist for about four years now.

Last year I was fortunate enough to go on a writing retreat with my good friend Johanne, but this year I'm going by myself or solo.

You can read more about that here.

Why a Retreat?

The idea of a retreat is that you go away for a few days, maybe to a hotel, perhaps to the woods and go to a cabin and work on your art.

This sounds like the perfect weekend to me.

The writing I'm doing is really the blog articles and this newsletter, so even though I'm a crafter, I also have to produce some writing each week for my audience.

Writing

To be honest, writing is not really my strength, but it's something that I've been practicing and trying to get better at recently.

Last winter I took a grammar course at our local university and also a course about writing for the web as well.

I have to say, it wasn't easy.

At that level, they do assume you know a lot and I struggled to catch up, to keep up, but I pushed on.

Writing Retreat Planning

Ground Rules

For this year's writing retreat I am returning to the same hotel we stayed at last year which is the Pinnacle in Whistler.

The criteria for choosing this hotel are simple:

• It must be within two hours' drive of Vancouver which is where I live.
• It had to have a pool or a hot spring for relaxing in.
• It had to be reasonably affordable, so it is not a 5-star resort.
• On my hotel room I spent, CAD$180 (US$132) per night.
• My coach round trip with Skylynx was CAD$22.05 (US$16.14)

Three Night Stay

I to take a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday "weekend".

I will leave home on the Sunday, stay Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights, and return home on the Wednesday.

Basically, it was a three night stay away, but I still called it a weekend.

I needed a hotel, resort or lodge whcih met all of these criteria.

Retreat Accommodation

I'm staying at the Pinnacle Hotel in Whistler, which is around 125 kilometers (78 miles) from Vancouver.

It will take me two hours to get there by coach.

The road is highway 99 generally referred to as the "Sea to Sky Highway" up the west coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Retreat Timetable

What to Do

If you're not careful, you end up not doing anything like the writing I had planned, and I'm just sitting by the pool casually sipping my piña colada.

 

Retreat Timetable Draft

I just wanted to make things a little clearer in my head about what I had in mind for this writing retreat.

So, I crafted out this timetable.

21 Hours of Writing

1260 Minutes

My planned timetable returns a modest twenty-one hours of solid writing for my weekend writing retreat.

I may deviate from the plan.

I may succumb to sightseeing who knows?

But to have a plan drawn in full color as a timetable for myself I believe helps me to be a bit more prepared and that's a good thing.

I'll let you know my words count when I get back.

Sunday

9:00 a.m.: Leave Home

With my bags I walk up to the bus stop which is at the Hyatt Regency hotel, about three blocks from my home.

 

9:30 am: Coach Trip

Board the coach, put my suitcase in the hold and take my city bag onto the coach and find my seat.

 

11:30 am: Arrive at Whistler

I arrive at the Whistler Village Center Gateway loop. This is where all the busses and coaches terminate.

 

11:45 am: Walk to the Hotel

Next, I get my suitcase and walk the 150m to the hotel.

It does depend on which hotel you are staying at which bus stop to get off at in the Village.

When I arrive at the hotel, I'll probably have to leave my bags at the reception because I can only check into my rooms at 4:00 PM.

My plan is to check the bags with the hotel concierge and circle back around and pick them up later.

 

12:00 pm: Lunch

Quick lunch and beverage.

 

1:00 pm: Afternoon Writing Session

I envisage me with my laptops doing some writing in the coffee shop in the lobby of the hotel.

I wanted to start my writing immediately and not get sidetracked with sightseeing. Tempting as that is.

 

4:00 pm: Check Into Room

Now I can pick up my bags from the bag check at the concierge desk and go up to my room.

I can get things sorted out, unpack and freshen up.

At this point I may want to take a rest, but if not, then perhaps an hour of writing in the room before dinner.

 

6:00 pm: Dinner

I plan to walk into the village and find a spot for dinner. There will be only three dinners which are the main meals of the day.

 

7:30 pm: Walk

Walk outside, promenade and get some fresh air.

Now I'll wander over to the little grocery store to get some milk for my tea to make in my room.

Probably I'll take some photos as well.

Again, now there is the option of another hour or two writing either on the patio or in the lobby.

 

9:00 pm: Room

Back in my room for some reflection and writing about the day.

Maybe some journaling as well.

At this point I also want to do some "review" and the review is of the writing that I did earlier in the day, because I am here for the writing.

Additionally, I want to set up in my mind what I would be focusing on the next day, and what my next day's project and word count goals are.

 

Monday

6:00 am: Wake up

Obviously, I take a shower, wash my hair and freshen up.

I'll wear some light makeup, jewelry, some comfy clothes and shoes.

Morning Routine: Gratitude Journaling

Most mornings I do a little bit of gratitude journaling.

Writing down by hand in my journal what I'm grateful for and these are simple things such as being grateful for my family, my friends, my health, my creativity and so on.

I have no doubt that on this morning I'll be being grateful for having got to go on this writing retreat myself.

Stretching

I sometimes wake up a bit creaky, so I like to do morning stretches.

This is not Jane Fonda feel-the-burn type stretching, its gentle stretching of my whole body, backwards, forwards and sideways to ease out any kinks which may have tried to creep in during the night.

 

6:15 am: Coffee

Coffee and croissant in the coffee shop.

I'm not much of a breakfast person, but I definitely enjoy some coffee and maybe a little pastry just to get me going.

After the coffee, I would probably take a little walk outside.

I could get some fresh air and perhaps even hear the birds chirping and things like that.

Take more photos.

I may do a little sketch in my travel sketchbook while I'm about it.

 

8:00 am: Morning Writing Session

This is the main morning writing chunk.

It will probably start at 8:00 AM maybe even 7:00 AM it depends on how the morning goes.

I anticipate to either be writing in the coffee shop or perhaps on a patio somewhere in the fresh air with my laptops.

This morning session of writing will go on until noon, so it's going to be a solid three or four hours of writing.

 

12 Noon: Lunch

Take a moment for lunch somewhere for an hour or so.

 

1:00 pm: Walk Outside

Another walk outside and it's not that I'm a big walker, but I want to make sure that I wasn't stuck in the hotel for the whole three days.

I want to get outside, even if I'm just walking in the grounds of the hotel or in the gardens or whatever is available.

Just to get a little bit of exercise after eating.

A promenade perhaps.

 

1:30 pm: Afternoon Writing Session

This is the afternoon session of writing.

Hopefully I can sit somewhere comfortably to do my main afternoon writing.

This session will go on until around 4:00 PM, so it's going to be a good two to two and a half hours of concentrated effort in the afternoon.

I also wanted to make the afternoon session of writing slightly shorter than the morning one.

In the morning when I am fresher, I can get three or four hours of writing in.

Whereas in the afternoon I may be starting to flag.

 

4:00 pm: Rest or Writing

Either continue writing for another hour to 5:00 PM or otherwise go back to the room for a rest.

I do like to put my feet up in the afternoon.

Why not?

I'm away from my busy life in the city and I don't want to be exhausted.

Because to have a rest spot on the schedule, I won't feel bad saying, "I'm going to have a rest now" and doing so.

However, if I did feel strong, I could push on with the writing and feel good about doing that.

 

6:00 pm: Dinner

Walk in to the village for my Monday dinner in a nice restaurant.

Perhaps a glass of wine.

 

7:00 pm: Promenade

Once more a promenade or walk outside after eating just to limber up a little better and let the food digest.

This may or may not be what I actually end up doing, but I want it on the timetable to make sure I had the option to do so.

 

8:00 pm: Optional Evening Writing Session

If I'm feeling strong at this point, I can get another hour of writing in from 8:00 till 9:00PM.

It just depends.

 

9:00 pm: Back to Room

Back to my room for reflection on the day and to review of the writing that I have done that day.

Again, this is also the time when I'll plan what I'll be working on the next day writing wise.

When I set up the timetable, I don't know just how much writing I'm going to get done or whether I'm going to get sidetracked or whether some other ideas are going to come to me and I going to end up doing some different type of writing.

I don't want to lay a firm structure to what I would write at what each session.

I just want to have something loose on the timetable which I can work with and flex into how I was feeling, how the weekend was going and even what the weather and vibe was like at the hotel.

 

Tuesday

Same as Monday

I'll do the same thing on Tuesday as I did on Monday.

Wednesday

5:30 am: Morning Routine

Shower, dress and makeup.

Gratitude journaling and some stretching in the room.

Just like yesterday.

Pack my bag and leave it in the room.

 

6:30 am: Coffee

Coffee and pastry in the coffee shop.

 

7:00 am: Morning Writing

Maybe squeeze in an hour of writing.

 

10:00 am: Check Out

Check out of hotel.

Walk over to the bus loop where I will catch the coach home.

 

11:00 am: Board Coach for Return Journey

I now journey back home to Vancouver on the coach.

 

1:00 pm: Return to Vancouver

Arrive back in the city around 1:00 PM however, I expect it depends on the traffic.

I exit the transport and gather my suitcase and walk back the three block back home.

Phew!

Overarch

Writing Retreat Benefits

As a creative person or blogger, you don't need to do a writing retreat, but if you do decide to, it will enrich your writing for the months to come and probably your life as well.

Let me know if you've ever done a writing retreat or perhaps an art retreat. I'd love to hear from you.

How it All Went

In a future Heathcote Living newsletter I'll let you know how it all went and whether my detailed planning was of any use whatsoever.

More to Come

And in a still later edition, I'll share some of my travel sketchbook images and thoughts from my weekend away as well.

Resources For You

Books

Here is a book which may interest you:

The Writer's Retreat Kit: A Guide for Creative Exploration and Personal Expression by Judy Reeves

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote writes about living creatively and building a meaningful life on your own terms. Through gentle reflections on solo living, home and everyday creativity, she explores how to shape a life that feels calm, intentional and deeply your own. More