Whether I’m traveling or running errands, I carry a leather Moleskine journal for jotting down notes, dialogue and observations. It’s a journalist’s habit that hasn’t yet yielded to my otherwise digital lifestyle.

But there’s an art to keeping the type of journal that can provide a transformative lens through which you can learn to see yourself with greater awareness. 

I recently teamed with career and life design consultant Kendall Dudley to teach a storytelling workshop and when he told me he was leading a 12-day Morocco Journaling & Life Design Adventure (October 8-19, 2014), I was immediately intrigued and eager to share.   

Morocco Journal & Life Design Adventure with Kendall Dudley, October 8 - 19, 2014.

Are you seeking a creative adventure? Read on to learn more about this Morocco experience and how to journal your way to a new you. 

WHY GO?

This trip is for anyone in transition or between chapters in work, love, place or purpose who is seeking a means to awaken the senses and discover a creative structure for life exploration. Set against the beauty and exoticism of Morocco, you will learn to pave a personal and powerful path to discovery by revealing what intrigues you, what disturbs you, what delights you and what is newly emerging within you. 

WHAT TO EXPECT

The trip begins in Marrakech and after days in the old and new city, heads to the desert, mountain gorges, villages and Kasbahs, traveling the lunar landscape of Ait Ben Haddou (a UNESCO World Heritage architectural site) and returning along the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech and its conundrum of fortune tellers, actors and musicians. There is a group activity scheduled each day, but participants are welcome to spend time on their own to write, paint, meander and reflect in groups and alone.

THE JOURNALING PART

Each morning starts with journaling and a set of questions to consider for the day. In the evening, participants contribute entries to a common journal while noting the differences in one another’s experience of the day. Journaling focuses on being in the moment and includes creative dialogues, list-making, simple art techniques and micro life stories. 

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

More adventure than relaxing vacation, guests stay in restored ryads and eat at excellent restaurants populated by locals. Limited to a maximum of 15 guests, the group’s route and accommodations are provided by trusted tour professional, planner and guide, Addi Ouadderrou, a Moroccan who runs trips of his own in Morocco.

DATES:

October 8-19, 2014 (12 days).

RATES:

$2,700 USD double occupancy. Single supplement available. 

LEARN MORE:

For additional information and booking, visit www.writeyourvividjourney.com.

Trip leader Kendall Dudley and 2013 Workshop Participants in Morocco.

ABOUT KENDALL DUDLEY:

Your trip leader is Kendall Dudley who has an MA in Middle East studies from Columbia, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran, studied Islamic architecture at Harvard and has been a work / life design consultant for 30 years. He teaches autobiography, travel journaling and life direction programs and presents on creativity, life design and travel at national conferences. He has traveled to 36 countries and writes fiction and travel essays. KendallDudley.com