FLOURISH! Tapping into Global Wisdom for Personal Transformation
A series of day-retreats and classes held at Southwestern University offering an anthropological approach to self-love & self-care drawing from French and other international practices that empower you to reconnect with your feminine energy and offer ways to live your best life! Check out our lineup of FLOURISH retreats & classes below.
FLOURISH!
Joan of Arc/ Jeanne d’Arc (City of Rheims in the Champagne)
FLOURISH! DAY RETREATS
LOCATION: Southwestern University (Just north of Austin in Georgetown, Texas)
FEBRUARY 2025~ HEART & SOUL
Looking for Love? Start by Being Your Own Valentine: A GALentine's Day Workshop Centered on Radiating the Kind of Inner Love that Attracts Intimate Connections
This Valentine’s Day, skip the loneliness and embrace the power of sisterhood! If you're healing from a breakup, divorce, or simply feeling disconnected, why spend the day alone when you can surround yourself with fun, laughter, and deep connection? This GALentine's Day, join us for a transformative workshop designed to reignite your inner strength, joy, and love—starting with yourself.
Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, you’ll learn to celebrate what’s already within you: emotional resilience, self-love, and the boundless possibilities for growth. You’ll connect with a tribe of amazing women who “get it”—and share in the fun, healing, and intimate moments of sisterhood.
Through mindfulness practices, self-care rituals, and empowering exercises, you'll rediscover your worth and create a powerful foundation for the loving relationships you desire. This isn’t just about healing—it’s about stepping into your full, radiant self and embracing a life filled with joy and connection.
This GALentine’s Day, it’s time to stop waiting for someone else to complete you. Instead, spend the day reconnecting with your heart and surrounding yourself with women who uplift, inspire, and celebrate you. Get ready to create your own love story—one of empowerment, laughter, and profound joy.
Say goodbye to feeling alone—join us for a GALentine's Day you’ll never forget!
CULTURE: AMERICAN
MARCH 2025~ HEART & SOUL
Cultivating Deep Intimacy and Love: A Workshop for Creating Fulfillment from Within
Are you ready to transform your relationships by first transforming your connection with yourself? In both French and Japanese cultures, true intimacy starts from within—something most of us forget when we’re looking for love and connection outside ourselves. French women are masters of bienveillance—the art of self-kindness—embracing their worth and cultivating emotional independence. In France, women don’t seek validation, they know their value, and this confidence creates space for authentic, fulfilling relationships. Meanwhile, the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi can be a metaphor that enables us to embrace emotional scars, turning past pain into beauty and strength. Wabi-sabi celebrates imperfection, showing us that true peace and intimacy come from loving ourselves exactly as we are.
In this transformative workshop, you’ll learn how to fill your own cup, set powerful boundaries, and embrace your inner wholeness. By the end, you’ll not only attract deeper, more loving relationships but also develop the self-compassion and confidence to create the intimacy you’ve always craved—both with yourself and others.
It’s time to stop seeking love outside yourself and start cultivating it from within. Sign up now and step into the love and fulfillment you deserve!
CULTURES: FRENCH & JAPANESE
APRIL 2025 ~ MIND
Transform Your Life the French Way: A Workshop for Empowering External Changes to Elevate Your Life
Have you ever thought: “if I could just move, everything would be better” or,“how wonderful life must be in Europe”? Well, if you can’t move to France what’s stopping you from brining the French lifestyle to you! In French culture, there's an art to living that blends elegance, simplicity, and intention. From the way Parisians curate their homes to the daily rituals they embrace, everything is thoughtfully designed to nurture a balanced, fulfilling life. What if you could bring that same level of mindfulness to your own world?
In this workshop, you’ll learn how to make empowering changes to your external environment—your space, your habits, your routines—that will create a ripple effect of inner transformation. Drawing inspiration from the French approach to life, we'll show you how small shifts in your surroundings and approach to daily life can help you cultivate clarity, beauty, and harmony in your life.
By aligning your outer world with your innermost desires, you’ll set the stage for a life that feels as purposeful as it is pleasurable. Whether it's simplifying your space, setting boundaries, or reshaping your daily practices, these external changes will lead you to a more fulfilling and empowered life, just like the French do.
Leave the workshop with the tools and mindset to elevate your life from the outside in—because when you start with the external, true inner transformation follows.
CULTURE: FRENCH
MAY 2025 ~ SELF, HEART, MIND & HAPPINESS
In Pursuit of Happiness PART 1 (a four-part series) Flourish Beyond the Surface: Bloom from the Inside Out!
Are you tired of the usual advice on contentment—self-care, self-love, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and healthy relationships—and rolling your eyes because you're too busy to "just sit on a pillow" or "do weird poses in slow-motion" (aka meditation & yoga)? We get it. Sojourner Tours understands the frustration. We’ve been there. It’s easy to dismiss these practices when they feel superficial or unnatural—especially if you haven’t taken the time to dig deeper and understand what’s really going on inside. While creating magical escapes is our business, we know that trips to the French countryside or indulgent meals with friends only offer fleeting joy. True flourishing isn’t found in a destination or quick fix—it’s an inner journey. Start your journey today and discover how to thrive, no matter where life takes you.
CULTURE: GENERAL WELLNESS
SUMMER (May-Septmeber) Check out our week-long retreats in FRANCE!
VOICE (WRITING RETREAT) Unlock Your Story: Spend a Week in Provence with Author Charlotte Gullick ! Whether you’re a seasoned writer, a beginner, or haven’t picked up a pen since graduation—gain clarity on who you are, what shapes you, and discover your unique voice—writing will follow naturally.Ready to explore your true self? Join us in beautiful Provence and start writing the next chapter of your personal journey. Spots are limited—reserve your seat today!
As always, PRIVATE CULTURAL TOURS TO DISCOVER FRANCE, for groups of 2-7 people can be scheduled on demand.
SEPTEMBER 2025~ SELF, BODY & SEXUALITY
Être Bien Dans Sa Peau ~ Celebrate Your Body, Unleash Your Sensuality!
French women are often seen as masters of balancing sensuality, confidence, and independence. The French approach to sex and femininity emphasizes the deep connection between a woman and her body, celebrating its natural beauty at every stage of life. Unlike the often critical or unrealistic portrayal of women’s bodies in the United States, where perfection is prized over authenticity, French culture encourages women to embrace their bodies with appreciation and respect. In France, women view their bodies as part of their identity to be nurtured and loved, rather than something to be fixed or altered. Hormonal changes throughout a woman’s life are approached with acceptance, and aging is seen as a natural process to be welcomed, not feared. In this workshop, we’ll explore how French women come to appreciate and love their bodies, focusing on the unique beauty of each shape, curve, and imperfection. You’ll discover how to reconnect with your body, honor its natural rhythms, and celebrate the sensuality that comes with embracing your true self.
CULTURE: FRENCH
OCTOBER 2025~ SELF, HEART, SPIRIT & RELATIONSHIP W/SELF & OTHERS
From Sugar & Spice to Herbs & Insight ~ Uncover Your Authenticity!
Begin getting back in touch with your emotions, thoughts, and physical needs, and start recognizing when you're straying from your authentic self through culinary herbs and herbal teas. Were you raised to be a “good girl” or told to be a “nice girl”? Your well-intentioned caregivers may have inadvertently taught you to abandon yourself in favor of social acceptance which can leave you feeling: unseen and unheard; possibly resentful and badly treated; or even, lonely in the company of others… Maybe you know how you are feeling inside but are stuffing or ignoring your emotions, desires and needs “for the sake of others.” Or maybe you’ve buried your authentic self and your emotional well-being under so much sugar and spice and everything nice that now you can’t reach it anymore. Herbs are integrated naturally into regular diets in old traditional cultures including that of France. Learn the ancient wisdom of herbs while getting realigned and grounded in your feelings. Take home recipes to keep you mindful of the need to acknowledge suppressed instincts and greater wisdom for what those instincts are signaling in terms of realigning with your true Self. CULTURES: JAPANESE, FRENCH & MORE
NOVEMBER 2025~ BODY, SELF & COMMUNITY
*EXCLUSIVE: LIMITED SPACE! (RSVP EARLY)
From Frazzled to Fabulous ~ French Secrets to Transform Your Holiday!
As the holidays approach, learn how to infuse your American family gatherings with the time-honored French traditions of hospitality and hosting. In France, women are celebrated for their role as gracious hostesses, creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere for large family meals and gatherings. In America, family gatherings can sometimes become tense, especially when taboo subjects spark debates around the table. While you can't control what others say, you can take inspiration from French culture to create a more pleasant and functional atmosphere. In France, family meals are seen as a time to nourish not only the body but also relationships, and there are several key practices that can help guide the conversation and tone. In this workshop, you’ll discover the art of French table setting, meal presentation, and flower arrangements, along with the cultural significance behind these rituals. By integrating these French practices into your own holiday traditions, you’ll create memorable, meaningful celebrations that nourish both body and soul, and foster deeper connection with those you love. CULTURE: FRENCH
JANUARY 2026~ BODY, SPIRIT & HEALTH
Year’s Resolutions ~Revive, Thrive, and Come Alive with a French Twist and Japanese Bliss!
Common resolutions related to health, fitness, wellness or mental health tend to fail after a month or two, but what if you knew a different way? During this retreat, you’ll tap into global wisdom and learn to flourish by discovering centuries old cultural keys to greater wellbeing, more happiness and increased serenity. Focus will be on: 1) building a positive relationship with food and movement through French and Japanese practices and philosophies including discovering the value of bringing mindfulness into daily activities; 2) an introduction to techniques that create peace of mind and revitalize your body by getting in touch with a deeper more elusive aspect of yourself through meditation; and 3) a primer on making time so you’ll have room in your life to practice these health, fitness and de-stressing techniques. Yes, you heard us right, Sojo doesn’t believe the French get it right all the time —just most of the time.
CULTURES: JAPANESE & FRENCH!
FEBRUARY 2026~ SELF, HEART & IDENTITY
*EXCLUSIVE: LIMITED SPACE! (RSVP EARLY)
A Signature Scent ~ Fragrance & Feeling: Define Your Identity with Meaning!
The French have long understood that scent, emotion and memory are intertwined and incorporated that into their culture. So, this cultural-wellness retreat invites you to flourish by becoming inducted in the art of fragrance for home & body. Workshops will guide you to 1) find & express your identity, 2) understand how scents interplay with mood and health; and 3) create a signature scent. In France, many women use fragrance as an expression of identity and they come to be known by their scent… one whiff and you think of her! Several generations of women in my family adopted signature scents —Shalimar, Bellodgia… the smell of my grandmother is more moving and evocative than photographs when I miss her. A similar concept applies to French homes where smell lifts (or lowers) mood. The French may spritz linens with lavender to reduce anxiety and improve sleep, or discreetly add a few drops of “Odarome” (a mix of lavender, thyme, rosemary and eucalyptus essential oils) to the water after flushing to “cleanse” the air, learn about all this and more!
CULTURE: FRENCH
MARCH 2026~ SELF, HEART, MIND & TRIBE
Find the Camino Within ~ Step by Step: Tapas, Siestas, Relax & Connect!
Join Sojourner Tours Texas for a Women's Wellness Retreat inspired by the timeless lessons of the Camino de Santiago and the relaxed spirit of Spanish culture. This day-long retreat invites you to slow down, reconnect, and reflect on your unique journey. Drawing from the Camino’s focus on human connection, trust, and self-discovery, you'll learn how to embrace each step—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—as part of your path forward. Inspired by the "no pasa nada" attitude, tapas, and the art of siesta, you’ll explore how to let go of stress and distractions, while cultivating presence in your relationships and daily life. In community with other women, you’ll share meaningful conversations and moments of quiet reflection, discovering how to forge your own path—one that honors your values and priorities, rather than following a prescribed route. This retreat offers practical tools for building deeper connections with others and yourself, helping you live with more intention, clarity, and peace.
CULTURE: SPANISH, CATALAN & BASQUE
APRIL 2026~ SELF, HEART & HOME
*EXCLUSIVE: LIMITED SPACE! (RSVP EARLY)
Increase Everyday Joy ~Clear, Create, Elevate: Japanese Calm, French Chic!
Let go of emotionally charged material baggage and learn to create a stylish functional space that reflects your personality and aspirations thus elevating your mood and well-being every day. Architectural space is used differently around the world as a reflection of different cultural values and priorities with American homes tending to prioritize function and comfort. Step into the elegance and beauty you deserve. Learn a Japanese wellness approach for handling clutter, material accumulation and space that will free and inspire you. Work with two interior designers who have mastered the French and Japanese concepts of Simplexité and Wabi-Sabi to turn your home into a fount of wellness, without breaking the bank.
CULTURES: FRENCH & JAPANESE +DASHES OF SWEDISH, SENEGALESE, BRITISH AND MORE!