8-Day Digital Detox & Wild Skills Retreat in the Aveyron Mountains

The week is set on a wooded property in the Aveyron, a rural department in southern France known for its gorges, stone villages and long walking routes. Murols itself is a small village high in the hills, and the land around La Forêt du Dragon is dense woodland and rough pasture. Getting there means a drive from Rodez or Aurillac, and directions are sent once a booking is confirmed.

Daily structure is consistent: morning yoga and breathwork outdoors, on grass or under trees, followed by breakfast and then a hike through the surrounding terrain. Afternoons are given to skills workshops — foraging for edible plants, learning to cook them over an open fire, firemaking, and cold water training in the local rivers and pools. Coaching and reflective sessions run alongside these, aimed at what happens when you take the constant input of a normal working week away.

What separates this from a standard yoga-and-hiking week is the back end of the programme. Two nights before the end you go out alone into the woods for a 24-hour solo vision quest — no phone, no group, food and shelter minimal — and on one of the final evenings there is a firewalk across hot coals. Both are optional in the sense that you choose whether to take part, but they are the events the week is built towards, and the group preparation for them starts earlier in the stay.

Rick and Marjolein lead everything themselves. They combine coaching with outdoor leadership, which means the reflective sessions aren't run by someone who has only read about the outdoors, and the firemaking and foraging sessions aren't run by someone who has only read about coaching. The group is small enough that they know everyone's name by day two.

Food is cooked at the property for the group, with input from what gets foraged earlier in the week. Dietary requirements are collected before arrival — tell the leader what you need and it will be confirmed. Accommodation is a choice between camping, a private birch room, a private stone house or a private tiny house, all on the same land, so everyone eats and practises together regardless of which option they book.

What's included

- 8 days of guided programme at La Forêt du Dragon - Accommodation on site (campsite, birch room, stone house or tiny house depending on package) - All group meals, cooked on site - Daily outdoor yoga and breathwork sessions - Guided hikes through the Aveyron terrain - Foraging and open-fire cooking workshops - Firemaking workshop - Cold water training - 24-hour solo vision quest - Firewalk - Group coaching and reflective sessions

What's not included

- Travel to and from Murols, France - Flights - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Optional extras such as massage (ask the leader) - Any meals taken off site